History
Kumamoto-Ekimae tram stop opened on 1 August 1924 as the southwestern end of the Kumamoto City line, when the Kumamoto-ekimae – Jōgyōji/Suizenji section was inaugurated. The Tasaki Line was added on 24 December 1959. On 26 April 2010 the stop was rebuilt as a "side-reservation" layout to separate the trams from the busy roadway, with platforms physically removed from the carriageway. From 2019 to 2021 the trademark wave-shaped white canopy (nicknamed "Big Shamoji") covering the JR exit and both tram platforms was rebuilt over earthquake-resilience concerns. A plan from 2006 to extend the line into the new JR station building in a switchback configuration was formally abandoned by Mayor Kazufumi Ōnishi in 2015 after the city judged that pedestrian/cyclist safety on the proposed transit mall could not be assured. Tram-stop number 3 today carries trams on Route A, operating across the unified Tasaki and Main lines.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-25.
Notes
Kumamoto-Ekimae is the highest-ridership tram stop on the entire Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau network, with FY2019 averaging 3,896 boarding passengers and 7,526 boarding + alighting passengers a day.