This seaside city has grown in popularity as an on-location site for TV shows and commercials, thanks largely to an unmanned train station. Omisaki Station, managed by Shimabara Railway Co., is located on a train line that runs along the coast of the Shimabara Peninsula facing the Sea of Ariake. The station became famous nationwide when it was used in a commercial for the Kirin Lemon soda brand that aired in 2021. In it, actress-singer Moka Kamishiraishi sings against the backdrop of a yellow train parked on a tiny platform on one side and a beautiful blue ocean on the other. City officials and Shimabara Station workers have received many inquiries about Omisaki Station since then. And they have made considerable efforts to bring other film crews to this city of 42,000. However, locals have long known another side of the station. It is considered "the station closest to the sea in Japan." Shimabara Railway devised ways to make the station a pilgrimage site for train fans, including painting footprints where Kamishiraishi stood while filming and installing a Kirin Lemon vending machine.
