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Nagasaki: Unique Kamome products going fast

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:54 JST, November 12, 2022

NAGASAKI — Products associated with a new Shinkansen bullet train, the Kamome, have enjoyed brisk sales at souvenir stores at stations along the line in Saga and Nagasaki prefectures since the train’s inauguration on Sept. 23.

A souvenir store at Nagasaki Station, operated by a subsidiary of Kyushu Railway Co., sells about 40 kinds of products related to the Kamome. The store is often packed with tourists and shoppers, and it increases its number of store clerks on weekends to handle the rush.

Courtesy of JR Kyushu Trading Co.
A pen case made to resemble the Kamome Shinkansen

Long Baumkuchen, which comes in a 50-centimeter-long box made to look like the train, have sold particularly well at station shops. The long, slender, cylindrical cake is 3 centimeters in diameter and sells for ¥870.

“More than 1,000 of the cakes have been sold so far this month,” the shop’s manager said in late October. “It has sold out for the day several times and is very popular.”

The baumkuchen is also the most popular item at a kiosk at Takeo-Onsen Station in Saga Prefecture, where about 800 of the cakes were sold in the first month after the train began running.

“I think the popularity comes from not only the affordable price but also the boxes, which accurately reproduce the train including the logo on the cars,” a store representative said.