[Japanese Drama] 鉄オタ Daozi, 20,000 キロ | The railway line will last forever

Do you know that there are 20,000 kilometers when all the railway lines are connected?

But isn't the trip going and going back? If travel is the premise, isn't it 40,000 kilometers?

"Twenty thousand kilometers" is the approximate total kilometers of the six JR railway lines in Japan; in terms of the length of electrification of railways in Japan, it is about a little more than 20,000 kilometers. "Railway fans (鉄道ファン)" and "Railroad House" (鉄ヲタ) are general terms for railway enthusiasts. As for female railway fans, they are also known as "鉄子". Many railway fans have different attributes because they focus on railway things of interest, such as:

1. "Traveling Iron" or "Ride by Iron" (ride り鉄): Take the railway to visit post houses or secret places.
2. "Photography Iron" (決り鉄): mainly to shoot railway photos or videos.
3. "Sound Iron" (or recorded り鉄): self-provided equipment, recording various sounds around the railway for analysis.
4. "Mama Iron" (ママ鉄): A mother who became a railroad fan under the influence of her children.

In addition, there are also railway fans who collect train tickets, station stations in various places, study railway vehicle equipment, or collect models and toys, and of course there are also researchers of railway history. The railway fans of each attribute are not clearly distinguished.

From the end of the last century to the present, Japan's railway clubs have been actively developing the female market; in the 21st century, animation works featuring female railway fans as the protagonists, and frequent exposure of "iron artists" and "railway idols", coupled with changes in gender awareness , all of which play a role in pushing the growth of the female railway fan group.

In the play, Michiko Oganeku, played by Tatsuna Yucheng, is a fashionable OL who is a salesperson in a furniture club, and another identity of Michiko is a railway house. He often uses his spare time, or on the way back from his trip, to visit the most local railway lines to find hidden secrets or wonderful scenery. Michiko also uses "YUI" as a pseudonym, and contributes irregularly to "Travel and Railway" magazine. "YUI" is taken from the nickname "YUIRAIL" of the monorail in his hometown Okinawa. (Actually, Tamajo Tana is also from Okinawa)

The pocket version of the timetable and the heavy-duty single-lens camera are the standard equipment of Daozi in the play. When riding a train, you must have sufficient observation and mastery of information such as the birth year, model, power source (gasoline, diesel or electricity) of the train, and the number of passengers on and off at the station in a single day. Visiting the secret realm of the railway, taking a nap in an unmanned station, and rewriting the guestbook is a sense of ritual. In addition, the purchase of characteristic stations and souvenirs from various places is not only for food and consumption, because once you walk into a situation where there are no stores before and after, how can you enjoy the scenery elegantly when you are hungry?

On a Christmas day in college, in order to temporarily get away from the air and the relationship between the city and the human world, I took the tram and arrived at a remote station with nothing at all. I blurted out, "Where is this?" The healed Daozi has gradually become a railway fan since then. Every time I travel, facing the often empty station after getting off the bus, "Where is this?" became a mantra that Daozi blurted out intentionally or unintentionally.

Railway fans must have the courage to get off the train halfway beyond the plan. Faced with the sparse and exquisite timetable, the sense of loneliness and mystery surrounded by mountains and rivers but sparsely populated, and the sense of ruins in the wilderness, one can slow down the pace and be indifferent. In addition, being in a place where there may be "nothing" along the way, you can experience the meaning of travel that is completely different from public sightseeing.

From the most northerly JR Hakodate Main Line, to the JR Ibusuki Makuzaki Line in Kyushu, and the Hisa おれんじ Railway, the most beautiful scenery encountered by Daozi on the line is not only the train, the station building, the superb view, of course: people, including all kinds of people. Travelers and locals.

I wanted to say hi to you, but I'm not really good at talking to people. And you speak English, which scares me.

I am a fan of YUI, I travel to meet YUI; if you see a girl like YUI, be sure to tell me.

Kafi is a railway fan whom Michiko met at the B&B at Hirafu Station on the Hakodate Main Line. Unable to give up his passion for railways, Jia Fei quit his regular job and sent his photographs to magazines to earn travel expenses.

Daozi and Jiafei exchanged contact information in Hokkaido, and occasionally joined each other on their respective journeys in the future, and even met on the level crossing at Nishidaiyama Station, the southernmost point of JR. Jia Fei may not know it at all, or he may have vaguely noticed that Daozi may be the railway travel writer YUI he longed for in the magazine "Travel and Railway".

Do you like trams too?

Michiko met JK who was carrying a Polaroid at Oga Station on the Noiwa Railway where less than 100 people took off and landed in a single day. Because the tram straps on their backpacks confirmed that they were both railway fans, the two took a small trip to the secret realm in the mountains of Aizu Kinugawa. The photographic works that JK left behind with the Polaroid became the Feature in the manuscripts that Daozi sent to the magazine.

Why did you get off at this station?

During a trip on the Aizu Railway, Michiko met Totetsuo, who came from Hokkaido with equipment to collect the sound of the railway. The two sides caught up in the waiting room of Dachuanba Park Station. Because of the warning signs that bears were infested, the two walked together for a short time, then parted ways, and then met by chance at the Dam Archives. In addition to collecting sounds, Tetsuo is also a fan of collecting limited commemorative cards in dams all over Japan.

Ride is the purpose, but the destination is second.

I bought a ticket for the Hakone Tozan Railway and brought my two sons, "Mama Tetsu", and Michiko, who has not yet decided to get off the train, talked about his "Tetsutsu". The picture of a family of three waving to passers-by in the carriage was captured by Daozi who took a photo of the car with one eye on the observation deck of the coffee shop, and became a page in the magazine "Travel and Railway".

Senior, are you actually a railway fan? Everyone in the company said this, you don't have to hide it anymore, it's very troublesome!

Even if the social atmosphere changes, the love for railways is no longer the same as in the past with obvious gender stereotypes and boundaries. Daozi is still hindered by the established personalities or puppets in the workplace. Show your love for railways. It was not until I was on the way home from Kyushu with my colleague and took the Fat Sa お れ ん じ iron road, which was full of sea views, and the two got off and roamed at Satsuma Takajo Station temporarily. They had an opportunity to make friends. After talking, Daozi couldn't help crying.

During travel, people-to-people meetings, or N meetings, are always unexpected, as if there is an invisible line that connects travelers with certain things.

For the dream of railway photography, and the possibility of meeting the longed-for railway writer YUI on the journey, Jiafei gave up a stable job and traveled everywhere. As Daozi's works published in the magazine "Travel and Iron Road" gradually gained more popularity, he also ushered in another possible career. The editor-in-chief of Kuroba, who is also a railway fan like Michiko, proposed to Michiko for regular serialization and an invitation to join the magazine as a regular member.

Michiko, who was filming the secret realm with Kafei on the Boso Peninsula, sent a postcard to the editor-in-chief Kuroba:

I also love my job, so allow me to decline this invitation.

Do you want to turn your love for railways into a full-time career? Daozi and Jiafei made no standard answer to their careers, but made different choices.

After finishing this "鉄オタ Michiko, 20,000 キロ" produced and broadcast by テレビ Tokyo, it would be a lie to say that I did not miss the railway travel before the epidemic blocked the border. There are also many lines in the play that directly hit my occupational disease:

If someone travels because they want to be liked, there are also people who travel because they want to elope with their loved ones, and there are people who are looking for a place to live in their travel destination. Although the reasons are different, all journeys have one thing in common. , that is, meeting the unexpected self.

Solar panels, unmanned stations, dam cards, train sounds, gossip from the Obasans, decommissioned tracks, young trains, people make their own decisions about what is valuable, and the things that move people's hearts are different. What is troublesome for one person can also touch the heart of another.

Maybe it's true that there are no famous attractions covered in magazines, and no convenient coffee shops and restaurants, but so what? There's great stuff here, there's "nothing" here.

I was disturbed by monkeys at lunch, the suspension bridge was farther than I thought, and the mailbox was not found in the end. Although it was not smooth, I still felt happy. Why, traveling in an unexpected direction may be the joy of traveling?

Therefore, I, who have watched this Japanese drama three times, should also be a railway fan? Stop it! I am a pseudo-railway fan who has neither a single eye nor a timetable, nor does I like to write guestbooks, nor do I buy ekibens or collect souvenirs.

• Appreciate Citizen 2.0 Subscription Sponsorship: https://liker.land/cathytsai/civic
• A Buddhist fan who doesn't work hard on Facebook: " Those things travel history taught me "
• You'll see me here too:Checkered VOCUS | Medium | hkese.net
• If you want to cooperate, you can come to me here: misiaa2001@gmail.com
• Welcome to my share referral link: MAX Exchange | Noise.cash