Ichijō Line

The Sapporo tramway grew out of a horse railway. In 1909 a horse-drawn line was laid between Yamahana and Ishikiriyama to haul "Sapporo soft stone" (a building stone then in sudden demand); from 1912 the operator — the Sapporo Stone-Materials Horse Railway, later the Sapporo Municipal Horse-Car Tramway — extended its network into the city streets. As the 1918 Hokkaidō Grand Exposition approached — held to mark fifty years since the opening of Hokkaidō — momentum grew to convert the horse line to electric traction, and in October 1916 the firm changed its name from "horse tramway" to "electric tramway." Regauging and electrification work began in April 1918.

The line had been planned for 1,372 mm gauge with cars to be imported from Dick, Kerr & Co. in Britain, but the First World War made shipping from Europe impossible. The company hurriedly acquired second-hand cars from the Nagoya Electric Railway and used rails from the United States, and to match those cars the gauge was changed to 1,067 mm — the same as the state railways. The disruption meant the system missed the exposition's opening; instead, on 12 August 1918 the Sapporo Electric Railway opened its first routes — the Teikō Line, the Minami-yon-jō Line and the Ichijō Line. The Ichijō Line's opening-day section ran along Minami-Ichijō ("First South") street from Minami-Ichijō-Nishi-Jūyon-Chōme to Minami-Ichijō-Higashi-Ni-Chōme, the street from which the line takes its name. The tramway was municipalised on 1 December 1927, by which time it ran 16.3 km with 63 cars.

The Ichijō Line was extended in stages over the next several years, principally westward toward Maruyama. The opening-day stretch reached west to Nishi-Jūgo-Chōme; in January 1920 the line was extended east from Tongū-Mae to Higashi-Ni-Chōme, and in December 1921 west from Nishi-Jūgo-Chōme to Idai-Byōin-Mae (the Medical College Hospital). Construction continued westward in 1923, reaching Nishi-Nijū-Chōme in October and Kotoni-Kaidō in November, and in May 1924 the line was carried on to Maruyama-Kōen (Maruyama Park). Finally, in January 1925, the eastern end was completed with the Ichijō-Bashi–Tongū-Mae section, giving the Ichijō Line its full extent from Ichijō-Bashi in the east to Maruyama-Kōen in the west.

The system reached its greatest extent in the late 1950s, but ridership peaked in fiscal 1964 and then declined. After Sapporo was chosen in 1966 to host the 1972 Winter Olympics, the city began building a subway, and the opening of the Namboku subway line prompted a series of tram closures. In four rounds — twice in 1971 and again in 1973 and 1974 — most of the network was abandoned, leaving only three routes: the Ichijō Line, the Yamahana-Nishi Line and the Yamahana Line. The Ichijō Line was cut back heavily in this period: on 1 August 1965 Nishi-Jūgo-Chōme stop had already been merged into Idai-Byōin-Mae, and on 1 April 1973 both the Ichijō-Bashi–Nishi-Yon-Chōme section in the east and the Idai-Byōin-Mae–Maruyama-Kōen section in the west were abolished, reducing the once cross-town route to its short surviving core. Total abolition of the survivors was considered, but in response to requests from residents along the line they were retained as a feeder complementing the subway.

The shortened tramway was designated a Hokkaidō Heritage asset in 2001, alongside the Hakodate tram. After the system slipped back into deficit in 2002 and questions were raised about its ageing cars and future, Sapporo's mayor Fumio Ueda decided in February 2005 to keep the line. From the late 1990s the city had studied reviving the link between Nishi-Yon-Chōme and Susukino to close the C-shaped route into a loop, and in January 2012 it settled on a plan to connect the two with double track over the Sapporo Ekimae-dōri and a new stop at Tanukikōji.

After construction delays — caused by a failed track-works tender and quality-control problems — pushed back the originally planned spring-2015 opening, the loop was completed on 20 December 2015, when the Toshin Line between Nishi-Yon-Chōme and Susukino opened and Tanukikōji stop entered service. With the gap closed, the Ichijō, Yamahana-Nishi, Yamahana and Toshin lines became a single circular route worked by through trams, and the Ichijō Line took its place as the short northern side of the loop running between Nishi-Yon-Chōme and Nishi-Jūgo-Chōme. Ridership rose about 11 per cent to roughly 24,396 passengers a day. On 1 April 2020 the operation of the Sapporo Streetcar was transferred from the Transportation Bureau to the Sapporo City Transportation Enterprise Promotion Association under a vertical-separation arrangement, with the Bureau continuing to own the infrastructure and rolling stock.

• 1909A horse railway is laid between Yamahana and Ishikiriyama to haul "Sapporo soft stone," the origin of the future tram system.
• 1916October: with the 1918 Hokkaidō Grand Exposition approaching, the company renames itself from "horse tramway" to "electric tramway" to convert to electric traction.
• 191812 August: the Sapporo Electric Railway opens its first electric routes — the Teikō, Minami-yon-jō and Ichijō lines — at 1,067 mm gauge; the Ichijō Line's first section runs from Minami-Ichijō-Nishi-Jūyon-Chōme to Minami-Ichijō-Higashi-Ni-Chōme.
• 1920January: the Ichijō Line is extended east from Tongū-Mae to Higashi-Ni-Chōme.
• 1921December: the Ichijō Line is extended west from Nishi-Jūgo-Chōme to Idai-Byōin-Mae (the Medical College Hospital).
• 1923October–November: the line is extended further west, reaching Nishi-Nijū-Chōme (October) and Kotoni-Kaidō (November).
• 1924May: the Ichijō Line is carried on from Kotoni-Kaidō to Maruyama-Kōen (Maruyama Park).
• 1925January: the eastern end is completed with the Ichijō-Bashi–Tongū-Mae section; the line now runs from Ichijō-Bashi in the east to Maruyama-Kōen in the west.
• 19271 December: the Sapporo tramway is municipalised; it then runs 16.3 km with 63 cars.
• 1964Ridership on the Sapporo tramway peaks in fiscal 1964 and then begins to decline.
• 19651 August: Nishi-Jūgo-Chōme stop on the Ichijō Line is merged into Idai-Byōin-Mae and abolished.
• 19731 April: the Ichijō-Bashi–Nishi-Yon-Chōme and Idai-Byōin-Mae–Maruyama-Kōen sections of the Ichijō Line are abolished, reducing the cross-town route to its short surviving core; the wider Namboku-subway-driven closures of 1971–1974 leave only the Ichijō, Yamahana-Nishi and Yamahana lines.
• 2001The Sapporo Streetcar is designated a Hokkaidō Heritage asset, together with the Hakodate tram.
• 2005February: Mayor Fumio Ueda decides to retain the tram line after it had slipped back into deficit.
• 201520 December: the Toshin Line between Nishi-Yon-Chōme and Susukino opens, completing the loop; the Ichijō, Yamahana-Nishi, Yamahana and Toshin lines become a single circular route and ridership rises about 11% to ~24,396 passengers a day.
• 20201 April: operation of the Sapporo Streetcar transfers from the Transportation Bureau to the Sapporo City Transportation Enterprise Promotion Association under vertical separation; the Bureau keeps ownership of the infrastructure and cars.