Keiichiro Otsuka
     Local private railway companies, plagued by severe financial conditions due to Japan's falling birthrate and the popularity of automobiles, are remodeling and decorating secondhand cars from Keio Corp. and other major railway operators to curb costs and attract tourists.
     Fuji Kyuko Co. in Yamanashi Prefecture started operating a retro-styled two-car train, remodeled from Keio 5,000-type cars, at the foot of Mt. Fuji on Aug. 9.
     The vermilion red cars, with wooden flooring, old-style seats and circular windows, were designed by Eiji Mitooka, who also designed the cars of Kyushu Shinkansen bullet trains. ''I would like passengers to reacquaint themselves with the charm of Mt. Fuji by looking at it through the windows of this train.''
     Fuji Kyuko President Koichiro Horiuchi said, ''We've created a train that provides passengers with a sense of tranquility, not just a means of transportation.''
     Jomo Electric Railroad Co., which operates services linking Chuo Maebashi and Nishikiryu in Gunma Prefecture, is decorating Keio 3,000-type cars formerly used on the Inogashira Line with seasonal illuminations.
     The company started operating trains decked out with Halloween pumpkins and other decorations in mid-September. It will run Christmas train services from mid-November to Dec. 25.
     It also started operating a two-car ''Running Aquarium'' train in July last year with ceilings decorated with drawings of whales and dolphins swimming in the sea. ''As Gunma Prefecture is landlocked, we would like passengers to enjoy the atmosphere of the sea in the trains,'' a company official said.
     Wakayama Electric Railway Co., which took over the Kishikawa Line formerly operated by Nankai Electric Railway Co., started operating its ''Tama Train'' in March this year decorated with illustrations on the exterior that depict Tama, a popular calico cat who has been adopted as the station master of Kishi Station in Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture.
     The two-car train features calico patterned seats and shelves filled with books about cats.
     According to the transport ministry, nearly 80 percent of the nation's 93 local railway companies suffered deficits in fiscal 2007 and many have been trying to improve their performance by remodeling secondhand cars and taking other steps.
     Takuro Hamada, a transport journalist, said, ''To attract tourists, it is important for railway companies to not only add new value to cars but also to improve station facilities, issue quality round-trip tickets and provide information about the landscape along railway lines.''
==Kyodo