The train line has nothing special to plug at the moment though.


Back in my day, when musicians had a new album coming out, they’d go on tour and play their songs in front of live audiences. It was a simpler time, before promotion in the music business involved creating a full-scale fireworks show or taking over an entire subway line.

But, with Ed Sheeran’s newest album “Play” about to be released, he thought it was time to team up with the Toei Oedo Line, which runs straight through Tokyo. Toei was happy to oblige because how often do Grammy-award-winning artists want to collaborate with subway operators? Oedo was the perfect line to do it on too, because the name sounds like “Oh! Ed!” given that English hard consonant sounds at the end of words are often given an additional vowel sound to fit Japanese, like “card-o,” “passport-o,” or “Ed-o.”

Beyond the convenient play on words, the color coding of the Oedo Line on Tokyo subway maps is very similar to that used on the cover of “Play.”

A lot of recording artists would just hang a bunch of posters up and maybe put their picture on the train carriages. But Ed Sheeran has a long history of doing fun stuff in Japan and is going way above and beyond for this celebration scheduled for 8 September to 20 October.

First, we have a stamp rally, perhaps the most quintessential component of a major Japanese promotional event. This one won’t require you to get your hands all inky, however, and can be done by finding and visiting six locations along and around the Oedo Line to get a file folder and enter to win a limited-edition T-shirt. Just download the Toei app and scan the QR codes at each spot to earn the stamps.

By the way, the place to go to pick up your file folder happens to be Toeiro, a railway-operated store that has been redecorated as the exclusive dealer of Oh! Ed! limited-edition merchandise.

Oh! Ed! T-shirts, towels, keychains, and more can be bought here, as well as the “Play” album in a limited-edition case. Those who purchase over 1,500 yen ($10) worth of designated items will also get a free Oh! Ed! sticker.

▼ Items like the keychain and towel are made to look like station signs with the track titles from “Play” as the station names.

By the way, this offer applies to other participating businesses along the Oedo Line as well. There are a wide range of event-related goods to purchase, from an Ed Sheeran 3-D latte art from Hat Coffee or an Ed Sheeran model Lowden Acoustic Guitar from Kurosawa Musical Instruments.

At this point, you might be getting concerned that with everything going on, you might have to hop on and off Oedo Line trains and pay the fare each time. Well, good news! Toei is also selling a limited-edition “Play” album one-day pass for just 700 yen ($5) that gives you unlimited rides on Toei trains and buses. The pass itself is also a collectible, featuring the album design on it.

And about that decorated train thing I mentioned before, the Oh! Ed! campaign won’t just have some pretty pictures hanging up on plain old trains; it’s designed to be a full-fledged “rolling museum” of the musician’s career.

Each of the eight cars on the Oh! Ed! Museum Train will have a different theme, such as the first car looking at his childhood and early career, the sixth car having a questionnaire that will determine the perfect song from “Play” for you, and the seventh car featuring an Ed Sheeran Quiz, which will be the perfect opportunity to pull out the old pun that “Sheeran” sounds a lot like the Japanese word for “I dunno.” The train doesn’t run on a regular schedule though, so you’ll just have to be lucky to catch it.

Needless to say, it’s a heck of a lot to see and do for fans of Ed Sheeran and probably even for fans of the color magenta. Don’t hesitate and hop on a train soon, because the supplies for everything mentioned here are limited and won’t be around forever.

Source, images: PR Times
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