Sonic Takes Over Tokyo Metro With 35th Anniversary Train, Stamp Rally and Limited Tickets

Sonic is about to spend a month speeding around Tokyo on something considerably larger than a Extreme Gear.

Tokyo Metro and SEGA have announced a new Sonic the Hedgehog 35th anniversary campaign beginning October 5, led by a specially wrapped Tozai Line train featuring Sonic designs from across the series’ history. The collaboration also includes a digital stamp rally, limited-edition Tokyo Metro tickets and a separate Sonic takeover at the Metro Museum.

The “Sonic the Hedgehog” train will use a single Tokyo Metro Tozai Line 15000-series set and is scheduled to operate from October 5 through November 4. Six different Sonic designs representing different eras will appear along the sides of the train, giving passengers a rolling look at how the character has changed over the past 35 years.

*The special Tozai Line train uses six different Sonic designs from across the series’ history and is scheduled to run from October 5 through November 4.*

Tokyo Metro notes that the train’s operating times and sections will vary from day to day, and it will not publish those details through station staff. The company is also asking fans photographing the train to remain behind the tactile paving, avoid flash photography and keep identifiable passengers or employees out of social media posts.

A digital Sonic 35th anniversary stamp rally follows on October 9 and runs through November 1. Participation itself is free, although transport, mobile data and any required admission fees are not included. Fans will use the Tokyo Metro my! app, visit each location and scan the QR code displayed on its Sonic character panel while allowing the app to verify their location.

The four stops are PARCO FACTORY IKEBUKURO, SEGA STORE TOKYO, the Metro Museum in Kasai and KUA`AINA Tokyo Skytree Town Solamachi. SEGA STORE TOKYO has already been used heavily during the anniversary year, including for the life-size Sonic DNA Figure we covered in June.

Anyone who collects all four stamps can receive an original paper model of the wrapped Sonic train. A combined 3,000 paper crafts will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis through PARCO FACTORY IKEBUKURO and the Subway Museum. Completing the rally also opens an entry for a separate prize draw, with 10 people receiving a Sonic the Hedgehog x Tokyo Metro commemorative stainless-steel bottle.

The Metro Museum is getting more than a stamp station. Its own Sonic collaboration runs from October 6 through November 29, with Sonic panels and posters placed around the museum, a museum-exclusive AR photo frame that lets visitors take pictures with Sonic, and Sonic videos shown before selected films in the museum hall. The venue will also sell the campaign’s special Tokyo Metro ticket.

Then there is the ticket itself.

Tokyo Metro is producing 5,000 sets of an original Sonic 35th anniversary 24-hour ticket, priced at ¥700 including tax. Sales begin October 5 and are scheduled to continue through November 30 unless the allotment sells out first. Buyers are limited to five sets each, and there is no child version.

*The ¥700 ticket features Sonic on the front, while the presentation folder carries the anniversary train artwork outside and panels of Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Shadow inside.*

The ticket will be sold through Tokyo Metro passenger-information offices at selected stations, participating Animate stores and Animate Ticket, the Metro Museum and the Harajuku Tourist Information Center. It can be used across all Tokyo Metro lines for 24 hours from its first use, provided that first journey takes place by May 31, 2027.

There is one more piece of this collaboration that train collectors will want to keep an eye on. Greenmax is preparing a model recreating the Sonic-wrapped 15000-series train, including the six Sonic designs used on the real vehicle. Tokyo Metro has not announced its release date, price, specifications or sales method yet.

Greenmax already produces the Tokyo Metro 15000 series as an N-gauge model, including four-car powered and six-car expansion sets, so the Sonic version will be especially interesting once its exact configuration is revealed.

Between the month-long Sonic train, four-stop rally, limited ticket and museum activities, the Tokyo Metro campaign stretches well beyond a single wrapped carriage. The first part begins October 5, followed by the Subway Museum collaboration on October 6 and the digital stamp rally on October 9.

Stay tuned to Sonic City for more Sonic the Hedgehog 35th Anniversary News and Updates!