For Kojima, the image of a train is the maroon Hankyu carriage…

“But when I was alone, I would hold my knees and listen to music and cry.”

In February 2011, Kojima detoured from a business trip to visit his father’s grave near his old house and rode the Hankyu Railway for the first time in a year. He did not know anyone on the train; the view outside had changed greatly since he had lived there and the train car’s interior had been modernized, but the cozy, cradle-like sway felt nostalgic. He described the Hankyu not merely as transportation but as a time machine to his hometown and his memories.

Kojima bought Hankyu Densha solely for its cover and title. He began reading it propelled by railway nostalgia, became caught by the book’s gentle, almost maternal wistfulness, and joked that he finished it at express-train speed.

As his eldest son grew, Kojima stopped visiting Kamakura and likewise became too lazy to go back to Kobe; Umimachi Diary reminded him of what he had lost and what he must not forget. At the end of that summer he went to Hayama with his younger son, and from the train saw the sea where he had played with his father and where he had gone with his first son, and he decided to resume that diary of outings when the younger son is old enough.

Kojima expressed nostalgia for the atmosphere of the Showa era and said he could not resist purchasing Volume 2 of the “Taiyo ni Hoero!” DVD collection. He evoked its streets, signs, fashion, hairstyles, cars, police cruisers, black rotary phones, red pay phones, phone booths, tobacco, hi-lite cigarettes, electric fans, cafes, amusement parks, and the warmth of the people. He clarified that he would not go so far as to say those days were better, but that everything felt nostalgic. That night he would watch episode 5, featuring Keiko Sekine—now Keiko Takahashi—of whom he had been a huge fan at the time; Shohei Hino also makes a guest appearance.