Here in the United Kingdom the Hasegawa company is well know for its models of military prototypes and aircraft, however in Japan they also market a small growing range of model trains under the "Modemo" marketing name.
Originally the Modemo name was known for its models in N, 1/80 HO and even O scale for their range of plastic tram kits that were either static models or motorised. Their range continues to grow in N scale and now includes some DMU and EMU sets.
Besides some plastic kits of older 1950's prototype passenger cars and a private railway two car EMU, the only other item available in 1/80 ready to run was the JR Central type 373 EMU set pictured above, this is one of my personal favorite trains on modern Japanese railways and I was pleased when the item first became available eight years ago. The model is of dubious quality compared with models that are available from Tomix and Kato, underframe detail is very limited and the bogies compensate to a degree that the wheel sets fall out of the bogie truck every time the model is taken from the box. The model otherwise runs well with another well designed underfloor "invisible" mechanism.
The comment that I have made above although personal has also been repeated in the Japanese model railway press, and the model is now no longer part of the Modemo range, it has been their only offering of modern image rolling stock to date in HO 1/80, perhaps the press comments worried them about starting another model.
The models now command high prices on the Japanese used market and are very hard and scarce to find, originally these items were available from the now closed JR models in Taunton for £180, I have seen them sell for over £250 on Japanese auction sites recently, so perhaps it might be worth some effort by Modemo to re-engineer the model and offer it again made to a higher standard.
