Kengun Line

The line opened comparatively late in the network's history, during the final months of the Pacific War. On 6 May 1945 the section between Suizenji — the stop now called Suizenji-kōen — and Mitsubishi-kōjō-mae ("in front of the Mitsubishi factory") was brought into service, and the Kinsui-machi, Kengun-kō-mae and Mitsubishi-kōjō-mae stops opened with it. The wartime orientation toward the Mitsubishi factory area was reflected in the eastern terminus's original name. Only weeks later, on 24 May 1945, the Sunatori stop was added along the route.

In the immediate post-war years the line's eastern end took on its lasting identity. In March 1947 the Mitsubishi-kōjō-mae terminus was renamed Kengun-machi, the name the line and its terminus carry to this day. The route continued to gain stops as the surrounding district built up: Shōgyō-kōkō-mae opened in 1950, Kengun-hashutsujo-mae on 20 May 1956, and Hatchō-baba on 16 April 1959. In 1958 the Sunatori stop was renamed Taiikukan-mae — later Shiritsu-taiikukan-mae — reflecting the gymnasium it served.

Further additions and renamings followed over the later twentieth century. On 1 April 1969 the Dōbutsuen-mae ("in front of the zoo") stop opened, and on 1 April 1992 it was renamed Dōshokubutsuen-mae as the facility became a combined zoological and botanical garden. On 1 April 1995 the Kengun-hashutsujo-mae stop, named for a police box, was renamed Kengun-kōban-mae.

The twenty-first century brought a further round of stop renamings reflecting changes along the line. On 1 March 2011 the Kinsui-bashi stop was renamed Kuwami-Shimin-byōin-mae, taking in the name of the nearby municipal hospital, and the Dōshokubutsuen-mae stop became Dōshokubutsuen-iriguchi. On 1 October 2019 the Kuwami-Shimin-byōin-mae stop was renamed once more, to Kuwami-kōsaten.

Today the Kengun Line forms the busy eastern spine of the Kumamoto City Tram, carrying nine stops along its 3.0-kilometre double-track alignment between Suizenji-kōen and Kengun-machi. As part of one of the relatively few municipally operated tramways still running in Japan, it continues to link the eastern suburbs of Kumamoto with the trunk route into the city centre.

• 19456 May: the Suizenji (now Suizenji-kōen)–Mitsubishi-kōjō-mae section opens; the Kinsui-machi (later Kinsui-bashi), Kengun-kō-mae and Mitsubishi-kōjō-mae stops open with it.
• 194524 May: the Sunatori stop opens along the line.
• 1947March: the Mitsubishi-kōjō-mae terminus is renamed Kengun-machi, the name it still carries.
• 1950The Shōgyō-kōkō-mae stop opens.
• 195620 May: the Kengun-hashutsujo-mae stop opens.
• 1958The Sunatori stop is renamed Taiikukan-mae (later Shiritsu-taiikukan-mae).
• 195916 April: the Hatchō-baba stop opens.
• 19691 April: the Dōbutsuen-mae stop opens.
• 19921 April: the Dōbutsuen-mae stop is renamed Dōshokubutsuen-mae.
• 19951 April: the Kengun-hashutsujo-mae stop is renamed Kengun-kōban-mae.
• 20111 March: the Kinsui-bashi stop is renamed Kuwami-Shimin-byōin-mae and the Dōshokubutsuen-mae stop is renamed Dōshokubutsuen-iriguchi.
• 20191 October: the Kuwami-Shimin-byōin-mae stop is renamed Kuwami-kōsaten.