I might be doing this post a bit early, though I can always do a follow-up in a month or so *wink-wink*nudge-nudge*, but while we're on the subject of Shikoku, here's JR Shikoku's biggest Joyful Train programme: the Anpanman collab. There are at least seven vehicles in circulation, and since 2000, over a million passengers (1万 is 10,000) have been carried in these colourful specials, as indicated by the flag seen at Takamatsu station. I've only seen one, but it's a wow-ee:
If the fact that there are seven trains based on this character running around isn't enough of a clue, let's spell it out: Anpanman is a big deal in Japan. I feel he's not very well known outside, but domestically, it's a huge childrens' media franchise - grossing higher than Hello Kitty consistently since 2002, and that character's got a few trains in collab with JR West, including a banger Shinkansen set, but not seven!
So what is Anpanman? The titular character is a superhero with an anpan, a red-bean filled bun, for a face. All the characters and world are food-themed, with the antagonists being incarnations of mold and germs - the main baddie is Baikinman, just left of the rainbow below the windows. Bottom right of the picture are four of Anpanman's allies: Cheese the dog, Uncle Jam his baker and assistant Batako-san, and Melonpanna the melon bread-head. There's clearly more, and this train's 5 carriages long!
Anpanman trains come in many forms, from more leisurely tourist trains to Diesel and electric express sets. This is the electric one: a tilting 8000 series than runs mainly between Okayama/Takamatsu and Matsuyama, along the North coast of Shikoku. After spotting this train in Okayama, I caught a normal 8000 the next day to go to Imabari.
