Hōrai-Yachigashira Line

Hakodate's tramways began not with electricity but with horses. In 1897 a private operator, the Kikan Horsecar Railway, opened the city's first tram line, and the system passed through several owners over the following years. In October 1911 the horse-tram business was bought by Hakodate Suiden (Hakodate Hydroelectric), the utility that would carry out the conversion to electric traction.

Electrification came in 1913. On 29 June 1913 the stretch between Shinonomechō and Yukawa was electrified — the first electric streetcar in Hokkaido — and on 31 October the same year the line through Bentenchō, Jūjigai and Shinonomechō was electrified as well. The northern part of today's Hōrai-Yachigashira route, around Jūjigai, dates from this first wave of electric operation. The southern leg was added the next year: on 1 May 1914 the section from Hōraichō to Yachigashira opened, and by 31 October 1914 electric running had been extended across the whole Hakodate network.

The stops along the line carry their own early history. The stop now called Hōraichō first opened on 17 June 1913 under the name Hōraichō written with different characters (蓬莱町); it was relocated on 15 September 1936, at which point it also became the junction with the Shinonome Line, and it was given its present name and spelling (宝来町) on 1 July 1965. The southern terminus, Yachigashira, opened in 1913 and remains the lowest-numbered and southernmost stop on the system.

Disaster struck the network in the 1930s. The Great Hakodate Fire of 21 March 1934 destroyed forty-eight tramcars together with the Shinkawa depot and much of the equipment needed to run services. Operations were partly restored within a week, and the whole network was running again by the end of the month, after which a replacement depot was built to make up for the one lost in the fire.

Municipal ownership arrived during the Second World War. After further changes of ownership the lines passed to the city of Hakodate on 1 November 1943, when the Hakodate City Transportation Bureau was established to run the trams (and, until 2003, the city buses). From the 1970s onward, declining ridership forced the city to cut back the network, with closures of various sections in 1978, 1992 and 1993. The Shinonome Line, which branched off at Hōraichō, was one of the casualties, closing on 1 April 1992.

Today the Hōrai-Yachigashira Line survives as a compact but well-used spur of a network that totals just 10.9 kilometres over 26 stops. Trams reach Yachigashira, near the foot of Mount Hakodate and close to a popular hot-spring bath, via the historic Jūjigai junction where the line meets the rest of the system. The operating body was renamed the Hakodate City Enterprises Bureau Transportation Division on 1 April 2011, when the former transport bureau merged with the waterworks bureau, and the Hakodate tram — alongside the Sapporo tram — is recognised as one of the official Hokkaido Heritage sites.

• 1897The private Kikan Horsecar Railway opens Hakodate's first tram line, a horse-drawn service.
• 19111 October: Hakodate Suiden (Hakodate Hydroelectric) buys the horse-tram business that would be electrified.
• 191329 June: the Shinonomechō–Yukawa section is electrified — Hokkaido's first electric streetcar; 31 October: the Bentenchō–Jūjigai–Shinonomechō line is electrified, forming the northern part of today's route around Jūjigai.
• 191317 June: the stop now called Hōraichō opens under the earlier spelling 蓬莱町; the southern terminus Yachigashira also opens in 1913.
• 19141 May: the Hōraichō–Yachigashira section opens, forming the southern leg of the present line; 31 October: electric running is extended across the whole Hakodate network.
• 193421 March: the Great Hakodate Fire destroys 48 tramcars and the Shinkawa depot; services are fully restored by the end of the month.
• 193615 September: the Hōraichō stop is relocated and becomes the junction with the Shinonome Line.
• 19431 November: the lines are transferred to the city of Hakodate; the Hakodate City Transportation Bureau is established to operate them.
• 19651 July: the 蓬莱町 stop is renamed Hōraichō with its present spelling, 宝来町.
• 19921 April: the Shinonome Line, which branched off at Hōraichō, is abolished.
• 19992 January: at Yachigashira, a tram slides past and overruns the buffer stop; a stronger concrete buffer and ballast are later installed.
• 200930 January: the rebuilt Hōraichō stop is completed and brought into use.
• 20111 April: the Transportation Bureau merges with the waterworks bureau; the operator becomes the Hakodate City Enterprises Bureau Transportation Division.
• 201730 November: the Yachigashira turn-back and track are renewed; the Jūjigai–Yachigashira section is suspended for the day with substitute buses.