The Trams That Survived the Atomic Bomb π₯π―π΅ (Hiroshima, Japan)
join me as we take the Hashimma tram for the first time. I’ve never taken it before, so it’ll be um interesting for both of us to see. And it’s sort of the tram system that survived the atomic bomb, I guess you could say, because they had trams running here before the uh bomb dropped. And there’s actually a really fascinating picture that I passed um along the way. I’ll see if I’ll put it in here somewhere for you. And it was basically the bridge that I crossed earlier. It was just a foot bridge now and and had cars. Sorry, like a normal bridge. Was before just a tram bridge, but because of the way the blast had gone off, it was all walked and uh mangled. Super interesting. And that was rebuilt into just a standard uh bridge for foot traffic and cars. So, we need to take line number one, which will get here in a few minutes. We are here and we’re going to take line one, which goes all the way to Hashima Station, cuz it’s time for me to pick up my bag from the locker. and then get to our Airbnb. And I’ll just show you a little something along here because there was a little bit of information on this on the on the station here on how to pay. So you’ll see here you have a fair box. You just pop the money in, but it you need to have the exact change. So if you don’t, there is a little change machine there. You can put that in. It’ll give you a change then you can put in. It doesn’t take credit cards, unfortunately. So you can’t just tap your card or your phone there. It does take IC cards though, but I don’t have an IC card and I don’t have enough change. So, we’re going to have to get change of a th00and note because at the minute I just have maybe 160 or something and I I’ll need around 240 I think. So, I got plenty notes, but I’m going to have to I’m going to be the annoying guy that slows everyone down by getting change and put it in the machine. Right. I’ll come back to you when our tram arrives. We got about 5 minutes. Interestingly, Japan seems to be one of the few countries where I actually have to use the coins. For instance, when I’m in India, I didn’t use the coins for anything really. And when I’m in Poland again, like unless you have like a five zodi coin, it’s everything’s just tap to pay there. Anyway, almost nothing’s really cash. Um, and the few times I don’t have coins, I always come back with them and yeah, or usually I’ll just put them in the tip jar when I’m in the pub. But uh yeah, this time coins are very useful and I use them a lot especially for the transport. I can see our tram down there at the bottom arriving soon. The great thing about Japan is that everything drives or rides on the correct side of the road which is the left as we all know. Come on guys, trams are on the left, cars are on the left. That’s the way that’s the way it should be. This is very similar to the bus that was on from the looks of it. But I wonder how similar because on the bus it was a bit confusing. You get on the back and then you pick up a ticket and it just has a number on and then on there’s a screen on the front of the bus will then go up in price um as you stay on the bus longer of course right the street card and then you go to the bus the front you just put the ticket and the money in the same hole but no one checks anything. So, I think it’s like a like almost like an honesty system which back home would be totally abused. Like the driver doesn’t check your money. He doesn’t even you don’t like put your ticket in to be scanned. It just goes into a box in the bottom. It’s very weird. But let’s try not to hold anyone up. So, I’ve got my note ready to exchange. I assume that’ll just give me hundreds. And then I’ve got my 40 ready to rock. So it looks like it’s a standard fair 240 always. 120 for kids and young kids is free. That’s really interesting then. I guess it makes it easier in a sense, but if you’re taking one stop or you take the whole line, it uh the affordability changes, right? The chairs are a bit of a funny color and pattern. And you’ve got like a a weird bench seat. Yeah, a weird seat configuration. So, you’ve got this sort of table at the side here. I guess you could put stuff on, but then where I’m sat kind of a narrow seat. And then what’s this little bit here for odd? I have noticed the um in Japan they like odd like um colors and designs and textures for um the public transport seating and just seating in general. Otherwise, the tram is really nice. It’s air conditioned. It’s cool in here. It’s spotless as always. You got the conductor on here. If you ever had any trouble, you can help. You can get your money changed over at the end. We’ll do that. After payment, and it’s a great way to see the city. That’s like the good thing about trams. With subways, you kind of miss that. When you’re underground, you don’t get to see the city, but with the tram, you get to see a little bit about uh the city. It’s like a bush but better. [Music] [Music] Hello. [Music] [Music] Maximus. require [Music] The next stop is Ina Reimachi M2. The fair is a flat rate of 240 yen for adults and 120 yen for children. Passengers can pay the fairs at the staffed door with IC cards such as Sika or in cash when they get off. [Music] You don’t see my I must watch. [Music] Um, I have 40. All right, guys. We’ve made it to the station. That was actually painless. It gives you the right change. I thought it might just give me it in hundreds and I’d have to change again, but it gives you enough coppers and enough silvers to get the job done. So, that’s really good. And the guy was helpful. So wonderful. Yeah, I really like the trams. I think they’re great. 240 a flat rate. I mean, if you’re taking the full line, it’s a good deal. If you’re taking a couple of stops, not so much, but at least you know exactly how much it’s going to cost. So, if you’re going to be coming to Hiroshima and you want to get around with the trams, cuz the trams go everywhere, whereas there isn’t really a metro here. There is a Hashima rapid transit system, but it’s not really a metro, and it’s it’s limited in the area it goes. It’s not like um in Tokyo or Osaka where there’s metros that go all over the place and there’s multiple lines. They really went for um in Hashima they really went for the trams and or street cars as they also call them because um Hashima is built on a delta. So for logistics and infrastructure engineering reasons and civil engineering reasons that’s why they’ve gone for the street car. But it’s really good. So if you’re coming to Hashma you’ll know it’ll cost you 240 flat rate. Right guys, I’m going to go get my stuff for my luck ahead of my Airbnb and maybe chill out for a little bit. If you’ve enjoyed this video, I’ve got plenty more public transport on this channel in Japan and other places further a field. So, if that’s what you’re interested in, stick around, guys. So, hope you’ve enjoyed it and I’ll see you on the next one. Five.
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Today, we ride one of Japan’s oldest tram systems. This system has been running for over a century. Even though the city was the unfortunate recipient of an atomic bomb, the tram system survived and runs to this day. In fact, back in 1945, when the bomb was dropped, some tram cars did survive the blast and were put back into service. Of course, there are no 40’s trams roaming about anymore, but it’s still fascinating to ride this continuously used system.
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1 Comment
Very nice!