New Ekiben Products from Kobe’s Awaji-ya in Collaboration with JR West’s SNS App for Railways

　On July 14, Kobe-based bento store Awaji-ya (Higashinada-ku, Kobe; TEL 078-431-1682) will start selling a new ekiben product, “Railil to Hittaridako Meshi,” in collaboration with Railil, a dedicated railroad SNS application.

If you look closely at the original route map, you will see “something

　Awajiya, which celebrated its 120th anniversary this January, developed the popular ekiben “Hippippippadako-meshi” in April 1998 to commemorate the opening of the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge connecting Kobe/Akashi and Awaji Island. Various collaborative projects have been developed to date.

　Reiriru is an application run by the JR West Japan Group. Under the concept of “Enrich your life with railroads,” it has a photo and video posting function for sharing railroad photos and travel memories, and a railroad column function for disseminating railway-related information.

　Yuki Yanagimoto, vice president of Awajiya and “SNS will do its best” business manager, said, “We have been close to the railroads since the Meiji era and have been able to celebrate our 120th anniversary because we have walked alongside the railroads since then. For the next 100 years, we must continue to work hard and evolve together with the railroads. In recent years, social media (SNS) has become the center of information transmission and topics of conversation. We were thinking that we had to respond to this trend, and that is when we came to know about Railil and decided to launch a collaborative station lunch box lunch box,” he said.

　The ceramic container for “Railil to Hittappadako Meshi” is finished in white and printed with an original route map “OCTOPUS NETWORK” drawn by Masaki Omori (Kansai Koki Maintenance), a designer who has worked on route maps for West Japan Railway Company. The hanging paper depicts an octopus enjoying railing on a smartphone.

　Mr. Yanagimoto reveals, “If you look closely at the route map, the figure of ‘something’ will appear.

　The price is 1,380 yen. In addition to being sold at Awajiya stores, the company’s online store also offers local delivery.