TOKYO >> Before sprucing up the interior of the trains, cleaning crews for the Shinkansen bullet trains operated by East Japan Railway Co. have been creating a summer mood on the platform.

Crew members donned summer uniforms of red or blue Hawaiian shirts, which they will wear to cleaning the trains that will run on the Tohoku, Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen lines until the end of August.

In less than 10 minutes, workers wearing caps with artificial hibiscus flowers pinned onto them clean floors and seats in the cars at Tokyo Station, where many Shinkansen trains begin or end their runs.

Once finished, crew members line up and bow to passengers waiting to board the train.

“We hope that passengers will feel relaxed by seeing crews in Hawaiian outfits and enjoy their journeys,” said an official at a subsidiary of JR East, which provides cleaning services.