KASHIHARA, Nara -- Station name signs featuring illustrations of popular characters from the "Street Fighter" game series have been installed at four major Kintetsu Railway Co. stations here.

The city of Kashihara in Nara Prefecture is promoting urban development utilizing this game series. Four signs including the main character "Ryu" were installed at Yamato-Yagi Station, and two signs each at Ninokuchi, Yagi-nishiguchi, and Kashiharajingu-mae stations on Sept. 30. They will remain there for at least one year. To celebrate the installation, a commemorative train with a head mark featuring Ryu operated on the Kintetsu Kashihara Line of and other lines on the same day.

A bronze statue of Ryu's rival fighter, Ken, standing 1.6 meters tall including the pedestal, has also been installed in front of Cafe Kashi no Mori on the grounds of Kashihara Jingu shrine. The bronze statue depicts Ken making a victorious V-sign.

The Kashihara Municipal Government concluded a comprehensive cooperation agreement in 2022 with Osaka-based major video game software firm Capcom Co., and implemented a series of tourism promotions utilizing the Street Fighter games. In addition to bronze statues, the iconic characters are also used in the design of manhole covers and license plates for small motorcycles.

(Japanese original by Narumi Minagi, Kashihara Resident Bureau)

Popular characters on each station name sign

Ryu, Chun-Li, Ed and A.K.I. are installed at Yamato-Yagi Station; E. Honda and Ken at Kashiharajingu-mae Station; JP and Vega at Yagi-nishiguchi Station; and Manon and Marisa at Ninokuchi Station.