KIYOSU, Aichi (Japan): Nagoya Railroad Co. unveiled its Ghostrain — a four-car train decorated with ghostly advertisements made from plastic umbrellas left behind by passengers — to the press at its vehicle depot in Kiyosu, Aichi Prefecture, on June 20.
The train will run primarily on the company’s main line until Sunday (July 12).
As part of the project, plastic umbrellas destined for the garbage bin were transformed into ghosts with eyes and mouths, bearing the sort of resentful messages one might expect from a forgotten umbrella.
“You didn’t leave me here on purpose, did you?” reads one, while another says, “I’d rather get wet from the rain than from tears.”
With lost umbrellas piling up during the rainy season, Shogo Takahashi, a member of the company’s sales department, said, “We were particularly careful to include phrases that seem like they might come from an umbrella if it came back as a ghost.”
“We hope people won’t leave their belongings behind,” he added.
In fiscal 2025, the railway collected about 10,000 stick umbrellas and about 7,000 clear umbrellas as lost property. Only about 10% of the clear umbrellas were returned. - The Yomiuri Shimbun
