1921 (Taisho 10) Friday, August 26 Seibu Railway opened between Yodobashi and Ogikubo. Seibu Tramway is a tram owned by Seibu Railway, a private railway company. From Ogikubo station, streetcars will run on Ome Kaido towards Shinjuku. Yodobashi is the upper bridge across Kandagawa River which is located on the border between Shinjuku Ward and Nakano Ward along Oume Kaido Road. Until 1947 (Showa 22), the area where the present Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is located was an administrative district called “Yodobashi Ward”, and is now also used as an old name for the area around the west exit of Shinjuku Station. For example, the name remains in Yodobashi Camera, an electronics retail store whose main store is in Nishi-Shinjuku.
As early as October 1 of the same year, Seibu Railway merged with Musashi Suiden and the line was extended, and in December 1922 (Taisho 11), from Yodobashi which was the original terminal, Tsunohazu, which is the current location of Shinjuku Daigard on the Nishi-Shinjuku side, was extended to this point. After the war, it became Toden 14 system (so-called Toden Suginami Line). In 1962 (Showa 37), Toden Suginami Line was abolished the following year because the subway Marunouchi Line, which runs the same route as Toden Suginami Line and directly competes with it, was extended.
As the head office of Qrie Ltd., which I am currently managing, is located in Nishi-Shinjuku, I picked up the news which is very familiar locally. When I was with Mitsui, I used to live in a Mitsui & Co. Nakano dormitory near Nakano Fujimicho Station on the Marunouchi Line, and used to go to Otemachi on the Marunouchi Line every day. In that sense, it is very familiar news.
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