JR West, Kyoto City, and others are preparing to open “FUTURE TRAIN,” Japan’s first permanent store located on an abandoned railway line.
The location is on the elevated track of the former Umekoji Short Line, which connected the Tokaido Main Line and the Sanin Main Line on the west side of Kyoto Station. The line was abandoned before the construction of Umekoji Kyoto-Nishi Station, which opened in 2019, and food stalls and other businesses are occasionally set up on the site.
In addition to existing attractions such as the Kyoto Railway Museum and Kyoto Aquarium, a public-private partnership has begun to utilize the abandoned elevated railway line as a historical heritage to further revitalize the Umekoji area. The project aims to propose a new dining experience “Departing from an abandoned railway line, heading for the future” in a space modeled after a series of trains, with the 681-series car at the front, which once served as the “Thunderbird” express train that linked Kyoto and the Hokuriku region.
The restaurant, which is likely to become a new attraction, is called “FUTURE TRAIN.” Sebastian Masuda, an artist who has worked on art direction for Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and continues to promote the KAWAII culture of Harajuku, Tokyo, will serve as brand producer.
The lead car, repainted in a striking reddish purple coloring as “Future Bird”, was transported overland from Suita General Rolling Stock Depot (Suita City, Osaka) to Kyoto during the Golden Week holidays and hoisted onto the abandoned railway line. It is scheduled to open in the summer of 2025 as an entertainment restaurant operated by the DD Group (Minato City, Tokyo), which operates restaurants and other businesses nationwide.
