Gundam Elevator at Tobu Omochanomachi Station
Omochanomachi Station on the Tobu Utsunomiya Line is located in Mibu Town, Tochigi Prefecture. It is also a station where a Gundam manhole cover is installed in front of the station.
The three elevators located there are wrapped with designs provided by Bandai, Takara Tomy, and Epoch Co., respectively.
While Takara Tomy features Plarail and Epoch features Sylvanian Families, fully embracing the 'Toy Town' theme, Bandai features a Mobile Suit Gundam motif with a design that looks like a plastic model box illustration.
This wrapping is part of the 'Future Toy Town Project.' The background of the installation is described in the following Tobu Railway release (PDF).
https://www.tobu.co.jp/cms-pdf/news/20241224155028S7QkqIZAnstZvFgizZMZKA.pdf
When you hear 'Gundam' and 'elevator,' you might think of an orbital elevator, but this one only connects the ground level to the underground level.
The station's east exit is where the Gundam manhole is located. The Gundam manhole is in the back right direction when looking from the station.
You can see the Gundam elevator from this manhole cover. Actually, it is also visible in the photo above.
The Tamagotchi characters in the back right are on the station building.
This alone is worth seeing, but when you actually go inside, the interior is also thoroughly wrapped in Gundam designs.
It seems to be a Federation Forces close-combat prototype mobile suit.
And inside this elevator, facing the Gundam, is the Char's Custom Zaku.
I just noticed while looking at the photo that it says 'Side B1' at the top, which is a play on words between a colony name and the underground floor opening.
And the side that opens in the basement is the opposite of the ground level. The basement door is Char Zaku themed.
Also, there is a Zeon mark above the entrance. The Gundam side on the ground level had a Federation Forces mark.
By the way, the other elevators look like this.
A Plarail version designed by Takara Tomy.
A Sylvanian Families version designed by Epoch Co., Ltd.
By the way, if you go from the Gundam elevator toward the industrial park on the side of the Gundam manhole, there is a Zeong manhole on the sidewalk in front of the Bandai Museum. It seems there are Gundam dioramas and such inside the Bandai Museum, but the admission fee is surprisingly high, and it was closed on the day I went.
