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ミケRail Rolling Stock: E7 Shinkansen

  • Writer: ミケRail
    ミケRail
  • May 5, 2020
  • 5 min read

I thought it was only fair to write about the E7, the train my first dress is based off of and the image for my logo, seeing as I had written about the ones that haven't even come to be yet!


E7 Shinkansen

The E7 series is a Japanese Shinkansen operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It primarily travels from Tokyo to Kanazawa. I got to ride the E7 when I visited Toyama Prefecture, travelling from Omiya Station in Saitama prefecture. My trip to Toyama was a little unplanned so I didn't know which train I was due to be on until it arrived, by cute coincidence I had bought a bento box in the shape of the E7 from the station shop before I even got to the platform!

It wasn't a train I had seen before, generally if someone mentions a Shinkansen I think of the N700 Series that was the first one I rode, or the green and pink of the long nosed E5 as they are probably the most famous. When it arrived I was very excited, its got a beautiful shape to it and the colours are really sleek. The internal was just as spacious as other Shinkansen and I had a great view of the mountains as we traveled across Japan to Toyama.


It was actually on my journey back to Tokyo from Toyama that day that the first ideas of this project began to take form, which is one of the main reasons that I decided to take inspiration from it for my first outfit. The other reason was because it wasn't famous like the others I mentioned and I hope that maybe more people would learn about it through me and would ride it to Toyama or Kanazawa.

All photos from Wikipedia

The E7, similarly to the E5 is one of the only Shinkansen with a Gran Class carriage, once again I wasn't lucky enough to ride in the Gran Class but man would I love to, look how beautiful it is!


The Outfit

For my first outfit I wasn't really sure where to start. Once I had decided on the E7 I knew it needed to incorporate the colours but other then that I didn't know what style to go for. I looked at a lot of idol costume books and my many idol games I play for inspiration but it was actually while looking at Lolita fashion that I started to form a design.


I wanted it to be a very classic idol look, the E7 had a very classic feel to it, the understated but sleek colours and shape, I wanted my outfit to match that. Something that idols wear a lot is altered or dressed up school uniforms. I wanted to incorporate the classic Japanese sailor school uniform collar and decided on a dress rather than a 2 piece uniform to give it that more classy, sleek look.


I took direct inspiration from the train itself with regards to the front panel being blue and added the fake buttons to the front that so many idol costumes have. I discussed my idea with Jasmine who came up with some beautiful fabric options and really got the look I was going for with my dress.

She bought my idea to life in the most beautiful way. I actually only got to see the dress in person the day before my debut live, trying it on the night before and doing a mini run-though with producer Izzy made it all become real and rather then feeling nervous I was so excited to wear the dress and felt like a true idol wearing it.

The Setlist

So I have of course already performed a couple of songs while wearing this outfit already but as I have started writing set lists customised to the other trains I've come to have a more solid concept for the songs that match the E7. The easiest way to put it is traditional idol. I had planned to wear this dress again at Hyper Japan this year and have a setlist all planned out and ready to go, I won't be sharing all the songs but at least a few and maybe some that aren't in the set list but will be in the future.


The very first song I performed as ミケRail it holds a dear place in my heart. It's been a favourite of mine since I first heard it so I was delighted when I found out it was actually about trains. The lyrics tell a story of a person who falls in love with someone they see through the train window every day. One of my favourite parts is where they lament about winter coming and not being able to see them through the steamed up windows. It's an incredibly fun song to sing and has that very classic idol feel to it, I especially love the call and response bit in the chorus! I think it fits with the E7 and the whole project in general so well that it will be a staple in my set lists for a while.

With a title like that how could I not listen to this song! Sung by a train theme subunit of BEYOOOOONDS, I fell in love with this song at first listen. It's got a very traditional idol feel to it and is so catchy, it even features a section in the middle where the leader of the subunit who is a train otaku shares some trivia about Roppongi station! Its such a fun song to sing and I really can't wait to perform it, and yes it does make me want to make a costume just for the Toei Oedo Line....

ここから、ここから | From here, from here - The cast of A Place Further than the Universe

Now this song has nothing to do with trains and is one I find difficult to sing but it was actually on my very first set list I wrote up for my debut live. Although it doesn't link directly with trains it held with it the feelings I wanted to convey with this project. It's a beautiful song that talks of going on a journey, a journey through life. Despite how difficult I find it to sing I would really love to perform it one day.


Let's start from here, I am going to a journey

-

We don't care if we are brought down; we are going to believe in ourselves


There was one more song I wanted to share with you but I think I will save that for another post entirely. I hope you enjoyed reading about the E7 and looking into the very beginning of this project. Even though I have plans for other costumes and other trains the E7 and this dress will always hold a really special place in my heart and will be worn many many more times!

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