日本铁路公司西武铁道株式会社希望在其成立100周年之际，实现设计上的重大跨越，设计一条能“融入沿途风景”的新型快速市郊往返列车。

Seibu’s new trains won’t really be “invisible” so much as “reflective,” but a simulated disappearing act is the goal of the project.

西武新列车项目的目标不是像“反射”那样完全“隐形”，而是一种模拟的隐身术。

Kazuyo Sejima, one of Japan’s premier architects who had apparently never penned a train before, has been commissioned to execute the design.

日本最好的建筑师之一妹岛和世被任命执行此次任务，而显然她以前从来没有设计过火车。

日本隐形列车将于2018年问世

Sejima’s accolades include the coveted “Pritzker Prize,” given to “architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision, and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture,” according to the outfit that bestows it.

妹岛和世的荣誉包括建筑师们梦寐以求的“普利兹克奖”，据颁发这一奖项的机构称，此奖专门授予那些“建筑作品能够体现天资、视野和努力”的建筑师，并且他们的“建筑艺术能够给人类和建筑环境带来持久重要的贡献”。

Sejima’s website suggests she favors minimalism in design, which is certainly true of the new Seibu train concept.

妹岛和世的网站显示她偏爱极简设计，而这正好符合这条新列车的理念。

“The limited express travels in a variety of different sceneries, from the mountains of Chichibu to the middle of Tokyo, and I thought it would be good if the train could gently co-exist with this variety of scenery,” Fast Company Design quotes Sejima from Seibu’s official press release. “I also would like it to be a limited express where large numbers of people can all relax in comfort, in their own way, like a living room, so that they think to themselves ‘I look forward to riding that train again,’” she added.

Fast Company Design引用妹岛和世在西武官方新闻发布会上的讲话：“特快列车将从秩父的山峦驶向东京中部，穿梭于各种风景中，我认为，如果这列火车能与各种风景和谐共存那将非常棒。”她还说道：“我也希望很多人能在这列特快火车上以各自的方式舒舒服服地休息，就像在起居室一样，这样他们就会想‘下次我还要坐这列火车。’”

The exterior’s active camouflage is only vaguely described as coated with “a semi-reflective surface” by Deezen and other outlets. Seems like a shiny vinyl wrap would be the simplest way to pull this off, but we will have to wait until the project progresses to see what Seibu really has in mind.

列车外面的动态伪装被Deezen和其它媒体含糊地描述为仅仅一层“半反射表层”。听起来像是一层闪亮的乙烯基，这样操作起来再简单不过，但是我们还要等待项目进展才能知道西武是怎么规划的。

The company is said to operate over 111 miles of train tracks around Japan.

据说西武公司的这列火车在整个日本的运行里程将超过111英里。

The speed, power and environmental impact of the “invisible” train has not yet been discussed, but it appears that the program is projected to start with seven eight-car trains in Japan’s 2018 fiscal year.

目前，还没有提到“隐形”列车的速度、功率和环境影响，但是此项目好像计划要在日本2018财政年度率先启用七列八节车厢的火车。

Vocabulary

accolade: 荣誉

minimalism: 极简主义

camouflage: 伪装