Farewell, Tokyu 8500 series

The original style

Another iconic commuter train in Tokyo, Tokyu 8500 series, retired on Wednesday after being in service for nearly 48 years.

The 8500 series was introduced to Den-en-toshi Line in 1975-91, with 400 carriages in total. As Den-en-toshi Line was about to be rearranged and through-service to Hanzomon Line was to be launched, the 8500 series was designed in accordance with safety standards of underground trains at that time.

Almost of all units looked unchanged since the introduction except a few features such as destination blinds (initially roll signs but later replaced with displays). They had been known for their significant noise until the very end.

The 8500 series was apparently not a "cool" train. Since it was a type of commuter train, it is not hard to imagine that Tokyu focused on trains that can transport as many people as possible and as cheap as possible, rather than making them stylish and impressive. In other word, "economical", and probably that was why not many railway enthusiasts paid attention until recently.

The withdrawal of the 8500 series was supposed to be completed by the early-2010s, but it was deferred for nearly ten years. There were several reasons for the deferral. First, the Global Financial Crisis hit the business. Second, Japan Airlines, whose shares had been owned by Tokyu due to historical backgrounds, went bankrupt. As a consequence, Tokyu conceded that there was an initial loss of 9 billion yen (approx. 98 million USD) in 2010, and the total loss was expected to be even more. Third, Tokyu had another major railway project; through-services between Tokyu Toyoko and Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Lines. Tokyu had to concentrate on the project by introducing brand new trains and refurbishing other trains. Needless to say, there were also many other things to invest such as new Shibuya station facilities. Hence, The replacement of the 8500 series took longer than initially anticipated.

Oimachi Line unit

The 8500 series had been used not only for Den-en-toshi Line (including relevant through-services) but also other Tokyu lines. A few carriages ran Toyoko Line until the late-1980s as a temporary measure, which most people do not remember well today. In 2003-19, several units that formed of five coaches were used for Oimachi Line as well. Their red stripes were repainted yellow and orange in 2006 to distinguish them from other 8500 series units on Den-en-toshi Line.

Bunkamura Train

The withdrawal of the 8500 series resumed in 2019 as 2020 series was introduced. The last unit on mainline was the 37th unit, which was registered on 4 Sep 1986 (three out of ten coaches were registered on 19 Aug 1987). Why did it have blue stripes instead of red? Because it was designated as Bunkamura Train, covered with advertisements of "multicultural complex" which consists of, for example, a concert hall and a theatre. The last one with original red stripes was sent for scrap in May 2022.

The one on Nagano Electric Railway

A few 8500 series carriages were resold to several small private railways in Japan, namely: Chichibu Railway in Saitama Prefecture (six carriages), Izukyu in Shizuoka Prefecture (one carriage) and Nagano Electric Railway (18 carriages). They are expected to be operational for coming years, but might not last long. Nagano Railway plans to replace them with new trains (either brand new or second-hand ones) by March 2029.

A sticker commemorating the "400th" anniversary

Since 26 December, two four-carriage units of Keikyu 600 series have got stickers under a windscreen. On the one hand, it commemorates the 50th anniversary of Kawasaki Ward of Kawasaki City. In 1972, seven wards were established as Kawasaki City became a government ordinance city. The government ordinance city is an important term when it comes to devolution, but this article does not focus on it.

On the other hand, it reads "TOKAIDO KAWASAKI SHUKU 400TH". It apparently shows the 400th anniversary of something, but what is Tokaido Kawasaki Shuku? The first word sounds like Tokaido Main Line, one of the most important railway in Japan, but do they have a connection with each other? The answer is yes. Those who have studied Japanese history must know it and might have already realised what does this sticker mean.

Tokaido was the most important route that dates back to the 8th century. The route has changed as the time passed, and the most well-known Tokaido is not so old. It was developed in 1601 as the most important road connecting Edo (now Tokyo) and Kyoto. As the route was designed to be heavily used by travellers and couriers, there were post station towns consisted of various facilities including inns and horse stables.

There were 53 stations between Nihombashi in Edo and Sanjo Ohashi in Kyoto, and thus they were called Tokaido Gojusan-tsugi (lit. 53 stations of the Tokaido). A series of ukiyo-e woodcut prints with the same name, created by Utagawa Hiroshige, is well known across the world.

The Kawasaki-shuku (also pronounced as Kawasaki-juku), established in 1623, was the second post station after Shinagawa-shuku. Initially, there was no post station between Shinagawa and Kanagawa, but the distance between these two stations was approximately 12.2 miles, so long for horses running at high speed that the Tokugawa Shogunate (de facto government) decided to establish another station in between. The photo above is the road exactly what was called Tokaido in the Edo period (1603-1868), and the signboard next to a traffic signal reads "Tokaido Kawasaki Shuku".

Tama River and Kawasaki-shuku

There is a small museum called Tokaido Kawasaki Shuku Koryukan. This model shows how was the area used to be in the 17th century. It was not so far from Edo (approximately 11 miles to Nihombashi), but not a few people had to spend days here when water levels of Tama River rose and thus no boat service was available.

The Kawasaki-shuku was mostly ruined by the end of the Edo period due to financial difficulties. It is said that one day in 1857, Townsend Harris (the first American Consul General to Japan) planned to stay here for the night but had to change his schedule because of poor facilities. The shuku finally came to an end when Kawasaki station of the first railway in Japan opened in 1872.

Kawasakidaishi - Higashimonzen, 5 Jan 2023

Coming back to the year 2022, Kawasaki City office decided to promote the anniversary so that the logo, created by an ordinary office worker, has been chosen for programmes and events that the City office plans to carry out.

According to Keikyu, the two trains will have the stickers until 28 January. They mainly run on Daishi Line, and their schedules are available here unless they are not in service or run other lines of the network.

The Red List of Trains in Japan (Jan-2023 update)

The Red List of Trains in Japan has been updated with eight new articles as listed below, many of which are in western Japan. In addition, "Current Status" of many articles have been modified as the new year began.

• JR East E655 series Nagomi
• Keifuku MoBo 21 series
• Keifuku MoBo 101 series
• Keifuku MoBo 301 series
• Keifuku MoBo 611 series
• Kyoto Subway 10 series
• Kyoto Subway 20 series
• MRT 300 series

Information about recent changes on "Current Status" can be found HERE !

New Year Greetings 2023

The year 2023 has began.

The last year was not full of happy memories due to fundamental changes of circumstances that affected almost everyone in this world. There might be some difficulties this year as well, but I wish all of you lots of luck and happiness and overcome those obstacles.

Whilst celebrating the dawn of the new year, I would like to notify readers of this blog and followers on Twitter a few things as follows.

About this blog

As I have been busier than before and the number of viewers is dwindling in recent months, I wondered if it was worth keeping this blog regularly updated. Finally, I have decided to update this blog once every TWO weeks from January 2023. I had posted an article every Saturday, but from today, a new article will generally be available on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month. There might be more articles when necessary, for example, when an important announcement has been made by a railway company. I shall inform you via Twitter when a new article is available.

You can also visit my Japanese blog which is updated once every two weeks - the first, third (and fifth) Fridays of each month.

About social media

I have been using Twitter and it is the service I mostly rely on to communicate with other people. However, as concerns about a bleak future of Twitter grow, I have also been using Mastodon since last year. I would be appreciated if you follow my account. Feel free to ask me any question related to railways in Japan or other general topics.

Thank you for your understanding.