Japan has revolutionized train-travel once again
Dogs, who usually have to sit in cages on trains, can now enjoy the window seat together with their owner on luxurious Shinkansen seats.
This is a proof of concept organized by Japan Railways (JR) named "Woof! Application" and its Japan's first demonstration experiment of a Shinkansen dog-train. The travel fee is high as 106,000 yen for 2 people per trip.
The biggest selling point is that the dog can be taken out of its cage for about 40 minutes on the outbound Shinkansen.
This seems like an easy thing to administer if only dog lovers could board, but for regular routes, many problems had to be solved. This is because the vehicle will be used to carry ordinary passengers again after being chartered. Passengers may have an allergic reaction due to dog hair, etc., and how to remove all those pesky dog particles is a major issue.
Therefore, this time, a vehicle was put in the boarding station at about 30 minutes before the departure time, and careful preparations were made. Staff put vinyl covers on all seats to prevent hair from sticking to the fabric. In addition, with the cooperation of Panasonic, an extra powerful air purifier was installed. All of these measures were formulated under the guidance of veterinarians.
Why would JR put so much effort into dog trains?
The reason why this proof of concept is done even with so much effort is the potential demand: Japan is the only country in the world where pets outnumber babies! (source)
Also, dog owners really want the best for their dogs. "My dog is a member of my family. I don't want to be put in a cage, so why should my dog have to?" asks a participant in the dog-train.
In the future, present issues such as cleaning and operation will likely be streamlined and prices are likely to fall to levels not too far from present levels.
For now though, all dog-lovers can hope for is that this trend catches on enough for JR to put some serious effort into the project.
And who knows, maybe future Shinkansen trains will have dogs in the seats and us sitting in cages.
Japan Leads the way with the World's First Dog-Train