One year has passed since the connection between Tokyu Toyoko Line and Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line.
At precisely the same time, the two cities connected with those lines, Naka-ku in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Hanno City, Saitama Prefecture, made an friendship city agreement to establish cultural ties.
On the same day as the public open of Kanagawa Prefectural Office, May 31st, two Kokusai Kogyo Bus vehicles from Hanno with the decoration of "Encouragement of Climb", an anime show set in Hanno, stayed and also opened its interior to the public at the parking.
There are three vehicles with the anime decoration, 6025, 6155, and 6183, but this time 6155 and 6183, on whose whole side and rear are decorated, came there.
On their body decoration the characters and, especially 6183, scenery in the city which appeared on the anime, such as Mt. Tenran, Iruma riverside park known as "Hanno Gawara", Mt. Bonomine, Akebono Kodomo-no-mori Park, "Sawarabi-no-yu" public bathhouse, and Lake Naguri.
As the charter service, the vehicles of Kokusai Kogyo Bus cover wider area than their regular ones, such as Chiyoda-ku and Minato-ku, Tokyo. However, in Kanagawa Prefecture, it was rare to be seen, which attracted some fans.
A city staff also came there and doled out files an anime illustration pictured with a tourist brochure.
Not only the body, their almost all of interiors were also decorated by the illustration; from the the seats to the roof and fare box thoroughly. On the back of some seats the introduction of characters were put, and on the advertisement space above the seats some episodes of the comic were shown. It was first time for me to see the bus some parts of a commercially-available comic showed.
Due to the thorough decoration, I felt these two could compete with Chichibu Loop Line Bus of Seibu Bus for the tourists as the bus along Seibu Ikebukuro and Seibu-chichibu Lines tied up with popular animes.