Kit Kat as railway ticket
Through this column, we keep on brining you some fascinating aspects of Japan and here is one more. Why Japan? Because we feel the country and its people are like nothing else in the world – their resilience and way of life is so different from all of us. Being so remote, the land of the rising sun is indeed an example of life and living in many way.
The latest we heard is that the chocolate, Kit Kat has become a sort of a Railway ticket. After the 2011 earthquake, the rebuilding continues and till some time ago, a local railway between two coastal places, known as Sanriku Railway was devastated. Around 6 kms of railway line was washed away and some 300 locations were damaged. Now in Japan, it had become a sort of tradition to sent a pack of Kit Kat with a message – there the Kit Kat pack has an empty space for the sender to write a message. So Sanriku railway received a box of Kit Kat with a message – reconstruction will surely come. Nestle, the makers of Kit Kat were touched by this message and decided to contribute to the railway rebuilding. A new series of Kit Kat was created and 20 yen was contributed from each one sold. Nestle also decorated two of the railway’s trains and two stations with images of cherry blossoms.
This April, the railway began full operations and to mark its 30th anniversary on June 2 Nestle and Sanriku announced the Kit Kat Kippu or railway ticket. The package of the special Kit Kat has a picture of a railway ticket on the front. Passengers give it to a station attendant or train conductor in exchange for a receipt showing that the fare has been paid. The Kit Kat Kippu Kat will be sold at supermarkets and convenience stores in the Tohoku region, at railway-themed convenience stores across Japan, and at a museum cafe at Tokyo Tower in central Tokyo.