By IPPEI YAOITA/ Staff Writer
November 8, 2023 at 07:00 JST
The female ninja statue, center, is installed on the Sagano Line platform at JR Kyoto Station on Sept. 30. (Ippei Yaoita)
KYOTO--JR Kyoto Station is evoking the spirit of feudal-era assassins to greet passengers arriving on the Sagano Line platform.
The idea behind installing two ninja statues is to attract attention and thereby ease congestion as new arrivals pause to snap photos of the attractions and take selfies.
The 175-centimeter-tall male ninja and the 155-cm-tall female ninja, or “kunoichi,” were created by art department staff at Toei Studios Kyoto in the city’s Ukyo Ward.
The realistic-looking statues were jointly set up by the film studio, which manages the Toei Kyoto Studio Park also in Ukyo Ward, and West Japan Railway Co. (JR West), with the aim of promoting the charms of the Sagano Line and revitalizing areas along the line.
On the platform, the ninja statues are situated in the farthest place from the station's central exit.
“We hope the statues will be enjoyed by many people as a new attraction of the station,” said Takehiro Zai, head of JR West’s Keiji (Kyoto and Shiga) Branch, during an unveiling ceremony held Sept. 30.
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