08/05/2018 A day out on the last remaining street car line in Tokyo. Part 1 Arriving at Higashi-Ikebukuro

I had seen a documentary about the one remaining street car line in Tokyo so decided to spend a day riding around on it when I visited Japan this year.
The " Toden Arakawa Line " or " Sakura Tram" (as it is rebranded to attract tourists and so named because sections of the line are bordered by cherry trees making the route spectacular in Sakura season) is a genuine old public transport line still mostly used by locals to travel to work , shopping , university etc. but also getting a new reputation as a great way for tourists to see older parts of Tokyo not normally frequented by overseas visitors. It runs for 7.6 miles across Tokyo and has 30 station stops, the trams are modern as it's a working line and not a heritage railway as such but a few new retro styled trams have now been added on the line. You can use the usual Tokyo prepaid transport cards to ride the trams but also you can buy a very cheap ( 400 yen ) one day pass from the driver as you get on at your first stop, then you can travel all day getting on and off as often as you like with the one ticket.
The most convenient stop for us to start the day on the line was Higashi-Ikebukuro