The Passengers on the Hankyu Line

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All manner of people from every walk of life – solo passengers, friends, couples, families, work colleagues – traverse the concourse at a brisk pace. But as they cross paths, the contents of each traveller’s heart are a mystery known only to themselves.

Hiro Arikawa

Author’s Note

At Takarazuka Station on the Hankyu Railway Line, the Takarazuka Line bound for Umeda in Osaka and the Imazu Line that connects with the Kobe Line at Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station converge in a ‘Y’ shape, which in railway terminology is called a wye. Here you can also transfer to the JR Takarazuka Line, which makes Takarazuka Station a fairly large junction of three railway lines for this relatively regional mountainous area in western Japan.

Hankyu is a large private commuter railway line that operates in Kansai – as the area surrounding Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe is known – and its signature maroon train cars with their distinctive retro interiors are very popular among railway buffs, as well as with young women.

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