New Shinkansen bullet train design revealed for Nagasaki extension

Kamome will let travelers figuratively fly to west Kyushu.

For many years, Japan’s high-speed Shinkansen rail system could only take you as far from Tokyo as Fukuoka, on Japan’s southwest island of Kyushu. The line eventually got extended to south to Kagoshima, but people traveling to or form western Kyushu, including Nagasaki, still have no bullet train service in the region.

That’s going to change soon, though, and with an eye towards the future rail operator JR Kyushu has unveiled the visual design of its new Shinkansen trains that will be running on the upcoming West Kyushu Route next year.

Utilizing KR Kyushu’s bright red image color on its exterior, the train will be called Kamome, which translates as “Seagull,” with its stylized emblem evocative of a bird in flight and brush calligraphy logo carrying a similar feeling of freedom in motion.

The six passenger cars that make up the train have room for 396 travelers, with a total of 163 reserved seats in Cars 1, 2, and 3. Seats in Car 1 have an auspicious chrysanthemum design on their upholstery…

…those in Car 2 a shishi (lion) pattern inspired by depictions of the pseudo-mythical creature’s mane in classical Japanese paintings…

…and in Car 3, a karakusa (peony flower arabesque) motif.

The remaining 233 non-reserved seats can be found in Cars 4 through 6, with a total of five seats per row.

The new Shinkansen isn’t the first train in Japan to be called Kamome, however. The name has been used a handful of trains in west Kyushu, most noticeably the limited express that ran between Nagasaki and Kyoto starting in 1961.

It’s still a fitting name for the new train, though, as once Nagasaki is linked to Fukuoka by Shinkansen, it’ll make for an easy connection to the Sanyo Shinkansen line that runs through the western and central regions of Japan’s main island of Honshu.

The Shinkansen West Kyushu Route is scheduled to start service in the fall of 2022.

Sources: JR Kyushu, PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times, JR Kyushu
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