Image courtesy of Wikipedia: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%8F%E5%A5%B4%E5%8F%AF%E9%A7%85
The One about locals in Tojo-cho, Shobara, Hiroshima worried about the Geibi Line closure.
Back in 1990, JR Onuka Station had 98 passengers. By 2011, the station had 3. From 2014-2019, they had only one passenger. And since then has had 0.
The first “Reconstruction Council” in Japan, where railway companies, local governments, and the national government discuss the line’s future, has been convened.
What do local residents think about the threat of line closure? A woman who sells tickets at an unmanned station and plans events to promote the Geibi Line worries, “If the line is closed, the town will decline even further.” “Even if it’s there, I won’t use it, but if it’s gone, I’ll feel sad… It’s like getting rid of the Crown my father used to drive,” says a popular tourist guide at the unmanned station.
JR Onuka Station, known as a remote station, is the protagonist. The protagonists are Yoshihiro Hayashi and his wife, Chizuru, who have been selling tickets here for about 40 years. While running a small supermarket in front of the station, they see off and welcome their modest customers every day. The spring saw the line closed due to a disaster, the summer saw an increase in customers after reports of the line’s closure, and finally, the days spent watching the discussions at the Reconstruction Council begin.
Meanwhile, JR has begun discussions about the continuation and discontinuation of other Geibi Line lines, and high school students living along the line are taking action to forge ahead with the line’s future. 40 years of contracting with JR… What is the “reality” of the Geibi Line as seen from a year and a half of work by a couple who have been walking alongside the line? Long-term coverage reveals the future of this “local line that continues to be in the red.”
This is the official news channel of Hiroshima Home Television.
