Tokyo's last streetcar, end to end: a slow day on the Toden Arakawa Line

Tokyo once ran dozens of streetcar routes. One survives: the Toden Arakawa Line, now signed as the Tokyo Sakura Tram, covering about 12 kilometres between Minowabashi and Waseda. End to end takes under an hour. If you use the doors as often as the seats, it fills a day.

Start at the eastern end

The Minowabashi terminus is a short walk from Minowa station on the Hibiya Line. Beside it, the covered arcade Joyful Minowa opens in the morning with croquette counters and pickle stalls that serve the neighbourhood. Buy a one-day ticket on board; it pays for itself by the third ride.

Roses, a fairground, a hill

In May the trackside beds through Arakawa ward fill with roses. The Arakawa-yuenchi-mae stop serves Arakawa Yuen, a small amusement park run by the ward, with a modest Ferris wheel. Near Oji the tram leaves its own track and climbs among the cars past Asukayama Park, planted with cherry trees on a shogun's order in the 18th century.

Kishimojin, on request

The tram stops only on request, and at each stop a recorded voice repeats the same line: oori no kata wa, buzā de oshirase kudasai. It asks riders to press the buzzer if they want to get off, and by midday pressing it is a reflex.

お降りの方は、ブザーでお知らせください。

At Kishibojinmae, an approach lined with zelkova trees leads to Kishimojin (鬼子母神), a temple to a guardian of children. In its grounds, Kamikawaguchiya sells dagashi, sweets priced in coins, and dates itself to 1781.

West to Waseda

At Zoshigaya, the cemetery holds the grave of the novelist Natsume Sōseki, and the nearby Zoshigaya Missionary House, a white timber home from 1907, is free to enter. The line ends at Waseda beside the Kanda River. Walk west along its bank as the light goes.