Japan Heritage story
The railway across the sea: Nagahama, Tsuruga and Imajo
海を越えた鉄道
About 100 years ago you could buy a single ticket from Tokyo to Berlin. Trains ran to Tsuruga, a ship crossed to Vladivostok and the Trans-Siberian Railway did the rest. The story starts with a railway that linked Lake Biwa to the Sea of Japan in the Meiji period.
Key facts
- Theme
- Sea and waterside, Food and sake
- Era
- Meiji
- Region
- Chubu, Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- 海を越えた鉄道
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- ～世界へつながる 鉄路のキセキ～
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 福井県（南越前町、敦賀市）・滋賀県（長浜市）
The story
For centuries goods from the Sea of Japan travelled over a pass from Tsuruga to Lake Biwa and on to Kyoto and Osaka. In 1884 the railway from Nagahama to Tsuruga opened, driven through the hills by the Yanagase Tunnel, then the longest in Japan and built by Japanese engineers. The line on to Imajo needed 12 tunnels in 30 km of steep mountains, dug and lined with bricks by hand. Steam crews shovelled coal in sauna-like heat, and many of these tunnels are still used as roads today.
Ships linked Tsuruga with Vladivostok after the Trans-Siberian Railway opened, and from 1912 the Euro-Asia international train ran from Tokyo to Tsuruga Port with through tickets to Europe. The poet Yosano Akiko left for Paris this way, and so did Japan's team for its first Olympics, in Stockholm. During the Second World War, Jewish refugees holding visas from the diplomat Sugihara Chiune landed here, and locals welcomed them with free baths and fruit.
What to see
- Former Nagahama Station: Japan's oldest surviving station building, from 1882, now the Nagahama Railway Square museum.Google Maps 長浜鉄道スクエア (opens in a new tab)
- Kotone Tunnel: Japan's oldest surviving railway tunnel, brick-lined and still marked by soot.Google Maps 小刀根トンネル (opens in a new tab)
- Tsuruga Red Brick Warehouse: an old oil warehouse with a railway diorama, cafe and restaurant.Google Maps 敦賀赤レンガ倉庫 (opens in a new tab)
- Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum: the story of the refugees and the visas for life.Google Maps 人道の港 敦賀ムゼウム (opens in a new tab)
Plan your trip with the Fukui prefecture guide and the Shiga prefecture guide, and see more history.
Good to know
- Try tai-zushi, the sea bream sushi once sold on Tsuruga's platforms to passengers waiting for the extra engine.
- Eat Imajo soba; standing soba noodles on station platforms are said to have started at Imajo Station.
- Visit Keiunkan, opposite the old Nagahama Station, a guesthouse built by local merchants for an imperial visit in 1887.
Questions travellers ask
Could you really travel from Tokyo to Europe by train?
Yes. From 1912 the Euro-Asia international train connected Tokyo with Tsuruga, a ship to Vladivostok and the Trans-Siberian Railway, all on one ticket.
Can I walk through the old tunnels?
Many of the old Hokuriku Line tunnels are still roads, and walking events through them are held.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Echizen-Fukui: 400 years of towns built in stone
- Esashi: the herring town that outshone Edo
- Hida no Takumi: 1,300 years of master woodworkers in Takayama
- Iga and Koka: in search of the real ninja
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Lake Biwa Canal: the waterway of hope from Otsu to Kyoto
- Lake Biwa: villages that live with the water
- Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage: Japan's 1,300-year journey of the heart
- The Six Ancient Kilns: pottery born and raised in Japan
- Wakasa and the Saba Kaido: the mackerel road to Kyoto
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.