A Journey on Tokyo's Arakawa Streetcar

        The old Japanese man sitting next to me on the upholstered green bench complains that it’s hot inside the tram. His wife concurs. They might add that it’s stuffy, cramped and claustrophobic, with

one or two passengers smelling of booze, tobacco and musty clothes. There’s a man with no teeth, a hunchbacked woman, and a couple of elderly ladies sporting wigs. The superannuated sector of society is definitely in the majority on this ride through the untouristed northern districts of Tokyo. 

          This is the city’s sole tram line, the Toden Arakawa. It travels a mere 12 miles from Minowabashi to Waseda, and it takes an age (well, a little less than an hour) to do so. At times the tram proceeds so slowly that you expect some kid to sprint past in mockery of its anaemic pace. It jolts through areas of drab residential buildings, and is only let loose upon the open streets once, between Oji-Ekimae and Asukayama, where cars whizz by on the inside. 

          You get the feeling this service is not popular among the well-heeled. Few passengers look smartly dressed, and some haven’t even bothered to shave. (Admittedly, I fall into the latter category myself.) Perhaps it’s the lack of space that deters them. The tram comprises only one car, and for much of the journey there’s barely room to turn around. Then again, this is Tokyo, so a more likely explanation for their absence is the maddening lack of speed, or possibly the route. 

          Still, the tram, or streetcar, to use the official word, does have its aficionados. Lone Japanese men brandishing expensive cameras loiter on the platforms, readying themselves for the perfect shot. As for its evident popularity among locals, the dirt-cheap tickets (170 yen for a one-way ride, or about 1 pound) presumably play a role.

          And in fairness, there is a certain charm about the tram. In part, it’s the novelty factor. It’s so out of place that you could almost imagine you’re not in Tokyo, but rather in a nondescript provincial city in a place like Shizuoka. Some of the trams look appealingly ancient, and the line terminates just a short walk from renowned Waseda University, where you find relative tranquility, statues of deadly serious Japanese dons wearing graduation caps and one or two European style buildings.