All aboard! Our express trip today takes us to Izumo City’s train station and its authentic steam engine, used as the Gigantliner in Kamen Rider Gotchard: The Future Daybreak!
The previous Kamen Riding entry took us to the coastal cape of Hinomisaki, up Japan’s tallest lighthouse, and through the grounds of the Hinomisaki Shrine. We learnt about the culture’s fascination with their sunsets, and how that pertained to Kamen Rider Daybreak’s search for somewhere to pass on.
Naturally, it only makes sense for this next blog to talk about a big ol’ steam engine! No existential dread here.
RELATED: Kamen Riding Across the Shimane Prefecture, Part Two
The steam engine in question is the D51 774 locomotive, found outside the former Taisha Station in Izumo City, and is used as the time travelling Gigantliner, present in the upcoming film. Don’t miss the next stop as we head over to our third Shimane Prefecture destination, and take a look at the industrial past of Izumo City!
Taisha Station
Established in 1912, the Taisha Line (Taisha-sen) was a railway line stretched across the city of Izumo, comprised of four stations. Originally including Izumoshi, Izumo-Takamatsu, Arakaya and Taisha stations, only Izumoshi still operates, with the rest demolished and built over once the Taisha line closed in 1990. Taisha station is still preserved but it is closed now and and has made into an Important Cultural Property of Japan in 2004.
The former station opened in 1912, featuring many of the trademarks of Japanese Imperial Crown Style architecture, such as the pyramid shaped roofs. Now a museum, the interior is decorated with mannequins dressed in railway uniforms, with many of the old ticket booth stands and equipment still on display for guests who enter the station.
Steam Locomotive
Gotchard’s featured diesel train is on display for visitors at the Taisha Station, still kept on one of the few remaining railway tracks left. The steam engine is a historic monument of 20th century Japan, with over a thousand of these kinds of trains built from 1936-1951. Currently, the locomotive at Taisha station is one of 174 still preserved in Japan.
Shimane’s tourist guide and Kamen Rider Gotchard’s collaborative website describes it being used as a time travelling Chemy-ized steam locomotive, called the Gigantliner in the movie, with set pictures of Houtaro, Rinne and Kajiki standing just outside the actual train; one that “is still loved by many fans today”. You can see a special Gotchard Chemy symbol has been stuck onto the front of the train for the feature release!
Chugging Along
It doesn’t take an alchemist genius to see why the Taisha Station steam engine is a perfect fit for the latest Gotchard movie. Gotchard’s entire aesthetic is the combination of a grasshopper and steam train, with his suit featuring a locomotive chimney and furnace on his chest, as well as railway wheels fitted onto his legs.
Taisha’s steam engine also represents a key point in the history of Japan’s railway travel. Locomotives’ tedious management and upkeep, coupled with the amount of smoke spewing out into the environment, inspired the developments of magnetic levitation transports. These are, of course, modern day bullet trains and electrical railway systems.
We’ve spoken a lot about how the past of Japan continues to influence its culture, an important part of Gotchard: The Future Daybreak’s story. With the locomotive at Taisha Station used as the Gigantliner, a time travelling train used to reach Daybreak’s time, there’s no better portrayal of this idea that the past informs our future. From leading to the creation of maglev train systems, to now transporting Gotchard and his friends to the future, the Japan locomotive is an important landmark of the country’s rich history that continues to inspire innovations made today!
That’s all for Gotchard: The Future Daybreak location #3, with our fourth and final location being Japan’s last remaining ironworks forge! See you then!
Kamen Rider Gotchard: The Future Daybreak premiered in Japanese theatres, July 26th with a DVD and Bluray release coming in the Autumn.
Taisha Station is currently undergoing re-construction until December 20th, 2025.
Are you keen to ever visit Taisha Station? Would you want to ride on one of the few locomotives still travelling around Japan? Let us know in the comments below!
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