International Railroad Discussion > Japan Trip Part 7 - Nagasaki Trams

If you are looking for an interesting city to visit in Japan, Nagasaki may be for you.  In addition to the historic importance of the city as the only gateway in Japan for European contact in the 1500s-1700s, and the atomic bomb history, it also has a very lively and well-patronized tram system with 4 full-time lines and one part-time line, operated by a wide variety of tram vehicles.  Riding the system is very easy, as with most transit in Japan.   You just load an "IC Card" such as SUICA on your phone, and you can pay for pretty much any train or transit ride in the country with one app.   I was not able to find much detailed info online about the system's rolling stock, but here's a sample of the system:

1)  Car 1301 on Line 3, near the main train station. 
2)  Car 504 on LIne 1 at the stop for the main JR station. 
3)  Car 209 on Line 3 approaching the JR station. 
 

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4)  Close-up of the back of a car.
5) Tram on Line 1 in the Shindaikumachi neighborhood.
6)  Interior of a tram.  I believe every person in sight is looking at their phone. 
 

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And here's a video of a tram on Line 1.
 

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Car 209 really has a vintage look to it, even with what appears to be AC units on the roof.  Nice photos and video.

dwatry Wrote:
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> 6)  Interior of a tram.  I believe every person
> in sight is looking at their phone. 

Except the 3rd guy on the left side...

Cell phone zombies were pioneered in Japan more than two decades ago, just before the Smartphone took off. QR code (invented by a subsidiary of Toyota) was already in use, and I remember from one of my business trips, talking to software developers who were writing "apps" for cell phones - more difficult to write, based on C instead of Java.

People in Japan tend to be shy onboard public transit, so becoming a cell phone zombie was the perfect way to ignore other people in a shared space. I've benefitted from the few who are still willing to socialize, and that knowledge has translated to some of my reports here on TO.

Anyway, thanks for the fun report of "NagaDen," the Nagasaki Streetcars. I've occasionally made the long trek to visit that magical city, and have ridden their trams on those occasions. Used to be 100 yen (one coin) per ride... oh well for the recent inflation.

Duncan - is it standard gauge, certainly looks wider than Cape Gauge?

Hi Nick - I think it's standard gauge - certainly appears that way.   As you know, many of the private railways in Japan (such as the Hankyu), plus some tramways and Metros are standard gauge.  JR's heritage system is, of course, Cape gauge, while the Shinkansen is standard gauge.  Some of the private railways have both standard and Cape gauge, such as the Kintetsu.  The Tokyo Metro also has both standard and Cape gauge.  And then there are the 762mm lines - just to keep things interesting!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/03/25 08:00 by dwatry.

I've just returned from Singapore, and I was the only person on the metro not glued to a cell phone (or 2!). Enjoying your Japan trip photos.chris uk. 

Yes, it is standard gauge;  here's some information* on the cars you photographed, and some others:
  201-216 were built by Hitachi or Nippon Sharyo in 1950-51
  301-310 by Hitachi in 1953-54
  361-377 by Nippon Sharyo in 1961-62
  501-506 by Naniwa Koki using ex Osaka electrics/bogies;  since modernized
     ***** [ omitted some classes ]
  1201-1205 by Alna Koki in 1982
  1301-1305       "       "        1987-89
  1501-1503       "       "        1993-94

* from Electric Railways of Japan Vol.3

I did not visit Nagasaki, electing instead to go to Kumamoto;  I hope you got there too !

Best regards, SZ