3 Ramen-powered Railway

JAPANESE TOURIST TRAIN RUNS ON RAMEN.

by Persephone Kianka

As an island nation with limited landfill space and a goal of better sustainability, Japan has had to develop some inventive solutions. Japanese companies, for example, tackle food waste by taking vegetable peels, cooking oil, eggshells and other used foodstuffs and repurposing them entirely.

The Amaterasu Railway, a tiny sightseeing train that tours the scenic town of Takachiho, is one such reinvention. At first glance, visitors can tell that the train is unique with its open roof and pink-coloured cars; the conductor even blows bubbles from the locomotive. However, its most interesting feature only becomes apparent once the tour’s underway.

Since last year, the Amaterasu Railway has been running on leftover tonkotsu ramen broth from local restaurants. As a result, it leaves a delicious aroma in the air and causes less damage to the mountainous landscapes and rice fields it passes.

To make the biodiesel, Nishida Logistics, a Japanese trucking company, “extracts pork fat from the stock and refines it; it’s then mixed with old oils used to fry foods like tempura.” The final concoction contains 90 percent cooking oil and 10 percent tonkotsu ramen broth.

Tasha and complete the rescue mission. According to the Irish Mirror, on the day of the reunion, Violetta “sat outside patiently all morning, wrapped up in a red puffer jacket and with a ball in her hand, waiting for Tasha to arrive”.

In pictures of this “extremely emotional moment”, we see Tasha leaping up to lick Violetta’s face while the elderly lady beams and pets her head.

As Ms Deegan notes, this happy outcome was only possible thanks to the kindness of friends and strangers who selflessly gave of their time and energy.

“We wanted it to be something more than just a tourist attraction, that could inform people about the history, culture and environment,” said Hiroyoshi Saitoh, the company’s managing director. “By implementing the biodiesel, we wanted people to become more conscious about environmental issues as well as biodiesel, especially for the students that come here on school trips.”