Choshi Electric Railway Line

Rail service in this corner of Chōshi began under a predecessor. The Chōshi Sightseeing Railway (銚子遊覧鉄道), set up by local backers, opened a steam-worked line between Chōshi and Inubō on 28 December 1913. The venture ran at a continual loss, and when the First World War sent steel prices soaring the line was abandoned in November 1917, in only its fourth year of operation; the rails were lifted and sold. In 1918 the right-of-way became a road reserved for local inns' shuttle buses. Founders of the original company then regrouped as the Chōshi Railway (銚子鉄道), which had been incorporated on 10 October 1922 and which reused the old trackbed to reopen the route — now extended to Tokawa — as Chōshi–Inubō–Tokawa on 5 July 1923.

The revived line was electrified at 600 V DC on 1 July 1925, and from that day into the mid-1930s it added the intermediate stations Kasagami-Kurohae, Kimigahama and Tōdai-mae. In the Second World War, air raids on 20 July 1945 destroyed its substation and depot and forced a suspension of services. The company borrowed a steam locomotive from the national railways to resume running that December, and in 1946 it restored its substation and brought electric trains back. On 20 August 1948, under post-war corporate-reconstruction law, the line's operator became the present-day Chōshi Electric Railway (銚子電気鉄道).

In the post-war decades the line was squeezed by the rise of buses and private cars, and its operating account fell into deficit, leaving the survival of the railway in doubt. Chōshi City began paying its own deficit subsidy to the railway in 1969, and from fiscal 1975 national, prefectural and municipal subsidies for maintaining services were paid under the Local Railway and Tramway Maintenance Act. Freight operations were discontinued on 1 February 1984 amid national-railway freight cutbacks, and one-man driver-only operation began on 1 April 1995 to cut costs. The line is still largely subsidised by Chiba Prefecture and Chōshi City. The city has set up a "Chōshi Electric Railway support fund" to pay subsidies for keeping services running, and about ¥29 million was drawn from it in fiscal 2024.

On 19 September 1995 the company began selling its own nure-senbei, "Chōden no nure-senbei", at Inubō Station. In August 2006 a former president of the company was arrested on suspicion of embezzling about ¥110 million, and in 2007 he was given a suspended prison sentence. The embezzlement left the railway short of operating funds, and in November 2006 it was unable to carry out the legally required inspection of its rolling stock. On 15 November it posted an unusual appeal on its website: "Please buy nure-senbei. We have to earn the money to repair the trains." The appeal spread online and was taken up by the news media, and according to the company it brought orders pouring into its online shop from across Japan. The snack trade has outgrown the trains themselves: non-railway business accounts for about 80 per cent of the company's annual sales of roughly ¥500 million, and its profits from confectionery sales are now double those from its railway operations.

In August 2018 the company launched the snack "Mazuibō", named after its "mazui" (bad) financial state. It sold over four million units within four years and is offered in numerous flavours. The company sells such self-deprecating products through its online shop and elsewhere, appealing to fans and the curious to buy them to keep the railway running.

The company has also turned to tourism. From around 1990 it pursued a sightseeing-oriented revival, rebuilding stations in a Western style, repainting its trains and introducing a mascot character. In December 2015 it began applying naming-rights nicknames to its stations, and on 1 April 2025 it adopted the whole-line nickname "Inubō Gakeppuchi Line" (犬吠崖っぷちライン).

10 stations tracked on the map, listed alphabetically. Select any to read its page.

• Ashikajima海鹿島
• Choshi銚子
• Inubo犬吠
• Kannon観音
• Kasagami-Kurohae笠上黒生
• Kimigahama君ヶ浜
• Moto-Choshi本銚子
• Nakanocho仲ノ町
• Nishi-Ashikajima西海鹿島
• Tokawa (Chiba)外川

• 191328 December: the Chōshi Sightseeing Railway, set up by local backers, opens a steam-worked Chōshi–Inubō line.
• 1917November: after continual losses and wartime rises in steel prices, the Chōshi Sightseeing Railway line is abandoned in only its fourth year; the rails are lifted and sold.
• 192210 October: founders of the original company regroup and incorporate the Chōshi Railway.
• 19235 July: the Chōshi Railway reopens the route over the old trackbed, now extended to Tokawa, as Chōshi–Inubō–Tokawa.
• 19251 July: the line is electrified at 600 V DC.
• 194520 July: air raids destroy the substation and depot, suspending services; a steam locomotive is borrowed from the national railways to resume running that December.
• 1946With the substation restored, electric train services resume.
• 194820 August: under post-war corporate-reconstruction law, the line's operator becomes the present-day Chōshi Electric Railway.
• 1969Chōshi City begins paying its own deficit subsidy to the railway; from fiscal 1975 national, prefectural and municipal subsidies for maintaining services follow under the Local Railway and Tramway Maintenance Act.
• 19841 February: freight operations are discontinued amid national-railway freight cutbacks.
• 19951 April: one-man driver-only operation begins. From 19 September the company starts selling its own moist rice crackers, 'Chōden no nure-senbei', at Inubō Station.
• 200615 November: short of funds and unable to carry out the legally required inspection of its rolling stock, the railway posts an unusual appeal on its website — 'Please buy nure-senbei. We have to earn the money to repair the trains' — and orders pour into its online shop from across Japan.
• 20183 August: the company launches the self-deprecating snack 'Mazuibō', which sells over four million units within four years.
• 20251 April: the line adopts the whole-line nickname 'Inubō Gakeppuchi Line'.