International Railroad Discussion > 2018 Osaka streetcars

After seeing the nice photos of the Osaka Hankai lines, I decided to show you how this operation is looking today. Photos from February 2018.

1. Near Abeno station
2. South of Abeno Station, the line switches from separate ROW to street running towards the Abeno tower, the tallest building in Japan (which wasn't there in '97).
3. Further south, both lines converge near the ancient Sumiyoshi Shrine. The stop is just in front of the main gate.

Continued...

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4. The humble Sumiyoshi "station building".
5. One of the oldest cars that still are in daily service (built 1928) runs along the gardens of Sumiyoshi shrine.
6. Interior of the vintage car #166.

Continued...

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7. #166 continues toward Abeno station. Note the awe-inspiring signal.
8. Another vintage car rolls south on the Ebisucho branch.
9. This branch runs on its own ROW through a residential area.

Continued...

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10. End of the line at Ebisucho station.
11. New car near Abeno station.

It's fun to ride this nice little streetcar, I'd definitely recommend it to everyone going to Osaka. The Sumiyoshi shrine also is a very rewarding place to visit, and can be reached conveniently with this streetcar. You should get an ICOCA card, then you can pay on leaving the cars by swiping the card.

12. Bonus: Inside the gate of Sumiyoshi shrine, just opposite of the streetcar stop.

Thank you all for watching!
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/18 06:01 by sys3175.

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Very nice set of pictures!  My wife's grandmother lived a few stops away from Tennoji until she was 95 years old.  (She had to move to an assisted living home then and lived to 102!)

John

John,
we stayed in that neighborhood, it was our first experience of Japan, and it was completely awesome. The small streets felt like a village, not like a megacity, and in the minuscule izakaya and okonomiyaki joints we met the kindest and most friendly people.
It was really amazing, and we'll definitely go there again.
Hartmut

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/18 00:35 by sys3175.

sys3175 Wrote:
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> John,
> we stayed in that neighborhood, it was our first
> experience of Japan, and it was completely
> awesome. The small streets felt like a village,
> not like a megacity, and in the minuscule izakaya
> and okonomiyaki joints we met the kindest and most
> friendly people.
> It was really amazing, and we'll definitely go
> there again.
> Hartmut
>

I lived there for 10 years and I have many, many good memories, but I never did care for okonomiyaki!  Did you get to the Kyoto Railway Museum?  I'm going to post a few pictures of the museum next for internationally-interested TO members.

John

From Wiki:

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "how you like" or "what you like", and yaki meaning "grill". Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with the Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available throughout the country.

Actually, sound good

Okonomiyaki is yummy :-)
But what's really fascinating is that there are these small okonomiyaki restaurants where you have six or eight seats along a narrow, bar-like table, and the landlady prepares the okonomiyaki right in front of you on a huge gas-heated iron plate, while you realize that the restaurant is right in front of their private living room where the kids are doing their homework, and everybody tries their best to communicate even if they don't speak English very well... Unforgettable and priceless.

- The museum is still on the bucket list, there was so much to see and I had to care for the less rail-affine members of our party ;-)

Hartmut

Posted from Android

Or other restaurants where you order the batter and your added ingrediants. You're sitting around a big hot area, and cook your own.