ミケRail Rolling Stock: Yamanote Line

I usually like to keep things a surprise but with the current situation I wanted to try and share more about my thought process behind the songs and costumes I choose and thought I'd start with sharing the concept and design of my next costumes!

I had actually only planned to have one new costume this year but I had so many ideas and so much excitement for the project that I decided to go ahead with more then one! Today I'm talking about my top favourite train from Tokyo!

Yamanote Line

The Yamanote Line is the main JR line that runs in a circle around Tokyo. If you have ever visited Tokyo you will have almost certainly ridden on it. Whenever friends ask for advice with their first trip to Japan I always recommend staying near a station on the Yamanote Line as you can then get to almost everywhere! Whenever I visit Tokyo I stay in the Toshima ward near Ikebukuro, Otsuka or Sugamo station.

The Yamanote line has a special place in my heart as whenever I think of Japan I think of the Yamanote line, the tunes at the stations and that fantastic apple/lime green.

It was only natural that I would incorporate it into this project and it was a contender for the first outfit. I went with the E7 in the end for a number of reasons. Mainly because I had the entire idea of the project while sitting on the E7 but also because the E7 had more of a traditional idol feel. When I think of the Yamanote line I think it has a very cool vibe and that wasn't what I wanted for my very first outfit.

The Yamanote Line currently uses a fleet of 50 11-car E235 trains. These have been gradually introduced to the Yamanote line since 2016 and as of January 2020 is the sole rolling stock used on the line. I love the design of the E235, the rounded corners and the dotted green/black design are so cool and I was always excited when I got to ride one of them in past trips. The internal is bright and spacious, I love the combination of the green, grey and yellow throughout.

The Outfit

So its fair to say this is one of my favourite trains in Japan, I even bought a cushion of it on one of my trips last year. Bringing it to life was a bit of a challenge. As I said before I get a kind of cool vibe from the Yamanote Line. Its in the centre of Tokyo, its high tech and modern so I wanted that to come across with the outfit.

The starting point for it was having it not be a dress but be shorts or trousers and then a jacket. I wanted the colours to be similar to the train and had considered trying to get the dotted pattern in it too. I had had a few ideas, incorporating classic idol motifs such as side skirt tassels, high boots and short at the front lower at the back design. It was when I was looking for inspiration I found the most perfect fabric that just screamed Yamanote Line to me. The green was just right and the greys weren't too dark. It fitted perfectly with one of my designs and tartan is a staple in idol costumes!

The bottom right is the design I'm going with, I've improved it a little since then but don't want to give too much away just yet! Jasmine who I commissioned to make my first dress will be doing this tartan jacket for me and I'm so so excited to see her bring the Yamanote Line to life!

The setlist

I haven't got a complete set list planned for Yamanote Line yet, but there are certain songs that I already have pegged for it. Again I want to keep with the cool, darker vibe, going for a mixture of cool dance songs with more badass choreography and slower songs with a more somber tone. I also wanted to incorporate the commuter and rush hour side of Yamanote Line as they are the people that ride the Yamanote Line the most.

I may not end up performing all or any of these songs but this is the current vibe I get from Yamanote Line. I have linked translations to the lyrics where available.

山手線 | Yamanote line - Hirate Yurina (Keyakizaka46)

A somber song named after the line itself, the lyrics speak of loneliness and being lost within ones self, riding the loop of the Yamanote line not sure where or when to get off.

Last Train - Kashiwagi Yuki & Takajo Aki (French Kiss, AKB48)

A little less somber than the solo by Hirate Yurina, this duet has a steady beat and synthetic sounds throughout with a message of rushing for the last train to make a change in ones life.

終電の夜 | Night of the Last Train - Komiyama Team K (AKB48)

Yet another 48group song, they have quite a few about trains, this song is by Komiyama Team K, the lyrics are best read yourself, they describe the feelings of two people, one who sees right through the other. It's hard to describe but I really like this song and have already started learning it, I hope to incorporate it into more than one setlist.

ズルいよ ズルいね | It's not fair, not fair - =LOVE

Now this is the only song here that isn't completely about trains and its one I am still unsure about performing because of that fact. However I love this song and the lyrics are truly beautiful and something I feel everyone can relate to.

It does talk about meeting on the same train and the music video has a scene set at one...so maybe I can make it count.

Galaxy Express 999 - Cupitron

Finally, a song I have actually already sung at my Debut Live. It's an old rather famous song and is even used as the jingle on the New Shuttle Line in Omiya. This is a techno version by the group Cupitron. While it isn't somber like the other songs I think the techno works well with Yamanote Line being in Tokyo, connecting the large flashy modern parts of the city together.

While I like all these songs as I said they may or may not be performed in the future, while I have this cool image in my head for Yamanote Line I don't want the setlist to be too depressing or samey especially when my other set lists are so much more upbeat. Don't want the Hypesquad getting whiplash from the change! Still, I wanted to share some of these songs with you though and hope you enjoy them if you end up giving them a listen!

Writing out this post has given me more ideas and things to think about with regards the Yamanote Line! I look forward to sharing more about the process behind the scenes of ミケRail and will be introducing another train in the next blog post so stay tuned.