Kato USA offered us a chance to obtain this six car MU Electric train set available in Japan, but limited quantity here. It is well worth the $166.41 it cost. The photos of the deep maroon train with it's gold side decorations and silver and black illustrations of large Japanese folding Paper Fans also on the sides was very appealing. The model comes in a Kato Slip Case (book case) box , but with a twist. Instead of the usual green color it is the same shade of maroon as the train with the train name in white to show through the outer sleeve window and embossed paper fans on the front cover of the storage case (box).The train is the usual Kato high quality, the wonderful paint scheme is complemented by aluminum window frames and gray trucks, wheels are semi-low profile metal. Kato's only standard flaw is no window glass in the rear end door windows on the cars. The motor as usual is a flat under floor unit located in the second car. All cars have interior detailing, two pairs of roof top pantographs are on the second and fourth cars and photos show the prototype is operated with all of them raised at one time. Coupling between the cars models the modern MU couplers found on these trains, they snap together (or plug together) and have all the MU cables and air hose's modeled so that they touch when coupled. The instruction sheet is printed in the same maroon color including the photo of the prototype train on the front and inside are side views of all the cars showing the placement of numbers, decoration, and fan decoration on all of the trains so decorated and a decal sheet is included to allow modelers to do the other trains. Very nice! Nate Goodman (Nato).
