Why these
objects?
We wanted the journey to feel assembled from places, not screen presets. Wood, paper, ink and railway ephemera now give each interaction a different purpose.
These are original digital interpretations. No button is a physical craft object, no coupon is a train ticket, and no stamp verifies a station visit.
A journey opened like a small cabinet.
The start control borrows its material cues from Sendai tansu: visible wood grain, lacquer depth and the precision of metal fittings. Sendai’s tourism office describes the craft as a collaboration between wood joiners, lacquer workers and metalworkers. Our control is an original screen object, not a replica or a product of those makers.
The route as a keepsake.
The three destinations sit inside an invented journey coupon. Serial marks, route labels and a tear-like edge make selection feel connected to travel. It deliberately carries no fare, barcode, official railway mark or validity. The journey stamp follows Japan’s culture of collecting station impressions, while remaining a browser collectible earned through play.
An image you would keep.
The train artwork sits in an instant-print frame with its caption below the image, so the train remains visible. The companion portraits stay closer to a small print folio. Japanese surimono show how ink, colour and metallic pigment can make a modest sheet feel precious; the portraits and frames here are new works, not historical reproductions.
Different voices for different tasks.
Serif display type gives the story room to breathe; compact monospaced labels locate the player on the route. Japanese text uses device-supported Mincho and Gothic faces rather than forcing Latin letterforms into Japanese. The wood, folded-paper and ink-like controls ask for different gestures without changing keyboard and touch access.
Clues with a place of their own.
The first route puzzle uses the visual grammar of wayfinding: a strong direction arrow, destination label and a quieter bilingual line. Objects sit in cabinet-like compartments; word fragments read as pieces from a departure board; the Tanabata scene uses layered paper. The result stamp is an original game collectible, not a station impression. We use the organizing principles of Japanese station signs without reproducing a JR East sign system.