I’ve lived in Japan for forty years. While I would not consider myself a train enthusiast, it’s hard not to get affectionate about them after having ridden them for so many years. My four-year-old grandson, who lives with me, is definitely already a fan. He can identify dozens of different trains and train lines, and currently his favorite song is about railway crossings [1]. It helps that we live a five-minute walk from one of the busiest places for trains in Japan [2].
For his birthday last month, I bought him a huge, incredibly detailed picture book about trains [3] that we have been reading together. It will be interesting to see how his interests evolve as he gets older. Fans tend to focus on particular aspects of trains—riding them, photographing them, recording their sounds [4], learning their schedules, etc.—and there are terms for each type of enthusiast [5].
I've been in Japan 5 years now and my enthusiasm for trains has really taken off since I got here.
I just showed my one year old this song and he's loving it.
I really enjoyed the Hara model railway museum in Yokohama as it's not just nice model railways but also the biography of Nobutaro Haras life and his travels around the world documenting trains.
Through my three year old son I've discovered the concept of Fumikiri channels on YouTube in which railway crossing signs not only protect railway crossings, but have families, go to restaurants, etc. It's a subgenre of train videos we never realised we needed.
I’ve lived in Japan for forty years. While I would not consider myself a train enthusiast, it’s hard not to get affectionate about them after having ridden them for so many years. My four-year-old grandson, who lives with me, is definitely already a fan. He can identify dozens of different trains and train lines, and currently his favorite song is about railway crossings [1]. It helps that we live a five-minute walk from one of the busiest places for trains in Japan [2].
For his birthday last month, I bought him a huge, incredibly detailed picture book about trains [3] that we have been reading together. It will be interesting to see how his interests evolve as he gets older. Fans tend to focus on particular aspects of trains—riding them, photographing them, recording their sounds [4], learning their schedules, etc.—and there are terms for each type of enthusiast [5].
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NN_EZA8lX4
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4po1SlK0c0
[3] https://zukan.gakken.jp/live/train_new/
[4] https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%E9%9B%BB%E8%BB...
[5] https://japanrailtimes.japanrailcafe.com.sg/web/article/rail...