Sotetsu Group is exhibiting “SOTETSU PARK” at the “Kids Village” of GREEN×EXPO 2027. The park’s centrepiece is a real train, the new 13000 series. The horticultural expo is run by the GREEN×EXPO Association (formally the 2027 International Horticultural Expo Association), and some of the Sotetsu-related announcements below come from the Association rather than from Sotetsu.
The timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 13 Mar 2025 | GREEN×EXPO Association names Sotetsu Group its first “project sponsor” |
| 7 Jul 2026 | Wrapped vending machine installed at Mitsukyo Station (announced 6 Aug) |
| 30 Jul 2026 | 13000 series car delivered to SOTETSU PARK (announced 28 Aug) |
| 7 Aug 2026 | “Sagami Railway 13000 series” Plarail toy goes on sale (announced 3 Aug) |
| 30 Aug 2026 | “Hohoemi-go” wrapped train begins running |
| 3 Sep 2026 | Exhibit at Yokohama City’s “communication hub” announced |
| 10 Sep 2026 | “Friends and Habitats Lab: Bird Habitats” programme announced |
What SOTETSU PARK is
SOTETSU PARK, run by Sotetsu Group, is one of the Village exhibits. On a site of about 1,000 square metres, it combines the real 13000 series train with play equipment, planting, workshops and linked web content.
The concept is “Friends and Habitats” (Tomodachi to Sumika), described as a place where living things and nature affect one another yet live in balance. Children are meant to meet nearby creatures as “friends” and discover each one’s “habitat” through play, as a first step toward learning about nature and protecting it.
A ring-shaped roof about 8 metres high and 30 metres across covers the site. Its design is based on Sotetsu Group’s corporate mark, and the top is a walkway with views over the train and the park. “Habitat” play equipment modelled on nature along the Sotetsu Line is also being installed.
According to Sotetsu’s special site, the content is organised into three parts (“Park introduction,” “Let’s be friends” and “Peek at the habitat”) and features six creatures: the Japanese toad (Bufo japonicus), the common kingfisher, the Japanese mitten crab, the Japanese hare, the northern goshawk and the common bluebottle butterfly. As of September 2026, much of the special site’s content is still marked “coming soon.”
Delivering the 13000 series
On 30 July 2026, Sotetsu Group brought one 13000 series car, car 13100 (the Yokohama-end lead car), from the J-TREC Yokohama plant (Kanazawa Ward, Yokohama) to the venue. The car travelled by trailer on public roads and was set on the display track at SOTETSU PARK. The delivery was announced on 28 August, 200 days before the expo opens, and video of the move was released on Sagami Railway’s official YouTube channel and elsewhere.
Because the venue has no overhead line, Sotetsu is installing power equipment so the train’s own systems can be run for visitors. Near the bogie on the driver’s-cab side, it is recreating an “inspection pit” of the kind used at train depots, letting visitors view the underside of the car from an angle normally open only to maintenance staff.
The 13000 series entered service on 30 March 2026; one eight-car set has been introduced so far. It is the latest train under Sotetsu’s design brand-up project and brings a new “future” concept to the project. Sotetsu expects it to cut CO2 emissions by roughly 33.3 tonnes a year compared with existing trains. For how it differs from Sotetsu’s other train types, see our guide to Sotetsu Line trains (Japanese only).
Plarail toy and a hands-on programme
On 7 August 2026, Sotetsu launched an original Plarail toy modelled on the 13000 series, the “Sagami Railway 13000 series” (announced 3 August). It costs 3,500 yen (tax included) per three-car set and is sold at outlets including “SOTETSU GOODS STORE” in Futamatagawa, the toy floor at Yokohama Takashimaya, TSUTAYA BOOKSTORE branches at Yumegaoka Solatio and Sotetsu Life Mitsukyo, the railway floors at Shosen Grande and Shosen Book Tower, and the Tetsudo Koshien online shop. Part of the proceeds go to relief funds for the “2026 Kumamoto earthquake.”
Sotetsu Group is also running a three-part programme, “Friends and Habitats Lab: Bird Habitats,” in which children build and observe birdhouses. It is part of “Manabi Club with EXPO,” a version of Sotetsu’s existing “Sotetsu Line Manabi Club” learning events upgraded for GREEN×EXPO 2027. The programme was announced on 10 September 2026, and applications are open from 11 to 28 September (a paid lottery at 1,000 yen per pair, tax included). The three sessions run on 12 October, 12 December 2026 and 27 March 2027 at Kodomo Shizen Koen (Asahi Ward, Yokohama), supervised by the NPO Kodomo Shizen Koen Doronko Club. Participants who want to can present their observations at SOTETSU PARK, at a session planned for June 2027.
Along the line and at the venue
Sotetsu Group is also GREEN×EXPO 2027’s first “project sponsor” (announced 13 March 2025). Its work along the line, including the redesigned station name signs at Seya and Mitsukyo stations and the wrapped trains and buses, is covered in more detail in our guide to Sotetsu Line trains (Japanese only).
Separately, the GREEN×EXPO Association announced on 6 August 2026 that a vending machine wrapped with the official mascot Tunku Tunku had been installed on the down platform of Mitsukyo Station on the Sotetsu Main Line. It was installed on 7 July, and the Association says this is the first time one has been placed at a railway station. Mitsukyo Station is one of the stations where shuttle buses to the GREEN×EXPO 2027 venue depart.
On 3 September 2026, Sotetsu Group announced it would exhibit its work toward a circular society at Yokohama City’s “communication hub using building space.” Plans include a diorama showing how used cooking oil collected from Sotetsu Bus’s staff cafeteria is turned into biodiesel fuel, and capsule-toy-style displays introducing food-waste composting at the Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers (run by Sotetsu Hotels) and at the Sotetsu Rosen supermarket chain. As of September 2026, the announcement does not give an opening date or other details for the exhibit period.
In 2026, two sections of the Sotetsu Main Line reach 100 years since opening: Futamatagawa to Atsugi, and Kamihoshikawa to Futamatagawa. To mark this, on 30 August 2026 Sotetsu began running a wrapped train that recreates the flower design of the “Hohoemi-go,” its first “graphic car,” which ran from 1983 to 1991. One 11000 series set carries the wrap, running on the Sotetsu Main Line (Yokohama to Ebina) and the Izumino Line (Futamatagawa to Shonandai) until around late July 2027. This is a separate effort from the SOTETSU PARK exhibit, but Sotetsu says it is meant to build excitement along the line for GREEN×EXPO 2027, which opens near Seya and Mitsukyo stations in March 2027.
Our take
From the deliveries and announcements so far, SOTETSU PARK looks like an exhibit built around a real train, with play equipment, characters and hands-on programmes added to it. Once the wrapped trains and the vending machine along the line are included, we think Sotetsu Group’s work for the expo extends both inside and outside the venue.
We will update this article as more details on SOTETSU PARK’s exhibits and opening dates are announced. Other Village exhibits and theme-based outlets are listed on our pavilions feature page.