News

by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Senior Staff Writer

In October 1945, a crowd of passengers getting on and off streetcars of the Hiroshima Electric Railway Company (Hiroden) could be seen in Hiroshima City’s central area of Kamiya-cho (in the city’s present-day Naka Ward). According to the publication 100-year history of streetcars in Hiroshima, 70-year history of Hiroshima Electric Railway Company, published in 2012, the resumption of streetcar service connecting to the city’s downtown took place step-by-step, starting in September that year and lasting through October. On October 11, an area of the section near Hiroshima Station was restored, leading to the reopening of the route between Koi and Hiroshima Station, except for one part of the section closed due to a collapsed bridge.

In 1955, Nobuyuki Ito, an executive director at Hiroden who died in 1984 at the age of 86, wrote in a personal account that, “With the belief that the rebuilding of streetcar service must be achieved post haste as a way to promote recovery of the city, we immediately began preparation work, starting the day after the atomic bombing.” Later, Mr. Ito was also involved in establishment of the professional baseball franchise the Hiroshima Carp (present-day Hiroshima Toyo Carp) and served as president of the team.

Hiroden lost 185 of its employees in the atomic bombing. Of the 123 city streetcars in operation at the time, 108 were damaged in the bombing, with more than 40 of that number completely destroyed and incinerated, or damaged in a significant way. Electric poles and overhead wires necessary for streetcar operations were also greatly impacted by the bombing.

Mr. Ito experienced the atomic bombing at his company’s headquarters in the area of Senda-machi (in Hiroshima’s present-day Naka Ward), located around two kilometers from the hypocenter. Despite losing his second-oldest daughter in the bombing, he led the company’s restoration efforts. At first, the company received support from the Imperial Army Tokyo Signal Corps, including with the work of installing electric poles. However, after an end to the war was declared on August 15, Hiroden worked quickly on its own to restore related facilities, such as its Senda-machi substation.

For the city line running east to west, restoration started with the line running east of Koi. A streetcar with passengers onboard was considered to have resumed operations between the Koi and Nishitenma-cho areas three days after the atomic bombing. The streetcar line between Koi and Hatchobori, in Hiroshima’s central area, resumed operations on September 7. The Ujina line, running from the southern part of the city, resumed operations on October 12 and, with that, Ujina and the area of Kamiya-cho were successfully reconnected.

Due to the Makurazaki Typhoon on September 17 and water damage in October, however, a streetcar-dedicated bridge over the Tenma River had collapsed. Consequently, the city line between Hiroshima Station and Koi had to be divided into two separate lines, one between Hiroshima Station and the area of Koami-cho, and the other between the areas of Tenma-cho and Koi. A ferryboat carried passengers across the Tenma River. As of October, the streetcar line operated on a single track, preventing streetcars from passing each other. Each of the streetcars from Hiroshima Station, Koi, or Ujina would turn back near the Kamiya-cho intersection.

(Originally published on October 21, 2024)