The Kishu Railway is a local line running through Gobo City, Wakayama Prefecture, with a total length of only 2.7 km.

However, its headquarters are not in Wakayama, but in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, and it has a highly unique business model, operating resort hotels throughout Japan, including Karuizawa.

Why did a Tokyo real estate company acquire the Gobo Rinko Railway, which was on the verge of closure, for approximately 100 million yen?

The answer lies in acquiring the "railway company's brand name and credibility" in an era of booming real estate development. This video explains the extraordinary history of how the company treated its loss-making railway division as "tens of millions of yen in advertising expenses" and dominated the industry with its shared ownership resort membership business.

In the latter half of the video, we delve deeply into the decline of the resort business after the bubble burst, the acquisition by a Chinese investment company, and the shocking fact that "fare increases are impossible because there are no staff capable of writing application documents for fare revisions," leading up to the current crisis of closure. What fate awaits this railway brand name that has lasted for over 70 years? Please watch until the end!

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This channel creates content based on questions from viewers and general users regarding railway-related themes.

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Based on this, we conduct our own research using official railway company documents, publicly available information, and press releases, organize the facts, and then create scripts by adding our own analysis.

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This channel aims to help viewers understand railways more deeply by explaining railway operational structures, equipment, safety measures, and historical background step by step.

Railways are a public infrastructure used daily by many people, and understanding their mechanisms leads to safer use and better etiquette.

Furthermore, by explaining basic information in a step-by-step manner so that even those without specialized knowledge can understand, this video provides educational value not only to railway enthusiasts but also to general users.

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▶︎Materials Used
Sound Effects: Pocket Sound - @pocketse

▶Table of Contents
00:00 The Unusual Scale and Extremely Low Fares of the Kishu Railway
04:08 Why is the Kishu Railway Hotel in Karuizawa? Their Main Business is Real Estate and Resort Operations
06:30 The Reason for Acquiring a Loss-Making Line on the Brink of Abolition
12:39 Why Keep a Loss-Making Line afloat?
15:50 The Synergistic Effects of Social Media Outreach and Local Railways
18:39 Can't Fill Out the Fare Increase Application Form? The Crisis of Abolition and the Local Struggle for its Preservation

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