Our partner: Shonan Monorail

The Shonan Monorail (jap. 湘南モノレール, Shōnan Monorēru) is a suspended monorail. It is operated by the Shonan Monorail Co., Ltd. and located at the city of Kamakura.

About the Shonan Monorail

The line opened March 7, 1970. It was the first monorail of its kind in Japan. The notion of convenience and safety is emphasized by Shonan Monorail. At the same time, it is said to be one of the most exciting monorails, which goes up and down along the mountains and valleys. It also makes sharp turns and passes through two tunnels.

Enoshima Line travels 6.6 km every seven to eight minutes between Ōfuna Station and Enoshima, making six stops. The average length of a single trip is 14 minutes. As the line is located within commuting distance of Tokyo, it is an important means of transportation for local residents.

There are many sights to visit from one of the six stations which will leave a good impression of the diversity of the Kanagawa prefecture.

Schwebende Schwestern — © Stadt Wuppertal

Sister Suspended Monorail

In April 2018, the president of shonan monorail Mr. Hideo Otawari and managing director of WSW mobile Mr. Ulrich Jaeger met in the city of Wuppertal. The idea of the “Sister Suspended Monorails” was born.

On the occasion of the first test-drive of wuppertals suspended monorail, 120 years ago, we celebrated this event with our “little sister” shonan monorail on the 13th of September. The sky-blue wagon NO1 is hovering over the city in a specially created kawaii-design. In addition to that, there will be more events around the twinning of the two monorails. For this event the monorails and the stations of shonan monorail were decorated in kawaii-style and passengers received special event-tickets.

What is kawaii? Kawaii is the Japanese notation for adorable and sweet. The connotation of innocence and childishness is a symbol of pop-culture, which can be seen through wide sections of the society. In Germany kawaii gets more and more popular. Hello Kitty, Pokemon and anime-comics are known examples