Laurel Prize

[yakumo381]

Anyone have any idea both why car 221-2 won a "Laurel Prize" in 1990 and what this prize is for? (Photo taken during recent trip to Japan on a commuter train in Osaka area)

[kvp]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_Prize

 

1990:

221 series EMU JR West

2000 series "TSE" DMU JR Shikoku

Many times the plate is only displayed in the first car or set in the series.

[bikkuri bahn]

Anyone have any idea both why car 221-2 won a "Laurel Prize" in 1990

 

I reckon it has to do with the wide side windows as well as the wide view provided in the cab, both for the driver and passengers standing behind him/her.  The chopper control electricals were also a feature that may have been part of it.  The trainset was dubbed the "amenity liner" when it was introduced, but this monicker never caught on.  Just as well, as the word "amenity" had an odd popularity in Japan in the 1990's- typically used by rural municipalities to describe the grandiose and often ill-advised facilities they built with tax monies from the central government.

[E6系]

Hello Mr Yakumo381,

 

Please allow me to explain about the Laurel Prize.

 

It is the award presented by the Japan Railfan Club.  It is an annual award that began in 1961.  Each year a committee of experienced railfans who are very familiar with the operation and technology of the train review trains produced in the previous year.  A single design is awarded the Blue Ribbon award as "Best Train", but in the case of E7 Shinkansen, the award also went to W7 Shinkansen, since the designs are substantially the same.  On four or five occasions there has been no Blue Ribbon award at all.

 

The Laurel Prize is awarded for excellence in function and design.  Some years, two or three Laurel awards are given.  In 2006 there were four, but in 2013 there were none.  It is my opinion that the Laurel Prize has been awarded a little too liberally over the last decade or two.  There has been 17 awards in the last 10 years, as against 9 in the first 10 years.  So I am more interested in the Blue Ribbon award, for which there can be only one Best Train each year!

 

Please read more about the Blue Ribbon and Laurel Awards here: http://www.jrc.gr.jp/index.htm