Toden Arakawa Line km trip in 50 minutes. The gauge is . The line is fully double-track, and draws 600 V electrical supply. Two Toden Arakawa trams (one in revenue service, the other undergoing brake testing) collided on June 13, 2006 near the Minowabashi terminus, injuring 27 people. The Toden Arakawa Line operates in northern and eastern Tokyo outside the main tourist areas. The terminus at Minowabashi is near the historical site of Edo's red-light district Yoshiwara which features a completely covered shopping street, several blocks long, in the once common "Ameyoko" style (a shōtengai). In Haruki Murakami's novel "Norwegian Wood", protagonist Toru
Japanese gunboat Sumida (1903) Japanese gunboat Sumida (1903) "Sumida" was the first gunboat in the Imperial Japanese Navy inventory designed specifically for inland river service. The need for such a vessel to operate on the rivers of the Asian mainland to protect Japanese commercial interests at various treaty ports had been perceived even before the Boxer Rebellion. The Japanese government turned to the United Kingdom, and placed an order for such two such vessels in 1903: one the "Sumida" to John I. Thornycroft & Company and the other to Yarrow Shipbuilders in Scotland. "Sumida", was slightly larger than "Fushimi" and easily distinguishable by having