FUKUOKA -- Kyushu Railway Co. (JR Kyushu) recently held an entrance ceremony inside a sightseeing train for the first time here, with the hope that the new employees will make use of their past experiences and open up a new world.

The 33 people who have been hired through JR Kyushu's mid-career recruitment track joined the railway operator on Oct. 1. On the sightseeing train "36 Plus 3," JR Kyushu President Yoji Furumiya, dressed as a crew member, handed each new hire a letter of appointment in the shape of a train ticket to congratulate them on their new start.

The 36 Plus 3 began service in October 2020. Designed by Eiji Mitooka, the creator of the luxury sleeper train "Seven Stars in Kyushu," the train travels around the seven prefectures in southwest Japan's Kyushu region over five days from Thursday to Monday while introducing the food and culture of each area. The name comes from Kyushu's status as the 36th largest island in the world, and "36 Plus 3," or 39, implies the phrase "thank you" in English, because in Japanese the number three is pronounced "san" and nine pronounced "kyu," together sounding like "thank you".

The company chose a sightseeing train as the venue for the entrance ceremony to express its uniqueness without focusing on formality. The ticket also has a playful touch: instead of the names of the departure and arrival stations, they are "past experiences" and "new you," respectively, while the expiration date reads, "valid from Oct. 1 as long as you are a JR Kyushu employee."

Furumiya said to the new employees, "Thank you for choosing JR Kyushu. We chose to have the entrance ceremony inside a train because we wanted to make it a memorable one. I hope that you will never forget what you have learned and experienced so far, and become one of us who convey the energy of the JR Kyushu group."

On behalf of the new employees, Yumemi Fujiya, 22, pledged, "I will always be grateful to all those who support me, and I will work hard to perform my duties cheerfully and happily."

(Japanese original by Tomohiro Shimohara, Kyushu Business News Department)