Metro Museum

photo by 抹茶 · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by Rsa · CC BY-SA 3.0

Car 1001, the Tokyo metro's first carriage, is a national cultural property; 220 yen

Beneath the elevated tracks of Kasai Station, the museum lines up old Tokyo metro cars, a driving simulator with real controls and dioramas on tunnel digging. Its most important piece is car 1001, the network's first carriage, which ran on the Ginza Line from December 1927 to April 1968: in 2017 the Agency for Cultural Affairs declared it an Important Cultural Property, the first time for an electric railway vehicle in Japan.

Opened beneath the viaduct of Kasai Station, on the Tōzai Line, the museum tells the history of the Tokyo metro through preserved vehicles and reconstructions of the excavations. Car 1001, the carriage that on 30 December 1927 opened East Asia's first underground line (Ueno–Asakusa, 2.2 km) and stayed in service on the Ginza until April 1968, was declared an Important Cultural Property (重要文化財) on 15 September 2017: the first designation for an electric railway vehicle, and the first for a property owned by the Tokyo Metro group.

ℹ️ Open 10:00–17:00 (entry until 16:30), closed on Mondays (the next day if it is a public holiday) and from 30 December to 3 January. Entry 220 yen (100 yen ages 4–14), 50% off with a disability certificate (also for one companion). Designed for train-loving children more than for a general tourist: the English covers only the main panels. Car 1001, protected as a cultural property, is normally kept with its doors closed and can be seen from outside, except for special openings announced by the museum.

🚉 Kasai · 3 min walk

Sources: chikahaku.jp · tokyometro.jp · tripadvisor.com.sg

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