All aboard! Hello Kitty bullet train debuts in Japan

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A sleek "Hello Kitty" bullet train festooned with images of the global icon from Japan began services on Saturday, drawing hundreds of fans to its opening ceremony.

The special white and shocking pink shinkansen or bullet train departed from Hakata station in Fukuoka for Osaka, waved off by a conductor dressed in a Hello Kitty outfit - complete with the character's trademark pink ribbon - and watched by a crowd of some 400, according to local media.

Photo taken June 25, 2018, shows the inside of a shinkansen bullet train featuring Hello Kitty, unveiled by West Japan Railway Co. to the media in Fukuoka Prefecture before its debut on June 30. /VCG Photo

The train will run for the next three months between the western cities of Osaka and Fukuoka, the West Japan Railway Company said, hoping that one of the country's most famous exports will boost tourism.

Inside the train, Hello Kitty smiles down from the shades of every window, while one car featuring a "life-sized Hello Kitty doll" for fans to take selfies with.

West Japan Railway Co. (JR-West) shows inside a Shinkansen bullet train featuring Hello Kitty during the press preview ahead of its debut on June 30, 2018, at Nakagawa Town in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo June 25, 2018. /VCG Photo

Another car will have no passenger seats but offer regional specialties, including a selection of goods and foods, in a bid to boost the local economy and tourism.

Hello Kitty has spawned a multi-billion-dollar industry since Sanrio introduced it in 1974, adorning everything from pencil cases and pyjamas to double-decker buses and airliners.

In 2015 the West Japan Railway Company unveiled a "Hogwarts Express" Harry Potter themed bullet train that ran between Osaka to Kagoshima in western Japan.

Source(s): AFP