Mitake Tozan Funicular

The line had its origins in the late 1920s. On 23 March 1927 a railway licence was granted to the Mitakesan Denki Kōsaku Tetsudō (御岳山電気鋼索鉄道, the Mitakesan Electric Cable Railway), and on 18 November that year the concern notified a change of name to Mitakesan Tozan Tetsudō. Two days later, on 20 November 1927, the company was formally established as the Mitake Tozan Railway. In 1939 its largest shareholder was the Ōme Electric Railway.

The funicular itself opened in the mid-1930s, linking Takimoto Station with Mitakesan Station. The opening was recorded in the official government gazette (Kanpō) of 15 January 1935, in a notice headed 'Start of Local Railway Operation'. The original cars, built by Kisha Seizō with a capacity of eighty passengers, remained in service for more than three decades.

In 1944, as Japan's position in the Pacific War worsened, the Takimoto–Mitakesan funicular was designated a non-essential, non-urgent line (fuyō-fukyū-sen), suspended and partly scrapped for material. The company was renamed Ōtama Kankō Kaihatsu on 31 October 1947, and the funicular finally resumed operation on 29 June 1951. The firm took back the name Mitake Tozan Railway on 1 July 1961.

In the late 1950s a chairlift (a special-category ropeway) was opened higher up the mountain, between Mitakedaira Station, beside the funicular's upper terminus, and Daitenbōdai Station. The line's ageing original cars were retired in 1968 and replaced by a second generation of vehicles built at Hitachi's Kasado works. On 29 May 1972 the Mitake Tozan Railway came under the management of Keio Teito Electric Railway — today the Keio Corporation — and so became part of the Keio Group, to which it still belongs.

The line was closed from 1 June to 5 July 1991, and on 6 July the track gauge was altered from the original 1,067 mm to 1,049 mm in conjunction with a replacement of the rails, whose larger profile required the slightly narrower gauge; the cars were modified to suit. The 1,049 mm gauge has remained the line's standard ever since.

PASMO electronic money was introduced at the ticket gates on 18 March 2007, initially for one-way adult fares only, and from 24 November 2011 it could also be used for children's fares. The second-generation cars were withdrawn on 11 March 2008; after a short closure the third generation entered service on 22 March 2008. To mark the line's eightieth anniversary, the cars were given a fresh design on 16 October 2014 and renamed Musashi and Mitake.

Today the Mitake Tozan Funicular operates roughly every twenty minutes (about every thirty minutes in the middle of the day in winter), with extra services sometimes added at busy times and all-night running on New Year's Eve to carry visitors to the Musashi-Mitake Shrine for their first shrine visit of the year. It is reached from Mitake Station on the JR Ōme Line by a Nishi Tokyo Bus service to the Cable-Shita stop. The shrine's guardian deity, Ōkuchi-no-Magami, is known as Oinu-sama, and many worshippers visit with their dogs, so in 2009 the funicular began accepting dogs. Unusually for a railway, it lets dogs and other pets ride without a cage.

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

• Mitakesan御岳山
• Takimoto滝本

• 192723 March: a railway licence is granted to the Mitakesan Electric Cable Railway (御岳山電気鋼索鉄道); the company is formally established as the Mitake Tozan Railway on 20 November.
• 1934/1935The funicular opens between Takimoto Station and Mitakesan Station (recorded in the Kanpō gazette of 15 January 1935). The year is given as 1934 or 1935.
• 1944As Japan's position in the Pacific War worsens, the Takimoto–Mitakesan funicular is designated a non-essential, non-urgent line (fuyō-fukyū-sen), suspended and partly scrapped for material.
• 194731 October: the company is renamed Ōtama Kankō Kaihatsu.
• 195129 June: the funicular resumes operation between Takimoto Station and Mitakesan Station.
• 1958/1959A chairlift (special-category ropeway) opens higher up the mountain, between Mitakedaira Station and Daitenbōdai Station. The year is given as 1958 or 1959.
• 19611 July: the company takes back the name Mitake Tozan Railway.
• 1968The original cars are retired and replaced by second-generation vehicles built at Hitachi's Kasado works.
• 197229 May: the railway comes under the management of Keio Teito Electric Railway (now Keio Corporation), joining the Keio Group.
• 1991Closed 1 June–5 July; on 6 July the gauge is changed from 1,067 mm to 1,049 mm in conjunction with a rail replacement, and the cars are modified to suit.
• 200718 March: PASMO electronic money is introduced at the ticket gates (initially one-way adult fares only).
• 2008The second-generation cars are withdrawn on 11 March; after a short closure, third-generation cars enter service on 22 March.
• 201124 November: PASMO can also be used for children's fares at the gates.
• 201416 October: to mark the line's 80th anniversary, the cars are redesigned and renamed Musashi and Mitake.