Minobu Line

The corridor it follows had long been a transport artery: into the Meiji era goods moved between the Kōfu Basin and Suruga Bay by boat on the Fuji River, and that river trade was at its height in the late nineteenth century. A railway to replace it was promoted for decades, but the Chūō Line was eventually routed via Hachiōji rather than up the Fuji River, reaching Kōfu in 1903. The first rails actually laid in the valley belonged not to a trunk railway but to the Fuji Horse Tramway (富士馬車鉄道), which on 26 June 1890 opened a horse tramway from Suzukawa (now Yoshiwara) on the Tōkaidō Main Line to Ōmiya (now Fujinomiya), at the southern end of the present route.

The line as a railway was the project of the privately owned Fuji Minobu Railway (富士身延鉄道), planned by Horiuchi Ryōhei, the founder of Fuji Kyūkō, and backed by capitalists of the Kōshū financial clique. The company was established on 26 April 1912 and took over the tramway operator's line. On 20 July 1913 it opened a steam railway between Fuji and Ōmiyamachi (now Fujinomiya), replacing the horse tramway over that stretch, and then extended the line northward up the valley stage by stage, reaching Minobu — site of the great Nichiren-sect temple Kuon-ji — on 18 May 1920.

Electrification was decided upon and carried out across the whole line, and on 20 June 1927 the Fuji–Minobu section was electrified and electric-train operation began; sections opened afterwards were electrified from the outset. The railway pushed on beyond Minobu, opening to Ichikawadaimon in December 1927, and on 30 March 1928 the final Ichikawadaimon–Kōfu section opened, completing the through route from Fuji to Kōfu; the journey between Kōfu and Fuji then took about three hours.

The Fuji Minobu Railway's finances were poor, and ten years after the line was completed it was leased by the government on 1 October 1938, passing to the control of the Railway Ministry. It was then nationalised on 1 May 1941, becoming the state-run Minobu Line. Under national ownership the line's first express-type services appeared in the 1960s: the semi-express Fujikawa began running between Fuji and Kōfu on 20 March 1964, and after the Tōkaidō Shinkansen opened later that year, services were extended to Shizuoka to connect with it.

The line's southern approach to Fuji was substantially rebuilt. From 1969 the all-single-track Minobu Line was double-tracked between Fuji and Fujinomiya, and as part of that work the Fuji–Iriyamase section was realigned and elevated on 28 September 1969, with the junction at Fuji shifted so that group and through trains arriving from the Tokyo direction no longer had to reverse; the elevation also eased congestion at a level crossing with National Route 1. Double-tracking of the Fuji–Fujinomiya section was completed on 27 September 1974.

Centralised traffic control (CTC) came into use across the line on 25 February 1982. With the dissolution and privatisation of Japanese National Railways, the Central Japan Railway Company took over operation of the Minobu Line on 1 April 1987; on the same day Japan Freight Railway became the Type-II operator over the Higashi-Hanawa–Kōfu section, while freight services on the Fuji–Higashi-Hanawa section were discontinued. From the late 1980s the line was rationalised, with single-car trains, one-man operation and reduced station staffing introduced as ridership declined.

Today the Minobu Line carries the limited express Fujikawa — upgraded from an express service on 1 October 1995 and running between Kōfu and Shizuoka via Fuji using 373 series electric multiple units — together with all-stations local trains worked by 313 and 211 series EMUs. Local service is more frequent on the Fuji–Nishi-Fujinomiya and Kajikazawaguchi–Kōfu sections than on the mountainous stretch in between. Running through the foothills west of Mount Fuji and along the Fuji River, the line links the cities of Fuji, Fujinomiya and Kōfu and remains the principal rail connection between the Tōkaidō and Chūō main lines through this part of central Japan.

• 189026 June: the Fuji Horse Tramway opens a horse tramway from Suzukawa (now Yoshiwara) on the Tōkaidō Main Line to Ōmiya (now Fujinomiya), the southern end of the present route.
• 191226 April: the private Fuji Minobu Railway is established and takes over the tramway operator's line.
• 191320 July: the Fuji Minobu Railway opens a steam railway between Fuji and Ōmiyamachi (now Fujinomiya), replacing the horse tramway over that stretch.
• 192018 May: the line is extended to Minobu, reaching the great Nichiren-sect temple of Kuon-ji.
• 192720 June: the Fuji–Minobu section is electrified and electric-train operation begins; on 17 December the line is extended to Ichikawadaimon.
• 192830 March: the Ichikawadaimon–Kōfu section opens, completing the through route from Fuji to Kōfu; the Kōfu–Fuji journey then takes about three hours.
• 19381 October: ten years after completion, the line is leased by the government and passes to the control of the Railway Ministry.
• 19411 May: the line is nationalised, becoming the state-run Minobu Line.
• 196420 March: the semi-express Fujikawa begins operating between Fuji and Kōfu, the line's first express-type service.
• 196928 September: the Fuji–Iriyamase section is realigned and elevated and the junction at Fuji rebuilt so that trains from the Tokyo direction no longer need to reverse; double-tracking of the Fuji–Fujinomiya section is under way.
• 197427 September: double-tracking of the Fuji–Fujinomiya section is completed.
• 198225 February: centralised traffic control (CTC) comes into use across the whole line.
• 19871 April: at the privatisation of Japanese National Railways, JR Central takes over the line; Japan Freight Railway becomes the Type-II operator on the Higashi-Hanawa–Kōfu section and freight services on Fuji–Higashi-Hanawa are discontinued.
• 19951 October: the express Fujikawa is upgraded to the limited express Fujikawa, running between Kōfu and Shizuoka via Fuji.