¥400 for the Whole Line: Ten Stops Along Tokyo's Last Streetcar, From Minowabashi to Kishimojin

[1] Do the fare arithmetic first. The Arakawa Line charges a flat fare — ¥170 for adults (¥168 by IC), ¥90 for children (¥84 IC) — whether you ride one stop or thirty. The one-day pass is ¥400 adults, ¥200 children. Two rides cost ¥340, three cost ¥510, so the pass breaks even the moment you board a third time, and this route involves at least eight boardings. That changes how you travel, not just what you spend: with the marginal cost of each ride at zero, you can get off wherever looks interesting and rejoin a few minutes later. Note the ticket variants: magnetic passes are sold at the depot office, commuter-pass offices and Minowabashi Omoide-kan, with advance ones valid for any single day within six months; IC day passes are sold only on board; and the RYDE PASS digital version must be bought before boarding.

[2] The eastern half. Start at Minowabashi, where the old platform and its planting survive and the free Omoide-kan (10:00-18:00, closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays) sells magnetic passes. The covered Joyful Minowa arcade begins right outside — about a hundred shops, mostly food, and a regular filming location. A few stops west, Toden Omoide Hiroba at Arakawa-shakomae opens two retired cars for you to walk into: the 1954 5500-series No. 5501, the streamlined PCC car, and the 1962 7500-series No. 7504, with mock driving consoles inside. It is free — but open only on weekends and public holidays, 10:00-16:00, which is the scheduling trap on this line.

[3] Arakawa Yuen and the After-4 ticket. The ward-run amusement park charges ¥800 for adults, ¥400 junior high, ¥200 elementary, ¥400 for over-65s, free for preschoolers aged three and up, with rides at ¥100 each or a ¥1,800 adult free pass. In August the right choice is After-4: enter from 16:00 for ¥500 as an adult, ¥100 elementary, ¥200 for junior high and over-65s, which avoids the peak heat and catches the river breeze before the 17:00 close (20:00 on evening-opening days). The park stays open daily through the school holidays, dropping its usual Tuesday closure, and the free pass excludes coin-operated rides, the fishing pond, animal feed and pony rides.

[4] Oji and Asukayama. Otonashi Shinsui Park, three minutes from the Oji-ekimae stop, is a shallow stream park on the old course of the Shakujii River, listed among Japan's hundred notable urban parks and the best cooling stop on the line. Above it, Asukayama Park is reached by a free self-propelled inclined lift nicknamed Ascalgo, which doubles as a step-free route for strollers and older visitors; a D51 steam locomotive and a retired Toden car sit at the top. Of the three museums on the hill, the Shibusawa Memorial Museum (¥300 general, ¥100 students, 10:00-16:00) covers Shibusawa Eiichi, the face of the ¥10,000 note since 2024, who helped found over five hundred companies and some six hundred social projects and lived here in later life — an hour and ¥300 for the skeleton of modern Japanese corporate history.

[5] The western half. At Koshinzuka the point is the platform itself, where Ippukutei serves handmade ohagi with yakisoba as trams pass a metre away — the natural mid-route break. One minute from there begins Sugamo Jizo-dori, eight hundred metres and two hundred shops known as the Harajuku for grandmothers. What is worth looking at is not the red underwear but the design: gentle gradients, enlarged signage, frequent seating, unhurried service — a street rebuilt around older customers. Kogan-ji, midway, enshrines the Togenuki Jizo, and the 4th, 14th and 24th are festival days with far bigger crowds. The route ends at Kishibojinmae, where an avenue of old zelkova leads to Zoshigaya Kishimojin-do: main hall of 1664, worship hall added 1700, designated an Important Cultural Property on 25 July 2016.

[6] Three common misjudgements. The tram is a working commuter line, not a sightseeing train — suitcases block the aisle, so use a locker first. Weekdays and weekends show you different things: Omoide Hiroba opens only at weekends and holidays, Sugamo's festival days fall on the 4th, 14th and 24th, and Arakawa Yuen normally closes on Tuesdays, so check all three against your date. And in August, treat water and roofs as scheduling constraints: keep midday for the covered arcade or the indoor museums, and save the stream park and the amusement park for after 16:00, when the After-4 ticket applies anyway. If you finish at a bathhouse, note that Tokyo's regulated admission rose from ¥550 to ¥600 on 1 August 2026.