WAKAYAMA ELECTRIC RAILWAY KISHIGAWA LINE PART1

I’m making a round-trip journey on the Kishigawa Line of Wakayama Electric Railway from Wakayama Station to Kishi Station, a terminus east of Wakayama City. This route was once operated by Nankai Electric Railway, and after the financial crisis, Okayama Electric Tramway, the operator of Okayama’s tram system, established a new company called Wakayama Electric Railway to keep the rail service alive with support from Wakayama Prefecture and local governments. The EMU I am riding today is the 2270 series, originally used by Nankai, and it carries the theme of umeboshi (pickled plum)—a specialty of Wakayama. The train is equipped with gallery-like display stands and curtains that resemble those at a Japanese shrine. It looks interesting and fun, but the interior and exterior decoration is a bit too much and comes quite close to being in bad taste. I also felt that its over-the-top aesthetic was somewhat similar to the trains of JR Kyushu. It is no surprise, as these cars were designed by Eiji Mitooka, an industrial designer known for his work on many JR Kyushu trains.

和歌山駅から和歌山電鐵の貴志川線に乗って、和歌山市の東にある貴志駅まで往復する。貴志川線はもともと南海電気鉄道の一部だったが、経営危機に陥ったあと、岡山の路面電車を運行する岡山電気軌道が和歌山電鐵を設立し、和歌山県や地元自治体の支援を受けながら存続させた。今日乗る電車は南海から譲渡された2270系で、和歌山の名産である梅干しをテーマにした装飾が施されている。車内ではギャラリーのような展示コーナーや、神社のものに似た幕が目をひく。外装も内装もちょっとやりすぎな感じで、限りなく悪趣味に近い。JR九州の列車を思い出させる俗っぽさがあるが、それもそのはず、この列車をデザインしたのは数多くのJR九州車両を手がけた工業デザイナーの水戸岡鋭治氏だった。