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The picture book "I Rode the Blue Train" is the 14th volume in the "Kumata-kun Picture Book" series, written by the late Shigeo Watanabe and illustrated by the late Yasuo Otomo. It tells the story of Kumata-kun and his family riding the "Blue Train," a sleeper express train that was once in operation.
The author's father and his grandfather were both train enthusiasts, and before he knew it, he too had become a train enthusiast. There was no way that the author wouldn't love this picture book, and he read it many times as a child. What's more, he still owns the exact book he read it to his daughters, who sometimes ask him to read it to them
"I Took the Blue Train" first edition (January 1988) owned by the author
This article will discuss my observations and thoughts after rereading this picture book from an adult's perspective. *Please note that while there will be frequent mentions of discrepancies with reality, I am simply stating the facts and not intending to be critical.
The story of "I rode on the Blue Train"
"I Rode the Blue TrainI will now give an overview of the story of
Kumata-kun, his father, and his mother decided to go on a trip using the Blue Train ticket that his father had secured. By the way, the "Blue Train" was the nickname for the overnight trains and sleeper trains that ran with blue passenger cars
Kumata's family goes to Kumano Station and waits for the Blue Train to arrive. In each scene, when they are waiting at home at night, when Dad comes home in the evening, when they arrive at Kumano Station, and when the Blue Train pulls in, Kumata's impatience to board the Blue Train is depicted. I was one of those children, so I can understand how he feels
Finally, the Blue Train "Mangetsu" arrives at the platform of Kumano Station, and the Kumata family boards the B-class sleeping car, which has two sets of bunk beds facing each other. There, they spread out their bento boxes, beer, tea, fruit, and sweets, and begin their meal
After eating, Kumata brushes his teeth and goes to the toilet, then tries to sleep on the top bunk of the bed, but has trouble falling asleep. This is to be expected when sleeping alone in a swaying train
However, Mata-kun seems to have managed to sleep somehow, and wakes up feeling refreshed in the morning. The train arrives at its final stop, Kumamori Station, and the journey on the Blue Train Full Moon comes to an end, and the story of this work comes to an end
Incidentally, the previous volume, Volume 13, "I Rode the Renrakusen," tells the story of a family who get off the sleeper express train Mangetsu at Kumamori and board the Renrakusen to head to Kumadate on the Kumakaido. It is natural to interpret this work as a prequel to the previous one. It seems that the Kumata family's journey continues even after arriving at Kumamori Station. I have already written an article about the previous work, so please check that out as well.
Incidentally, the author rode a Blue Train during the summer holidays of 1996, and the train he rode was the sleeper express "Seto" (departing from Tokyo and bound for Takamatsu). The family trip to Shikoku had already been decided, but the main reason the author begged his parents to let him go by Blue Train was, of course, the existence of this work.
What is the destination and name of the sleeper express "Mangetsu" bound for Kumamori?
in TokyoUeno StationandAomori Station. In particular, the ferry that appeared in the previous work, which depicted a sea voyage from Kumamori to Kumadate, was clearly modeled after the Seikan Ferry that connected Aomori Station and Hakodate Station, so it is reasonable to assume that Kumamori Station in this work also refers to Aomori Station.
There is no definitive proof that Kumano Station corresponds to Ueno Station, but among the main departure stations for sleeper express trains bound for Aomori, Ueno Station is the only station with "no" in its name. It is reasonable to assume that it is Ueno Station. The Mangetsu-go train would"night train departing from Ueno (bound for Aomori)" thatcorrespond to the
This work was published in January 1988 (less than a year after the dissolution of Japanese National Railways and the establishment of the JR companies), but I do not have a timetable from that time, so I will look at the timetable from November 1986, which is the closest period before January 1988. It isYuzuru," "Hakutsuru," and "Akebonoclear that there were sleeper express trains called
Sleeper Express "Akebono"
By the way, the route you will take is
Yuzuru: Joban Line/Tohoku Main Line (Main stations served: Mito, Sendai, Morioka, Hachinohe)
Hakutsuru: Tohoku Main Line (Main stations served: Omiya, Utsunomiya, Sendai, Morioka, Hachinohe)
Akebono: Tohoku Main Line/Ou Main Line (Main stations served: Omiya, Utsunomiya, Fukushima, Yamagata, Akita, Odate, Hirosaki, Aomori)
And it was all different
Although three "Yuzuru" and two "Hakutsuru" trains were operated per day, "Yuzuru No. 1" and the two "Hakutsuru" trains were not Blue Trains, which are locomotives pulling passenger cars, but rather were trains using the 583 series electric train
Sleeper express "Hakutsuru" operated by 583 series train
All three Akebono trains per day are Blue Trains, but the third, No. 5, stops at Akita Station and does not go to Aomori Station. This means that the trains equivalent to the Full Moon are either Yuuzuru No. 3 or No. 5, or Akebono No. 1 or No. 3
It'snoting that a train called "Mangetsu-go" (Full Moon) never actually existed, so the origin of the name is unknown. The name of the overnight train from Ueno to Aomori at that time was as described above, and it seems to have no connection to the full moon.
Also, among the names of trains that actually existed in the past, there are few names related to the moon, such as "Moonlight" and "Evening Moon" (though there are quite a few trains with names related to celestial bodies, such as "Venus," "Galaxy," "Subaru," "Comet," and "Myojo")
The name doesn't allow us to identify the train that the "Full Moon" train is modeled after, so next Iusuallydoas , I'd like to identify the train by looking at the depictions of clocks and other details in the story...but even if I did that, I wouldn't be able to determine which Ueno-bound overnight train it is. This is because thereis not modeled after a real-life "Ueno-bound overnight train to Aomori."is a very high probability that *As stated at the beginning of the article, I have absolutely no intention of criticizing this.
Isn't the depiction of the Full Moon train based on the overnight train departing from Ueno and bound for Aomori?
There are several points in the illustrations of the Blue Train Full Moon in this work (and at the beginning of the previous work) that do not make sense as an illustration of a Blue Train departing from Ueno and bound for Aomori
First, let'sthe description of Kumano Station. The Blue Train Mangetsu arrives at platform 10 of Kumano Station. However,platform 10 at Ueno Station is actually a platform for the Joban Line, and sleeper express trains did not depart from or arrive at this platform.
The platform at Ueno Station, where the sleeper express trains actually arrive and depart, is a dead-end, and the appearance of the platform is quite different from the picture in this work. And because it is a dead-end platform, the Blue Train must change direction when it enters the platform at Ueno Station, but in order to change direction, it is not possible to move the locomotive to the Aomori-bound side of the passenger carriages (a process called turning around) because it is a dead-end
When entering the station, the locomotive had to be at the very back, and the train had to back in.Blue trains departing from Ueno never entered with the locomotive at the front, as depicted in this work. That being said, it would be quite jarring if the Blue train were to back in in this story. That's probably why Kumano Station is depicted differently from the actual Ueno Station.
for the entire route from the starting station Kumano Station to the final stop Kumamori Stationby EF65 electric locomotive No. 1098was pulled
The actual locomotive was manufactured in 1978 and, after the dissolution of Japanese National Railways (JNR), was inherited by JR East, mainly pulling night trains on the Tokaido Main Line and Sanyo Main Line. And this is a very important point:the EF65 cannot go to Aomori Station.
There are two main types of electricity that power electric locomotives: direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC)The EF65 is a locomotive that only works with DC. No matter which route is taken from Ueno Station to Aomori Station, the power source changes from DC to AC along the way, so it is impossible for an EF65 to pull a Blue Train all the way to Aomori Station.
However, it is possible to use the EF65 if the baton is handed over to an AC-compatible electric locomotive along the way. In fact, until 1993, the Akebono was pulled by an EF65 from Ueno Station to Kuroiso Station in Tochigi Prefecture
So, what was Kumano Station and the Full Moon train modeled after?
First, judging from the fact that the Blue Train departs from platform 10, the depiction of the platform, and the appearance of trains other than the Blue Train,the model for the depiction of Kumano Stationis Tokyo Station. If the Blue Train was heading west from Tokyo Station on the Tokaido Main Line, it would have been the sleeper limited express "Izumo" and "Seto," or the sleeper express "Ginga," which were pulled by EF65 locomotives.
However, even if Kumano Station is modeled after Tokyo Station, there are some inconsistencies with reality
Blue trains departing from Tokyo Station are also pulled by a locomotive from the depot to Tokyo Station, where they change direction before departing. To change direction, the locomotive that pulled the passenger cars into the station is moved to the opposite side of the passenger cars (towards Osaka/Kyushu) and coupled to them before departure (*).Only after this re-attachment does the headmark bearing the train's name appear on the front of the train. In this work, the Mangetsu-go train enters Kumano Station with its headmark already visible, which differs from the depiction of a Blue train entering Tokyo Station in reality. *From around 1988, the track for shunting was removed, so a different locomotive from the one that pulled the train to Tokyo Station was coupled to the Osaka side of the passenger cars, and the train departed towards Osaka.
Train turning around at Tokyo Station
However, this is not a major contradiction. This is a fictional story, and it is easy to imagine that they did not bother to faithfully depict something as insignificant in the story as the locomotive turning around
published in 2013Run, Diesel Engine Dede,and based on an actual freight train, the depiction of the train changing direction and shunting at Aizu-Wakamatsu Station in Fukushima Prefecture was omitted. This is likely the same issue.
Now, in the scene where the Mangetsu-go train pulls into Kumano Station,the clock hands point to 6:24(which, of course, is 18:24 in railway terms, as it's nighttime). This was precisely the time when numerous Blue Trains were departing from Tokyo Station heading west.
According to the timetable, there should have actuallybeen no Blue Trains on the platforms at Tokyo Station around 6:24 PMwhich arrived on track 9 at 6:30 PM, pulled by an EF65 locomotive, and departed at 6:50 PM,Izumo No. 1is the train that most closely resembles the one depicted in this work. Alternatively, before March 1985, trains such as the "FujiMiyazaki)," "Asakaze No. 1(bound for Hakata in Fukuoka Prefecture)," and "Asakaze No. 3(bound for Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture)," which departed Tokyo Station in the 6 PM hour, were also operated by EF65 locomotives. It is possible that the Blue Train in this work was modeled after these trains.
There were no sleeper express trains departing Ueno Station between 6 PM and 18 PM, so it is highly likely that the depiction of Kumano Station was not modeled after Ueno Station
It's 1988, but there's an assistant engineer on board?
It appears that there are always two bears on duty in the crew cabin of the EF65 that pulls the Full Moon
In reality, the engineer, who actually drives the train, sits on the left side in the direction of travel (right side from the viewer's perspective). Thefireman sits on the right side in the direction of traveland does not drive the train, but rather supports the engineer.
In the days when steam locomotives (SL) were in operation, the assistant engineer was an essential member of the workforce, as the operation of a steam locomotive required putting coal into the firebox, a task that the engineer could not have performed while driving
As a remnant of the days when steam locomotives had firemen on board, electric locomotives also had firemen for a while after their introduction. The 1954 film "The People Who Moved the Swallows" shows the work of firemen on both electric and steam locomotives.
However, since electric locomotives do not require coal, the scope of work for the fireman was significantly reduced compared to steam locomotives. Firemen of electric locomotives were targeted for elimination from their duties, andby the Japanese National Railways (JNR) employees' labor union, a protest and strike against the elimination of firemen occurred Reference:1970 Transport White Paper (4 Labor Issues)
Although I was unable to obtain information on when the position of fireman on electric locomotives was officially abolished, it is unlikelythat firemen on electric locomotives still existed in 1988, when the Japanese National Railways (JNR) had already been dissolved. Also, as far as I know, the caps worn by the bear crew members appear to be from the JNR era (the name JR is clearly visible in the illustration of the station ticket office on the first page of this work, as well as in the logo on the side of the locomotive).
However, in the world of this work, electric locomotives still have assistant engineers on board, so we can simply interpret this as meaning that the uniform caps are in the style of those worn by the real Japan National Railways
A mysterious train that passed the Blue Train
to methan the true identity of the Full Moon trainafter I spent the morning on boardthe train that passed the Blue Train.
The design of the train depictedold-style national railway trainsuggests that it was an older model, perhaps referred to as an
The Blue Train going from Ueno Station to Aomori Station should already be in the Tohoku region by morning, but because the old national railway trains, like the EF65, are only compatible with DC electricity, they will not pass any sleeper express trains in the Tohoku region. Also, the picture shows the train as being long, with more than seven cars, which is also quite strange for a regional train running in the Tohoku region
The old-style national electric trains were mainly used in the major cities of the Tokyo and Kansai regions, and later moved to local lines in the Chubu and Chugoku regions. However, by 1988, the old-style national electric trains had almost disappeared even on local lines, and the long train formations depicted in this work in particular would have long since become extinct
We can only imagine why such a picture was drawn, but I think it was probably chosen as the train to appear in this scene because the old national railway was a typical train that ran on local lines for many years. The photograph used as reference for the drawing was probably from the time when the old national railway ran in long formations in metropolitan areas
Conclusion
I've offered various observations, mostly pointing out discrepancies with reality, butto me, this picture book remains one of my favorites.
It's a shame that there are no more Blue Trains in Japan, and there are very few other night trains, so it's difficult to give my daughters an exciting experience like Kumata-kun's. Fortunately, however, there are clear signs of a comeback in recent years, as evidenced by the announcement of a new overnight express train connecting the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Tohoku region
![Mashu Maru](data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAJYAAACWAQAAAAAUekxPAAAAAnRSTlMAAHaTzTgAAAAaSURBVEjH7cExAQAAAMKg9U9tDQ+gAACAdwMLuAABXZHjmQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg== "I read the picture book "I Got on the Train" [Aomori Prefecture]")
![Mashu Maru](https://jp.neft.asia/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2244492_s-150x150.jpg.webp "I read the picture book "I Got on the Train" [Aomori Prefecture]")
![The former Japanese National Railways sleeper express train "Blue Train Akebono"](https://jp.neft.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/31001594_l-150x150.jpg.webp "Kosaka Railway Rail Park, where you can stay overnight in the former Japanese National Railways sleeper express train "Blue Train Akebono" [Akita Prefecture]")
![Oga_Kaya2113_Oga_19840806](https://jp.neft.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Oga_Kaya2113_Oga_19840806-150x150.jpg.webp "The history of the express "Oga" that connected Ueno and Akita and enjoyed strong demand [Akita Prefecture]")
