Ikoma Cable Line

Although treated as a single line for fare and operational purposes, the route is made up of two separate funiculars meeting end-to-end at Hōzanji. The lower section, the Hōzanji Line (宝山寺線) from Toriimae to Hōzanji, was built to carry pilgrims to Hōzan-ji, a temple popularly known as Ikoma Shōten, and it is recognised as Japan's first commercially operated cable car. The upper section, the Sanjō Line (山上線) from Hōzanji to Ikoma-Sanjō, was built as an access route to the Ikoma Sanjō Amusement Park on the mountaintop. Because the lower line passes through a residential area that has grown into a commuter suburb of Osaka and Nara, it functions, unusually for a funicular, as a genuine commuting line.

The enterprise began before the line opened. In September 1913 a company called Ikomayama Kōsaku Denki Keiben Tetsudō obtained a licence for a line between Ikoma and Hōzanji, and in July 1914 it was formally incorporated, immediately changing its name to Ikoma Cable Railway (生駒鋼索鉄道). In 1916 the Osaka Electric Tramway (大阪電気軌道, Daiki), the forerunner of today's Kintetsu, took part in the company's management. On 29 August 1918 the Ikoma Cable Railway opened the Toriimae–Hōzanji section, inaugurating cable-car service on Mount Ikoma.

The line then expanded under Osaka Electric Tramway ownership. Daiki absorbed the Ikoma Cable Railway by merger on 25 January 1922, and on 2 February 1924 it obtained a licence for the upper Hōzanji–Ikoma-Sanjō section. On 30 December 1926 a second cable track on the lower section, the Hōzanji Line 2, was opened, double-tracking the Toriimae–Hōzanji stretch. The upper Sanjō Line, from Hōzanji to Ikoma-Sanjō, opened on 27 March 1929, completing the through route from Toriimae to the summit of Mount Ikoma.

The Second World War interrupted both halves of the line. On 11 February 1944 the Sanjō Line was suspended as a non-essential line under the wartime rationalisation of the railways, and in July 1944 the Hōzanji Line 2 was suspended and its equipment removed, returning the lower section to single track. The Sanjō Line resumed operation on 1 August 1945, and on 1 April 1953 the Hōzanji Line 2 was restored to service, once more double-tracking the lower section. The Hōzanji Line is the only double-track funicular in Japan, although its two tracks are operated as separate lines, Hōzanji Line 1 and Hōzanji Line 2, with Line 2 normally run only in busy seasons and during inspections of Line 1.

On 20 July 1979 Toriimae Station was relocated about 70 metres toward Ikoma-Sanjō, shortening the Hōzanji Line by 0.1 kilometre. In the year 2000 the line's rolling stock was transformed: on 1 March the new Type Ko 11 cars entered service on the Hōzanji Line 1 — the bulldog-faced 'Bull' and the calico-cat-faced 'Mike' — replacing the 1928-vintage cars that had been celebrated as the oldest cable cars still in active service in Japan, and on 18 March the organ-themed 'Do-Re-Mi' and cake-themed 'Sweet', both Type Ko 15, began running on the Sanjō Line. The retired Type Ko 1 car was preserved at Ikoma Sanroku Park.

In April and May 2020 the Sanjō Line was suspended for several days as a measure against the COVID-19 outbreak. On 28 September 2021 the Ikoma Cable Line, together with the parachute-jump tower (飛行塔) at the Ikoma Sanjō Amusement Park, was recognised as a Selected Civil Engineering Heritage by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers. Today the line carries both mountain-side commuters on its lower half and visitors to the summit amusement park on its upper half, and its dog-, cat-, organ- and cake-shaped cars have made it one of the best-known tourist funiculars in the country.

• 191318 September: Ikomayama Kōsaku Denki Keiben Tetsudō obtains a licence for a cable line between Ikoma and Hōzanji.
• 191410 July: the company is incorporated as Ikomayama Kōsaku Denki Keiben Tetsudō and immediately renamed Ikoma Cable Railway (Ikoma Kōsaku Tetsudō).
• 1916The Osaka Electric Tramway (Daiki), forerunner of Kintetsu, takes part in the company's management.
• 191829 August: the Ikoma Cable Railway opens the Toriimae–Hōzanji (Hōzanji Line) section — Japan's first commercially operated cable car.
• 192225 January: the Osaka Electric Tramway absorbs the Ikoma Cable Railway by merger.
• 19242 February: the Osaka Electric Tramway obtains a licence for the upper Hōzanji–Ikoma-Sanjō section.
• 192630 December: Hōzanji Line 2 opens, double-tracking the Toriimae–Hōzanji section.
• 192927 March: the Sanjō Line (Hōzanji–Ikoma-Sanjō) opens, completing the through route to the summit of Mount Ikoma.
• 194411 February: the Sanjō Line is suspended as a non-essential line; in July, Hōzanji Line 2 is suspended and its equipment removed, returning the lower section to single track.
• 19451 August: the Sanjō Line resumes operation.
• 19531 April: Hōzanji Line 2 is restored to service, re-double-tracking the lower section.
• 197920 July: Toriimae Station is relocated about 70 m toward Ikoma-Sanjō, shortening the Hōzanji Line by 0.1 km.
• 20001 March: the Type Ko 11 cars 'Bull' and 'Mike' enter service on Hōzanji Line 1, replacing the 1928 cars long famed as the oldest active cable cars in Japan; on 18 March the Type Ko 15 cars 'Do-Re-Mi' and 'Sweet' begin running on the Sanjō Line.
• 202029 April – 6 May: the Sanjō Line is suspended for several days as a COVID-19 measure.
• 202128 September: the Ikoma Cable Line, with the Ikoma Sanjō Amusement Park's parachute-jump tower, is recognised as a Selected Civil Engineering Heritage by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers.