Keihan Cable Line

The line was not originally a Keihan project. A licence to build a railway here was granted on 22 December 1922, and the Otokoyama Sandō company was established on 17 January 1923 to construct it. The promoters' business model was speculative: the company was capitalised at the unusually large sum of 1.5 million yen for its size, and its strategy was to secure licences for promising sightseeing routes and resell the completed railways at a profit. The funicular opened on 22 June 1926, running between Hachiman-guchi and Otokoyama. The operating company renamed itself Otokoyama Railway on 28 May 1928, and on 31 August 1929 it became a subsidiary of the Keihan Electric Railway — a takeover that the larger company undertook partly to forestall a rival, since the venture also held an unbuilt licence for an Ōyamazaki–Nagao line that Keihan did not want a competitor to develop.

The line did not survive the Second World War intact. On 11 February 1944 it was closed as a non-essential wartime line (fuyō-fukyū-sen) so that its materials could be requisitioned for the war effort, and the Otokoyama Railway company was dissolved. The funicular then lay out of service for more than a decade.

Reconstruction came under Keihan's direct management in the mid-1950s. Keihan was granted a licence for the Otokoyama funicular on 8 April 1955, construction began on 12 July that year, and the rebuilt line reopened on 3 December 1955, running between Otokoyama (the present Cable-hachimangū-guchi) and Hachimangū (the present Cable-hachimangū-sanjō). The stations were renamed on 1 January 1957, when Otokoyama became Hachimanchō and Hachimangū became Otokoyama-sanjō; the lower station was renamed again, to Hachimanshi, on 1 November 1977.

In its modern decades the line has been progressively modernised. New cars were introduced and entered service on 11 July 2001, when the Surutto KANSAI fare system was adopted. In 2012 a slope failure caused by heavy rain forced a full suspension from 14 August, with replacement buses run until services resumed on 1 September. On 29 April 2016 the on-board announcements were renewed, with background music composed by Minoru Mukaiya. A more thorough refurbishment followed in 2019: after a closure for equipment and rope renewal, the line reopened on 19 June 2019 with redesigned cars named "Akane" (red) and "Kogane" (gold).

The line took on its present identity in 2019 and 2020. On 1 October 2019 its nickname was changed from Otokoyama Cable to Iwashimizu-Hachimangū Sandō Cable, and the two stations were renamed Cable-hachimangū-guchi and Cable-hachimangū-sanjō to match. On 1 June 2020 the fare was raised from 200 to 300 yen and the PiTaPa IC card was introduced — the last Keihan line to gain acceptance of the nationwide transport IC cards. Today the line continues to serve Iwashimizu Hachimangū as the short but steep approach to one of Kyoto's important shrines.

• 192222 December: a railway licence for the line is granted.
• 192317 January: the Otokoyama Sandō company is established to build the funicular.
• 192622 June: Otokoyama Sandō opens the funicular between Hachiman-guchi and Otokoyama.
• 192828 May: the operating company is renamed Otokoyama Railway.
• 192931 August: Otokoyama Railway becomes a subsidiary of the Keihan Electric Railway.
• 194411 February: the line is closed as a non-essential wartime line so its materials can be requisitioned; the Otokoyama Railway company is dissolved.
• 1955Keihan is granted a licence for the Otokoyama funicular on 8 April, begins construction on 12 July, and reopens the line on 3 December between Otokoyama (now Cable-hachimangū-guchi) and Hachimangū (now Cable-hachimangū-sanjō).
• 19571 January: the stations are renamed — Otokoyama to Hachimanchō and Hachimangū to Otokoyama-sanjō.
• 19771 November: Hachimanchō Station is renamed Hachimanshi Station.
• 200111 July: new cars enter service and the Surutto KANSAI fare system is introduced.
• 201214 August: a slope failure caused by heavy rain forces a full suspension, with replacement buses run; service resumes on 1 September.
• 201629 April: the on-board announcements are renewed, with background music composed by Minoru Mukaiya.
• 201919 June: after a refurbishment closure the line reopens with redesigned cars named "Akane" (red) and "Kogane" (gold); on 1 October the nickname changes to Iwashimizu-Hachimangū Sandō Cable and the stations are renamed Cable-hachimangū-guchi and Cable-hachimangū-sanjō.
• 20201 June: the fare is raised from 200 to 300 yen and the PiTaPa IC card is introduced — the last Keihan line to accept the nationwide transport IC cards.