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East Japan Railway Company, aka JR East, has an online shop where rail fans can buy all sorts of train-related memorabilia. A lot of it you can probably imagine, stuff like Shinkansen posters, Yamanote Line plastic toys, keychains of the company’s Suica mascot penguin.
And then there’s their newest item. It’s a recreation of the 6000 Series Container Yellow-Green Number 6, a cargo container that was used by JR trains to haul freight around Japan between 1960 and 1975. Hardcore train enthusiasts are sure to be impressed with its historical significance, but what’s really significant is its size.
Are you imagining a compact box you can set at the corner of your desk for a decoration? Think bigger. Much, much bigger. It’s 3.715 meters long, 2.45 meters wide, and 2.5 meters tall, so it’s not something you put in your living or bedroom, but something that becomes an entire room of its own, installed on your property.
The replica is almost the exact same size as the actual shipping container was, giving it approximately 7.1 square meters of floor space. Three different interior designs are available, with the simplest, the Train Storage type, giving you plain plywood walls, floor, and ceiling.
If you want something fancier, you can step up to the Train Gallery type, which offers a much more finished look and even gives you some special furniture, a two-seat bench that was actually used on one of JR’s Azusa passenger trains.
▼ The Train Gallery interior also nets you a Railway Antiques Treasure Chest with various fittings from an Azusa train.
Finally, there’s the Sleeper Express interior, with a desk, chair, curtained window, and sleeping pad.
▼ The chair and curtains are from a JR Hokutosei train.
Prices vary depending on specific options, but start at 2.97 million yen for the Train Storage, 7.7 million for the Train Gallery, and 9.9 million for the Sleeper Express. This being an East Japan Railway product, installation is available for Tokyo and other Kanto (east Japan) prefectures. Officially called the Machihako Train series, the container rooms are available now through the JRE Mall online shop here.
Insert images: PR Times, JRE Mall (1, 2)
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© SoraNews24
23 Comments
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kohakuebisu
Wow! A used regular container will be about 200,000 yen for JR size (12 ft).
I don't know about the city, but in inaka, you can put one of these on your land without planning permission and claim it is temporary.
Mocheake
You would also need a psych eval because you are just about certified nuts. I guess people here are used to offices with few or no windows so it may seem normal. Do you know what you could otherwise do with ten million yen!
snowymountainhell
Since Japan obviously has no deed restrictions, property ‘setbacks’, etc starting to see many of these with electrical wiring running out to the nearest pole. They’re plopped down through the the countryside or, now, outside the family’s main house. A retreat, (or a cell) for the retired & aging father-in-law, or the weekend hobbyist?
Tomi
Why not sell real train cars for that amount of money?
9 million is a whole year’s salary for many for a container that JR east buys for 200,000?
You can even buy two beautiful weekend houses for that type of money.
Desert Tortoise
I have had jobs in not so nice places like Papua New Guinea where we were housed in converted 20 foot shipping containers with no windows and a blast-o-matic air conditioner called a "Porta-Camp". The walls sweated in the humidity despite the near Arctic blast from the air conditioners. Just something about living in a steel box with clammy steel walls, floors and ceiling made me feel like I was living in a dumpster. A wooden box would feel much more homey, and drier. If one is worried about weakening it with a window. Some inexpensive well placed wooden 2x4 bracing inside can solve that problem.
Desert Tortoise
Cool garden shed.
JeffLee
Just get a real container at a fraction of the price, furnish it with a proper couch and install a window for god's sake.
snowymountainhell
There are multiple YouTube sites showing how alterations can possible be made. However, once a window is cut, the container may no longer be safe, especially NOT for stacking nor supporting weight of an upper, weekenders’ deck.
ushosh123
Maybe it's just me that see a clear difference in being a train enthusiast and a cargo that goes on a train enthusiast.
Sal Affist
If this is not insulated for the climate, it will be a miserable "man cave" or "retreat" during both the summer and the winter. In addition, it will need to be maintained to avoid rusting away like other old containers.
kurisupisu
Not much demand for these in cramped Japan.
snowymountainhell
Don’t know if it’s a “faux” window or real, but the 4th photo caption reads:
“Finally, there’s the Sleeper Express interior, with a desk, chair, curtained window, and sleeping pad.” -snowymountainhell
Agree @kohakuebisu 7:35am less-expensive DYI options may be available to an enterprising homeowner.
snowymountainhell
Perhaps someone like @Antiquesavings, renown for his extensive experience in reworking & redesigning recovered materials, would have some better insight of how renovations inside these containers could be done to make them safe, functional and ‘livable’ ?
snowymountainhell
This proposed idea would be interesting to ‘See’:
@10:22am: “A window and door are easy to construct behind *the container doors without cutting any part.*” -Is a link & diagram available?
snowymountainhell
“Good” because ccording to someone’s earlier @10:02am comment “Expensive and has no windows.“ So it seems some additional reading of the entire article was necessary then? It’s okay. Not necessarily the first and only time,… today.
snowymountainhell
Acknowledged that possibility when I specifically wrote the word: “*faux” @10:12am AND claimed NOTHING, merely provided alternative information from other, more experienced & knowledgable sources*. Most reasonable and rational people would get a 2nd doctor’s or mechanic’s option before surgery or a major automobile engine overhaul, right?