Maya Cablecar

The line was built as a pilgrimage route to Tōri Tenjō-ji, a temple on Mount Maya, and opened on 6 January 1925 by the Maya Funicular Railway (摩耶鋼索鉄道) between Takao Station — today's Maya Cable Station — and Maya Station, today's Niji Station. From the outset the company also held a licence for a further extension down to the foot of the mountain below Takao, though that lower section was never built.

Like other Japanese mountain railways, the line suffered repeatedly from natural disasters and wartime austerity. The Great Hanshin Flood of July 1938 forced a suspension of service until 4 August that year. During the Pacific War the line was designated a "non-essential, non-urgent line" and closed from 11 February 1944, with its track removed over the following year; it did not reopen until 7 May 1955, when service resumed between Takao and Maya and a second generation of cars entered service. In November 1956 the long-dormant licence for the unbuilt extension below Takao was finally surrendered.

Through the postwar decades the line settled into its role as a mountain tourist and pilgrimage route while continuing to weather setbacks. Flooding again suspended operations for several days in July 1967. On 1 February 1973 Takao Station was renamed Maya Cable-shita Station, and on 29 October 1975 the operator merged with the Rokkō-goe Arima Railway to become part of the Rokkō-Maya Railway. A heavy blow came on 30 January 1976, when Tōri Tenjō-ji was almost entirely destroyed by an arson fire, ending the flow of pilgrims that the cablecar had been built to serve.

The Great Hanshin earthquake of 17 January 1995 damaged the line and left it closed for years with no clear prospect of repair. On 25 April 2000 it was transferred to the Kobe Municipal Urban Development Public Corporation, which already owned and ran the Maya Ropeway, and restoration work began that June. The cablecar reopened together with the ropeway on 17 March 2001; at the same time Maya Cable-shita Station was renamed Maya Cable Station and Maya Station became Niji Station, adopting the official nickname "Niji-no-eki" (Rainbow Station), and the cars were given a new livery.

The line was suspended again from 1 December 2012 for a renewal project. On 1 January 2013 the operator was renamed the Kobe Sumai-Machizukuri Public Corporation, and on 30 March 2013 the refurbished line reopened with a third generation of cars. The operator was renamed once more, to the Kobe Living Environment Development Public Corporation, on 1 May 2022.

In 2023 the line passed to its current management. From 18 March 2023 the departure melody was changed to Seiko Matsuda's song "Akai Sweet Pea" (previously the melody had matched that of the Rokkō Cable Line); initially planned to run only until late November, it remained in use afterwards. Then, on 1 April 2023, the Maya Cablecar — together with the Maya Ropeway and the Rokkō-Arima Ropeway — was transferred to the Kobe Future City Corporation, the operator that runs it today.

• 19256 January: the Maya Funicular Railway opens the line between Takao Station (now Maya Cable Station) and Maya Station (now Niji Station) as a pilgrimage route to the temple Tōri Tenjō-ji on Mount Maya.
• 19385 July: service is suspended owing to the Great Hanshin Flood, not resuming until 4 August.
• 194411 February: the Takao–Maya line is suspended as a 'non-essential, non-urgent line'; its track is removed over the following year.
• 19557 May: service resumes between Takao and Maya, and a second generation of cars enters service.
• 19562 November: the company surrenders the licence, acquired before opening, for the unbuilt extension running further down the mountain from Takao.
• 19679 July: flooding suspends the line until 15 July.
• 19731 February: Takao Station is renamed Maya Cable-shita Station.
• 197529 October: the operator merges with the Rokkō-goe Arima Railway, and the line becomes part of the Rokkō-Maya Railway.
• 197630 January: Tōri Tenjō-ji is almost completely destroyed by an arson fire, ending the pilgrimage traffic the line was built to carry.
• 199517 January: the line is damaged in the Great Hanshin earthquake and enters a long suspension with no clear prospect of repair.
• 200025 April: the line is transferred to the Kobe Municipal Urban Development Public Corporation, which also owns and runs the Maya Ropeway; restoration work begins on 5 June.
• 200117 March: the line reopens together with the Maya Ropeway; Maya Cable-shita Station is renamed Maya Cable Station and Maya Station becomes Niji Station (official nickname 'Niji-no-eki'), and the cars are repainted.
• 2013After a renewal suspension from 1 December 2012, the line reopens on 30 March with a third generation of cars; the operator had been renamed the Kobe Sumai-Machizukuri Public Corporation on 1 January.
• 20221 May: the operator is renamed the Kobe Living Environment Development Public Corporation.
• 20231 April: the line, with the Maya Ropeway and the Rokkō-Arima Ropeway, is transferred to the Kobe Future City Corporation; since 18 March its departure melody has been Seiko Matsuda's 'Akai Sweet Pea'.