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Jun 15 2021 15 Comments

Tokyo cable cars abandoned for over half a century

When exploring in the far west of Tokyo last week, I was reminded of a bar out there and the absolutely lovely 93-year-old who owned it. A memory that in turn made me think about the area’s long-abandoned ropeway, as it was an attraction the old lady had actually ridden on when she was younger.

Open and ready for passengers at the start of 1962, the 622 metre cable car ride was, in part, built to capitalise on the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Just like the 2020 Games, however, things didn’t quite work out as planned, and visitor numbers simply weren’t substantial enough. An outcome that perhaps shouldn’t have been all that surprising considering the out of the way location, the short, one-stop hop over a lake, and the meagre 0.6 metre height difference between stations. So a mere 4 years after it opened, operations were halted on December 1st 1966. Ostensibly just for the winter, it was an end of year break that lasted until 1975, when an official suspension was announced. A state the site has stayed in ever since — clearly never opening again, and yet at the same time never actually closing.

Left to slowly decay and staying pretty much untouched for decades, there’s now graffiti on the platform, plus more recently on at least one of the cable cars, so that aspect, and the slightly tenuous Olympic connection, seemed like as good a time as any to re-edit these photos from 8 years ago. A time when everything was almost as it was after that last journey over the lake more than 50 years ago.

long-abandoned and beautiful tokyo cable cars

long-abandoned and beautiful tokyo cable cars

long-abandoned and beautiful tokyo cable cars

long-abandoned and beautiful tokyo cable cars

long-abandoned and beautiful tokyo cable cars

long-abandoned and beautiful tokyo cable cars

Categorized: Haikyo

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jenn says

    6/15/2021 at 9:13 am

    These are so beautiful! Thank you! 🙂

    Reply
    • Lee says

      6/15/2021 at 8:36 pm

      You are very welcome, and yeah, they really are. It’s a lovely spot.

      Reply
  2. Günter says

    6/15/2021 at 9:57 am

    So great. I’m getting strong The Last of Us vibes.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      6/15/2021 at 8:37 pm

      Cheers. Yes, that’s a very good call. Thankfully it was all the beauty minus all the danger.

      Reply
  3. Richard says

    6/15/2021 at 8:04 pm

    Nostalgia strikes! All of the trees are lovely. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      6/15/2021 at 8:39 pm

      It does! They are. It’s genuinely beautiful out there at this time of year. So much colour.

      Reply
      • Richard says

        6/16/2021 at 8:03 am

        Especially compared to Calif where we are in an extreme drought: everything seems to be brown.

        I have always loved all the different shades of green in summertime in Japan. It is so refreshing.

        Reply
        • Lee says

          6/16/2021 at 2:22 pm

          Yeah, the greenery in summer really is something.

          It’s the opposite here — rainy season…

          Reply
          • Richard says

            6/17/2021 at 3:56 am

            Yes, but the rainy season helps foster all of the greenery.

            Reply
  4. Ros N says

    6/16/2021 at 8:13 pm

    these are beautiful, both cable cars (are there two?) and setting.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      6/16/2021 at 9:33 pm

      It really is a wonderful spot. Beautiful and incredibly peaceful, making it a genuinely nice place to be. And yeah, there are two. One on each side of the lake.

      Reply
  5. ellen says

    6/18/2021 at 11:58 am

    They look lonely but so beautiful!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      6/18/2021 at 8:29 pm

      Yeah, there’s definitely that aspect about them. Quietly sitting there for over 50 years…

      Reply
  6. Scruffy says

    6/22/2021 at 6:33 am

    Oh I love these. I remember them from before. The light through the tree boughs is special. You don’t find that every day, everywhere. Thanks for showing them again.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      6/22/2021 at 6:52 pm

      You are very welcome, and thanks. Good to know you enjoyed seeing them again. They really are special, and yeah, the light was absolutely lovely. Without any pre-planning at all, I was lucky enough to get there at just the right time of day, and on just the right kind of day.

      Reply

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