The real-world Village-3 deepens its anime connection.

Tenryu Futamata Station, in Shizuoka Prefecture, isn’t a station that a lot of people need to go to, given its relatively remote location on the northern outskirts of the town of Hamamatsu, far away from the downtown area. However, Tenryu Futamata is a station a lot of people want to go to, with sightseers falling into two categories. Some are rail fans coming to get an eyeful of the unique turntable infrastructure that lets trains slide into their slots in the station’s depot structure. And the other visitors? Fans of Evangelion, since Tenryu Futamata Station is the real-world location of Village-3, the peaceful rural community where humanity regroups in Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time, the theatrical conclusion to the anime series.

The anime connection is something rail operator Tenryu Hamanako Railroad is happy to lean into, too. An Evangelion art-wrapping train, done up in the colors of Evangelion Unit-01, runs along the company’s Tenryu Hamanako Line between Tenryu-Futamata, Shinjohara, Kanasashi, Kakegawa, and Nishi-Kajima Stations, and a second train, with a special focus on Eva pilot Asuka, travels on the separately operated Enshu Railway Line that links Nishi Kajima with Shin Hamamatsu Station.

The Evangelion trains tend to come out during holiday and vacation seasons, with their current schedules posted on their operators’ websites here and here. Regardless of when you go to Tenryu Fumata Station, though, there’ll be something special for Eva fans to see, as the Spear of Longinus is installed on the station’s grounds!

Because Evangelion’s penchant for indistinct, open-to-interpretation storytelling extends to the physical dimensions of its mecha, there’re no official specs for the Evangelion units or the length of the weapon/instrument of Armageddon, but this is no dinky toy-scale replica. The Spear of Longinus at Tenryu Hamanako Station will protrude 3.6 meters (11.8-feet) up from the ground, and while it appears that it’ll be cordoned off, it’s unlikely that anyone could carry the thing off anyway, as its weight is estimated to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 110 kilograms (242.5 pounds).

The Spear of Longinus was originally installed at the station in 2023, and while Tenryu Hamanako Railroad says it won’t be there permanently, there’s currently no announced removal date, so hopefully it’ll be ready to receive visitors for a long time.

Source: Tenryu Hamanako Railroad
Top image: Tenryu Hamanako Railroad
Insert images: Tenryu Hamanako Railroad (1, 2), Enshu Railway
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