Railway Facilities That Became Crime Scenes: Tokyo Station, the gateway to the capital, is also the site of two assassination attempts. Both targeted sitting prime ministers. At each location, a mark has been made on the floor with a rivet, and an explanatory plaque is displayed nearby. One was the assassination of Prime Minister Kei Hara on November 4, 1921, in which he was fatally stabbed in the chest with a dagger by the assailant. The site is near the current Marunouchi South Exit ticket gates, and a plaque is displayed to the left of the ticket booth where the ticket machines are lined up. The rivets are embedded in the floor at his feet, but you might easily miss them if you’re not paying close attention. The other commemorates the assassination of Prime Minister Takeo Hamaguchi on November 14, 1930; the assailant was a right-wing activist. The prime minister was shot with a pistol and wounded; he died the following year as a result of his injuries. The scene of the incident was in front of the stairs leading to the Chuo Line platform (at the time). Currently, rivets are embedded in the floor just before the stairs leading up from the central concourse toward the Shinkansen transfer ticket gates; if you look back, you’ll see an explanatory plaque mounted on the pillar nearby. Additionally, on July 8, 2022, the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took place near Yamato-Saidaiji Station, a junction where the Kintetsu Kyoto, Nara, and Kashihara Lines converge.
A Railway Tied to Legal History: In the Japanese legal community, the “Lord Shingen’s Flag-Hanging Pine Case”—a lawsuit filed in 1917—is known as “the civil litigation case in which the doctrine of abuse of rights was, in substance, first adopted.” Along the Chuo Main Line stood an ancient pine tree known as Lord Shingen’s Flag-Hanging Pine. Legend has it that Takeda Shingen once leaned his military banner against this pine tree. However, after the Chuo Main Line was constructed and train service began, the owner of the old pine tree filed a lawsuit against the Railway Bureau (as it was known at the time), claiming that the tree had withered due to the exhaust fumes from steam locomotives. Although railway operations serve the public interest, this lawsuit is said to have gone down in history because the courts ruled that causing the death of the ancient pine tree constituted an abuse of rights. Today, a stone monument called the “Lord Shingen’s Flag-Hanging Pine Monument” stands in front of Hinoharu Station on the Chuo Main Line. The Chuo Main Line climbs steeply in one go from Nirasaki to Kobuchizawa, gaining elevation rapidly. This area is a plateau known as Shichiri-iwa, formed by rock avalanches and river erosion. Hino-Haru Station is located midway along this steep gradient. Given that the train had to climb a series of consecutive uphill gradients, one can imagine that smoke emissions must have been quite heavy. In the days when steam locomotives ran, they required large amounts of coal and water. Consequently, there were times when trains had to stop at intermediate stations to refill their water tanks, and a water tower once used for this purpose still stands on the north side of Hino-Haru Station. As an aside, the Chuo Expressway also rises sharply in elevation between the Nirasaki IC and Kobuchizawa IC. As anyone who has actually driven this stretch knows, the climb between the Sudama IC and Nagasaka IC is particularly steep. Speaking of court cases involving “abuse of rights,” the “Unazuki Onsen Case” is also well known. Unazuki Onsen actually relies on hot spring water drawn from the upstream Kurogane Onsen, and a legal dispute arose over the land through which the wooden pipes used for this water supply passed. Although the site is now submerged beneath the reservoir of the Unazuki Dam, it is said that in the past, passengers on the Kurobe Gorge Railway could see the wooden pipes installed there from the train windows. Due to the dam construction, the hot spring pipes were rerouted to a different path.
Traces of Machine-Gun Fire Remain on Station Buildings: Since railroads are vital infrastructure that supports economic activity and military operations, they are invariably targeted during wartime. As of 2026, when this is being written, this is exactly what is happening in Ukraine. Of course, the same thing occurred in Japan, Germany, France, and other countries during World War II. That is why, even today, there are places where “traces of machine-gun fire from the Pacific War” remain. A well-known example is Osumi-Yokogawa Station on the Hisatsu Line, where traces of machine-gun fire can still be seen on the wooden pillars supporting the platform roof. In the Tokyo metropolitan area, it is well known that machine-gun bullet marks remain on the viaduct structure at Kokudo Station on the Tsurumi Line and on the support pillars for Platforms 1 and 2 at Takao Station on the Chuo Main Line. When it comes to the machine guns used by U.S. military fighter planes at the time, the 12.7mm Browning M2 was the standard (and, surprisingly, it is still in active service today in countries around the world, including Japan). A 12.7mm caliber might not sound like much, but when you see an actual bullet, it’s surprisingly large. I’ve seen one myself at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Hiroshima’s Atomic Bomb-Damaged Trams: Hiroshima’s streetcars are operated by a private company called Hiroshima Electric Railway. Hiroshima Electric Railway operates the famous “atomic bomb-damaged trams.” These are the 650 series; all five cars manufactured were burned or completely or partially destroyed by the atomic bomb dropped on August 6, 1945. However, they were subsequently restored and returned to service. As of June 2026, two cars—No. 651 and No. 652—remain in active service. When I visited Hiroshima, Car No. 652 was running on the loop line, and I was able to ride it.
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