Running south from Osaka the Nankai Electric Railway Co Ltd heads for the coast at Wakayama.
The name comes from the companies routes along the Nankaido, the highway that ran south from the old capital Kyoto along the sea coast. The company was founded in 1884 and takes its name from Nankai meaning “South Sea”.
From the station at Wakayamashi local trains ply the 10km route to Kada carrying the name “Medetai” and colourful liveries depicting a sea theme inside and out.
The Blue train represents the undersea world, while the pink is a tribute to the natural colour of the local sea bream, a specialty of the area “Kadas sea bream now swims along the rails”.
Train nana is red and decorated with inages of good fortune….and the latest addition is the black Kashira decorated within to resemble a pirate ship, filled with images relating to fish music and treasure.
More information can be found on their website (in Japanese) here.
