Commuting With Cartoon Characters

In Japan, collaborations with subway and train systems are a frequent form of experiential licensing featuring anime and video game characters. The different regional systems under the Japan Railways umbrella are common collaborators, but many other train operators, both public and private, are also players in this space. On the licensor side, Nintendo is a regular participant, but many other property owners play a role as well. While there are shorter and longer durations, most efforts run for about six weeks.  

The initiatives typically involve components including wrapped train cars and interior décor that goes beyond a few signs to a true takeover, with a full color palette and character art across the whole car and details like hanging-strap wraps. Station lobbies and platforms are dressed up as well. Each train or station often has different décor to draw visitors to multiple locations. Custom music or audio productions are increasingly featured in stations or on the trains, while on-site events at stations or nearby retailers, featuring character appearances and other components, are also often part of the mix. 

Merchandise is typically for sale, in vending machines, pop-up shops, or adjacent stores at the stations; at pop-ups in other nearby locations; and/or in local retail shops. The array typically includes co-branded items such as t-shirts, towels, keychains, acrylic stands, clear files, themed limited-edition train passes and train pass holders, collectible trading cards and badges, magnets, collectible vending machine toys, stickers, pins, zipper bags, reusable shopping bags, mugs, and plush. Themed foods such as cookies and cakes are often offered in station vending machines and station shops as well. 

Digital stamp rallies are a part of most initiatives. Fans collect a digital stamp after visiting a station, riding a train, or listening to an audio or video production on board. By visiting several locations and checking in digitally, they can collect enough stamps to redeem a free prize at a nearby retail location, such as a magnet, clear file, or acrylic stand. Digital wallpapers can be collected at each check-in as well. 

Some examples of collaborations between characters and train systems in 2025 and 2026 have included: 

• Keisei Electric Railway, which runs Skyliner limited express train service from Tokyo to Narita Airport, is partnering with the anime series Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End for a promotion from May through August 2026. One of the trains on the line will feature graphics from the show and a renovated former train station on the line plans to host a special event, among other elements. 

• JR Central Railway, part of the Japan Railways system, is pairing with Final Fantasy from January 15 to April 15, 2026. The collaboration is timed to the debut of additional bullet trains to the Tokaido Shinkansen route connecting the cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Nagoya and the release of the Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade video game. In addition to the usual tie-in components, the venture includes an audio play featuring the game’s character voices that can only be heard on board the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet trains. Riders who listen to the drama on board receive a confirmation screen that entitles them to one of three acrylic keychains at the local Animate Nagoya anime specialty store. 

• Featuring a bit of wordplay involving the name of the subway branch, the Tokyo Metro’s Hanzomon Line featured the purple shape-shifting Pokémon character Ditto (Metamon in Japan), in a collaboration running from March 2 through March 15, 2026, timed to the property’s 30th anniversary and promoting the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 game Pokémon Pokopia. The implementation encompassed two trains on the line. 

• The JR Kyushu Railway Company, another Japan Railways system, paired with Super Mario for a Let’s Go Kyushu! initiative beginning in November 2025 and running through June 2026, involving its Shinkansen bullet trains. In addition to decorated trains and pop-up shops selling official Nintendo merchandise sourced from its stores in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, the effort includes a six-city tour of festivals taking place at train stations; they feature game demos, competitions, food, and photo ops. The tie-in involves trains and buses on multiple lines across the island of Kyushu and is meant to promote tourism in the region. It is timed to the opening of a fourth Nintendo store in Fukuoka, a city on Kyushu. 

• The Yamanote Line, a circular route around Tokyo operated by the Japan Railways system JR East, which encompasses many of the city’s busiest train stations, featured the Apothecary Diaries anime in a promotion starting in November 2025. A themed 11-car train promoted tourism in Ibaraki Prefecture, located in northwestern Greater Tokyo, with décor and a promotional film about the region. The latter stars the anime’s characters and is shown on digital screens on the train. 

• Hankyu Railways, a private railroad in Kansai, home to Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe, partnered with Nintendo’s Kirby for a tie-in across the region. From August 2025 through March 2026, commuter trains on three lines included different Kirby designs. Large Kirby and Waddle Dee plush figures wearing conductor’s hats rode along in the crew cabin, visible through the windsheld to fans on the platform. Stations included not only décor but Kirby-themed music, and the accompanying merchandise range included 28 different SKUs. Wrapped buses and character appearances at nearby malls were also part of the fun. 

• JR Central partnered with Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuX, the latest iteration of the long-running anime, starting in June 2025. The collaboration marked the 45th anniversary of the Gundam franchise and the 60th anniversary of JR Central’s Tokaido Shinkansen train linking Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, and Osaka. An exclusive in-train radio production was part of the collaboration, with riders who listened receiving a code that was redeemable for a clear file at Animate’s Umeda or Nagoya locations. This marked the third partnership between JR Central and the Gundam brand, with previous efforts involving Mobile Suit Gundam The Witch from Mercury and Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom.

These examples represent just a small sample of many events that have occurred in 2025 and 2026, adding to a long list of previous collaborations. 

Similar efforts take place in other Asian countries as well. For example, for six weeks starting in July 2025, Hong Kong’s MTR subway system collaborated on a Chiikawa-themed train in the Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, and Tin Shui Wai sections of the city — including on the Tuen Mun Voyager tourism route on weekends — tied to a Chiikawa Days exhibition. (Chiikawa also was featured in Japan in a collaboration with Hankyu Railway in 2023 and 2024.) 

Other properties aside from anime, manga, and video game characters also have occasionally been involved in train takeovers in Japan. In another example of wordplay, the Ōedo Line of the Toei Subway, a line in Tokyo, is pairing with Ed Sheeran for a six-week-long collaboration dubbed “Oh, Ed!” starting in September 2026; in addition, the line’s magenta color scheme is the same as the hue on the cover of the singer’s new album, Play. 

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