Yuri Kogen Railway: Getting People Back on Track

This is Yashima Station, the starting point of Yuri Kogen Railway, which runs through Akita Prefecture.

During the morning and early evening commuting hours, there are many high school students.

At Yuri Kogen Railway, sales from commuter and student passes account for 38% of the transportation revenue,

most of which comes from high school students.

These high school students are the train's main users.

Mr. Kayaba Michio, the railway's president,

chats to the high school students in the waiting room and on the train whenever he has time.

Since becoming president, Mr. Kayaba has taken a number of measures to ensure the continued existence of the railway.

We can't attract people with inconvenient trains.

We knew something drastic had to be done
before it was too late.

In today's program, we take a look at Yuri Kogen Railway, which is struggling to increase the number of passengers.

Approximately 500 km north of Tokyo,

Yuri Kogen Railway runs 23 km between Ugo-Honjo and Yashima stations in southern Akita Prefecture.

The third-sector railway company was established in 1985, taking over Japanese National Railway's Yashima Line.

Running in the foothills of Mt. Chokai, the symbolic mountain of the area,

the railway was an important means of transportation for residents living along the line.

However, passenger numbers declined year by year, along with the region's aging population.

In 2022, the number of passengers dropped to 500 per day, one quarter of what it was when it opened in 1985.

With the business struggling, Yuri Kogen Railway began looking for a new president

and in 2019, Mr. Kayaba Michio was selected from 27 candidates.

President Kayaba worked at Sendai City Hall in Miyagi Prefecture,

where he was involved in tourism promotion and earthquake recovery.

After retiring from City Hall, he served as the president of a company that maintained subway and bus rolling stock.

I have run organizations and been
in the tourism business,

so I felt I could contribute something
with my experience.

President Kayaba first focused on halting the decline in passenger numbers.

Around Yashima and Ugo-Honjo Stations, the two starting points of Yuri Kogen Railway,

there are several high schools.

Many of the students from these schools use the railway to get to and from school.

However, the number of student pass users in 2016 was 159.

By 2021 that number had fallen to just 57.

The number of student pass users declined at several times
the rate of the decline in the local population.

And, of the high school students living along the line
who might ride the train, just about 20% of them did.

To find out how to encourage people to use the railway, President Kayaba surveyed the high-school students' parents.

The survey revealed that many parents often drove their children directly to school.

However, 40% said that they would use the train if student passes were cheaper.

The idea is to make an impact of the discount.

We dropped the price from about 18,500
to about 9,000 yen per month.

Each section has different prices, but we have reduced
the price generally by about 50%.

Having decided to lower student pass fares,

President Kayaba created posters promoting the reduction

and personally visited communities and high schools to encourage people to use the train.

If locals don't ride the train after the discount,
that means they don't need our railway.

But losing the railway would make
their lifestyle inconvenient.

That's the message I sent to the community.

We told schools that commuting by train can teach
students many things in life such as self-alliance.

Thankfully, many first-year high school students
bought the pass and used the train.

As a result, we were able to achieve our goal.

By lowering the fare, the number of high school students using student passes rose to 127 in 2022 and 136 by April 2023.

It's nice that I can ride with my former schoolmates
who now go to different high schools.

I can talk to my friends while commuting, which
gives me a lot of energy in the morning.

It's more fun and better than taking a car.

President Kayaba has been working to revitalize the station to make it the center of the local community.

This is Yashima Station, which also serves as Yuri Kogen Railway's headquarters.

Before he was appointed to president, it was simply a place to wait for the train.

This place was originally a warehouse.

And we built a café, so locals and tourists
could gather and spend time here.

This is Ms. Sato Matsuko.

She has worked at the station kiosk for more than 30 years.

Matsuko-san shares the president's idea of making the station the center of the community.

We wanted to create a new Yuri Kogen Railway
reflecting what we learned from the past.

We share the same vision.

In addition to regular passengers and tourists waiting for the train,

the station building has become a place to gather for locals who stop by even when they're not riding the train.

Our corporate strategy is to contribute to the community.

By contribution, I mean, not only do we
get people to ride the train,

but also, more importantly we create a lively
atmosphere in the community.

That is what our railway is all about.

Many rural railways across Japan are struggling with declining passengers

so I found even more interesting that Yuri Kogen Railway opted to halve their student pass fare and it worked out.

What a bold decision.

Yes indeed, the basic idea here is that even when the fare is halved,

if the number of passengers increase by more than two folds,

then the income for the railway company is more than what it was before.

And that was what actually happened at Yuri Kogen Railway

and I think this is the good example that other railway companies can follow.

And renovating the station to attract more high school students was a great idea too.

And now the café is also creating some extra revenue so that was smart.

Yes indeed.

You know stations are not just a facilities for people getting on and off the trains.

But the stations can also be the centers for the local community

and that I think is what Mr. Kayaba the president of the company is aiming at.

Community, students and let's find out what Yuri Kogen Railway is now doing to attract tourists.

The most popular tourist attraction along the Yuri Kogen Railway line is the wooden toy museum, which opened in 2018.

Making its home in an old elementary school,

the museum where visitors can play with wooden toys attracts 46,000 people a year.

In collaboration with the wooden toy museum, Yuri Kogen Railway debuted its own toy train.

The interior of which was crafted using locally grown cedar.

There are wooden toys everywhere and children are free to play with them all.

It's like a part of the museum.

This is Ugo-Honjo Station, which connects to the JR line departing from Akita Station.

Most of the visitors to the Wooden Toy Museum board the train here.

We're going to the wooden toy museum.
We want to take the train from here.

This family purchased a special collaboration ticket

which includes a one-day pass for the Yuri Kogen Railway and admission to the wooden toy museum.

Boarding the train, the little boy immediately begins playing with the wooden toys.

The train departs.

It takes about 12 minutes to get to the station closest to the wooden toy museum.

From the station, it's a 15-minute walk,

and, a free shuttle service is available from the station, provided by the toy museum.

Showing the collaboration ticket at the entrance will get you an original pin and a discount at the museum's café.

The museum has more than 100 kinds of wooden toys, and play equipment that can be touched and played with.

Many families come to play with the wooden toys.

This is our first time buying this ticket.
It's convenient to have all in one.

For years, Yuri Kogen Railway has run seasonal event trains such as the "Beer Train" and the "Halloween Train."

Attendants dressed in kimono, board these event trains to provide sightseeing information and sell items onboard.

The kimono worn by the attendants are traditional work clothes of the region,

giving the train a distinctive local feel.

President Kayaba decided to run event trains almost monthly,

whereas before he took over the post, it had run several times a year.

The "Koinobori Train" runs in April and May.

Employees can be seen decorating the train at Yashima Station.

"Koinobori" are colorful carp-shaped streamers that are displayed outdoors on Children's Day,

a traditional Japanese event held in May.

The "Koinobori" or carp streamers are decorated with wishes for the healthy growth of children.

The various "koinobori" create a colorful atmosphere inside the car.

During this period, children riding the "Koinobori" train receive coloring books and "origami" as gifts.

In September 2022, to revive tourist numbers that had declined due to the pandemic,

President Kayaba launched a new measure.

The company debuted a new event train.

The exterior of the train features silhouettes of Mt. Chokai

and the interior was designed to evoke a sense of nostalgia.

This vehicle was refurbished at a cost of approximately 20 million yen.

It was a bold decision in a situation in which the annual deficit of 100 million yen was being covered by the local government.

We found that the non-regular revenues
remained flat, which was a good thing.

As the local population declines, sales usually decline too.
But it hasn't because tourists are making up the loss.

I thought if we raise the bottom line there,
we can boost the income to some extent.

We have very high hopes.

The new train is also available for group charter.

On this day, a long-established local "sake" brewing company has chartered the train.

This is a party train that allows participants to enjoy drinking "sake" just released from "yukimuro snow cellar."

A "yukimuro" or snow cellar is a natural snow refrigerator that maintains a temperature of zero degrees Celsius.

New "sake" brewed between the previous year and the current year

is matured by burying the entire tank in the snow for about two months.

Around 30 people have come from all over the country

including the local area to enjoy the mellow flavor of the "sake" onboard the train.

The debut of the new train car has generated demand for chartered trains for corporate banquets, bus tours, and other events,

boosting the recovery of the business performance.

To increase the passenger numbers, President Kayaba is also actively involved in community activities.

On this day, he is attending a meeting of local volunteers who are working to develop a new tourist resource.

President Kayaba, in collaboration with local university-student members,

has developed a smartphone app to support tourists as they travel along the line.

We developed an app for tourists who
have ridden the Yuri Kogen Railway.

It provides information to help them enjoy
the town of Yashima most efficiently.

First, scan the QR code with your smartphone.

Tap "Find Optimal Route."

For example, you want to eat ramen,
shop at a Japanese sweets store,

and for sightseeing, you want to visit "sake" brewery,
and then tap "Search."

A map shows up with the best route from the station.

Any measure we take is effective because
it is currently not a crowded tourist spot.

I believe that if we do something, people will come.
The best way is to launch PR campaigns.

I want to make this town attract
more people with our railway.

We couldn't do much during the pandemic
and will do our best to catch up.

Creating an App really demonstrates forward thinking and the event trains that coincide with Japanese seasonal events

bring passengers back because they want to see the different decorations.

And I heard that the toy train is actually one of the most popular

because the kids won't get bored they have so many toys to play with.

You may have thought that there are many vehicles owned by Yuri Kogen Railway but there are only five.

Five?

Yes, and that means that toy train is also used for the day to day operation.

So for that reason, the employees of the company have to decorate and undecorate all those vehicles again and again.

That means you know that the thoughts of Mr. Kayaba the president is now shared

by all members of the company for the future of the railway.

They're really stretching their fleet all across the board.

Yes indeed.

Next up is Tourist Trains in Style, where we introduce you to amazing tourist trains from all across Japan.

"Kairi" is JR East's tourist train, which debuted in 2019.

It travels approximately 170 km between Niigata Station in Niigata Prefecture

and Sakata Station in Yamagata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan side.

KAIRI comes from KAI, which means Sea, and RI, which means countryside.

The name was chosen with the hope that passengers could enjoy

both the charms of the "sea" and the "countryside" of the region.

We are catching the train at Sakata Station bound for Niigata.

The gong hit by the conductor is the signal for passengers to board the train.

At 3:02 PM, Kairi departs Sakata Station.

Kairi is a four-car train.

Car 1 has two-person reclining seats.

Car 2 has four-person compartments.

Car 3 has an onboard shop and event space.

And Car 4 is the dining car.

Here, passengers can enjoy dishes from famous restaurants along the line.

Large windows offer magnificent views of the region's rice fields.

Food is being prepared in the kitchen space located in Car 3.

This time, on the train departing Sakata Station, the menu is Italian.

Local beef, pork, and fish are served along with seasonal fruit and sweets.

The meals, which are only served to passengers in Car 4, are part of a special travel package.

The menu changes with each return trip, and with the seasons.

It is rare to enjoy a meal on a train, and the fact
that you can taste the same kind of food

that you would eat in a restaurant is very appealing.

Passengers in the other cars can reserve an original Kairi bento box.

All of the food in the bento box is made from ingredients produced along the line.

In addition to beverages and snacks, original Kairi goods can be purchased at the onboard store in Car 3.

Next to the onboard store, there is a stamp counter where you can get a stamp to commemorate your journey.

About one hour out from Sakata Station, the Sea of Japan appears on the right.

This stretch of coastline was selected as one of Japan's 100 most scenic spots.

The 10-km section is shaped by inlets, reefs, and uniquely shaped rocks.

The train slows down so the passengers can enjoy the view.

Leaving the spectacular view behind, Kairi stops at a station for about 30 minutes to let a train pass by.

Passengers use this time to step outside and take pictures of the train.

Adjacent to the station, visitors can also buy souvenirs, such as local specialties from along the line.

In addition, a special soft-serve ice-cream menu is available for Kairi's passengers.

After a 30-minute stop, Kairi heads to Niigata.

Viewing the beautiful sunset, we will soon be arriving at our final destination, Niigata Station.

3 hours and 30 minutes after departing Sakata Station,

the train trip to enjoy the spectacular scenery and food comes to an end.

Kairi operates one round trip per day, mainly on weekends and holidays.

Each car has a distinctive design and layout which makes it great for individual travel or group travel.

I personally like the booth they give you that sense of coziness and privacy.

If you want to join Car No.4, then you have to arrange to join a special tour and that includes those nice meals.

But if you want to join Car No.1 or Car No.2,

then, all you need are the basic fare ticket plus the seat reservation ticket.

And if you grab the delicious "ekiben" or something

then you'll get the perfect tourist train experience for a very reasonable price.

So you can travel on it for business purposes, you can travel on it as a tourist,

or you can also maybe spice up your business trip and get one of those nice meals

and so it's a tourist train that really fits variety of needs.

Yes, indeed.