The Shimizukō Line ( 清水港線 , Shimizukō-sen , literally "Shimizu Port Line") was a Japanese railway line in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka , operated by Japanese National Railways . It ran as a branch line off the Tōkaidō Main Line from Shimizu Station , through the industrial port of Shimizu before terminating in the residential area of Miho. The line operated first as a freight line and later as a passenger line before closing in 1984 and being replaced by a bus service. At its peak, the line included a total of four passenger stations, and two spur lines used for freight services.
18-576: Shimizu port had long been an important area for industry in the area. The areas natural harbour in Suruga Bay was a thriving fishing port and the export of the locally grown green tea . Miho is a busy residential area on the Shimizu peninsula famous for Miho no Matsubara . In an age before widespread bus or haulage services or personal transport, a train link into the area was conceived. The line began life on July 10, 1916, purely as an industrial railway from
36-405: A day. With increasing competition from buses and personal transport usage declined to the point that by the early 1980s the line was no longer considered a viable transport link. After forty years as a passenger service, the last Miho bound train departed Shimizu on March 31, 1984. The line officially closed for business on April 1 of the same year, its route being replaced by a bus service. Today
54-548: A new Shimizufutō Station opening 0.2 km back towards Shimizu Station, with the already existing platforms turned over purely to handle freight. On December 1 of the same year, all of the new stations began operating passenger services, and the line was officially named the Shimizukō Line. By the 1970s, passenger services had been reduced to meet only the needs of the morning and evening rush hour commuters and school students with only one roundtrip of passenger ( mixed ) trains
72-413: A park. The platform still stands along with a section of track with an example of one of the industrial trains which used to service the area's numerous factories . The former railway is now a flower-lined route running through the heart of Shimizu. It is used daily by residents, tourists and the many students of the various local schools in the area. Suruga Bay Suruga Bay (駿河湾, Suruga-wan )
90-615: A pocket called Uchiura-wan at Numazu, Shizuoka , where the Izu Peninsula connects to Honshu , giving the water greater transparency and leaving the seabed largely flat except for a number of small rocky islands, some joined to the mainland by tombolos . This seabed variety coincides with coastline differences as well: The western and central sections of the Suruga Bay coastline, roughly from Shizuoka to Numazu, are characterized by sandy beaches such as those at Yuigahama and Tagonoura, whereas
108-587: Is 53.3 kilometres (33.1 mi) long and has a drainage basin of 567 square kilometres (219 sq mi). Approximately 170,000 people live in the basin area. The river rises in the Akaishi Mountains , which stretch over the boundary between Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures, and flows into Suruga Bay in the Pacific Ocean . It is known for its clear stream and forms part of the main water supply for Shizuoka city . There are many hot springs at
126-428: Is Tomoegawaguchi, with a full platform and section of track complete with station signage still standing and today surrounded by a car park. Beyond Tomoegawaguchi, examples of the passenger trains and signals can be found on the 4 km cycle path and walkway which runs the path of the old rail road. Locations of old stations are marked with signs, and the area of and around Miho Station terminus has been converted into
144-565: Is a bay on the Pacific coast of Honshū in Shizuoka Prefecture , Japan . It is situated north of a straight line from Omaezaki Point to Irōzaki Point at the tip of the Izu Peninsula and surrounded by Honshū to the southwest and west and the Izu Peninsula to the east. Suruga Bay is a place of contrasts. Japan's loftiest peak, Mount Fuji at 3,776 metres (12,388 ft), rises from
162-509: The 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) depth of the Suruga Trough running up the middle of the bay, which makes it Japan's deepest. Numerous rivers—especially the major Fuji , the Ōi , and Abe rivers—empty into its western portion, giving that area of the bay a seabed rich in submarine canyons and other geographical features, whereas at the bay's easternmost end, only the Kano River empties into
180-592: The bay's southwest end, known as Senoumi, is especially well known as a rich fishing ground. Suruga Bay was formed by tectonic subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate at the Suruga Trough , making it a source of considerable seismic activity , and giving the bay its extreme depth. Ever since the post-war industrial boom of Japan, the bay has suffered from severe industrial pollution. By 1970, local paper mills produced so much that
198-570: The bay. Suruga Bay can be reached by car from Tokyo via Numazu in two to five hours depending on traffic conditions on the Tōmei Expressway or in Numazu. [REDACTED] Media related to Suruga Bay at Wikimedia Commons 34°51′N 138°33′E / 34.850°N 138.550°E / 34.850; 138.550 Abe River The Abe River ( 安倍川 , Abe-kawa ) is a Class A river in Shizuoka Prefecture in central Japan . It
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#1733092795382216-530: The eastern and northeastern stretches from Numazu down the southwestern coast of the Izu Peninsula to Irōzaki, are generally rocky. The bay is open to the Philippine Sea / Pacific Ocean to the south, but is mostly protected from oceanic waves by Izu Peninsula. This, coupled with the seabed and water characteristics mentioned above, results in conditions favorable to fishing, sailing, windsurfing, swimming, and research on deep-sea organisms. An undersea plateau at
234-455: The government to take action. Despite subsequent regulations, surveys of local sea life in the mid-2010s continue to show intense PCB and PBDE contamination. The pollution of Suruga Bay became so infamous that it featured in the 1971 film Godzilla vs. Hedorah . The name of the titular monster is derived from hedoro , the Japanese word for 'mud', and the creature fed off heavy pollution in
252-401: The majority of the old route has been converted into pedestrian and cyclist walkway. Of the old stations, signals and rolling stock, remnants have been preserved to varying degrees. Shimizukō Station's industrial crane has been preserved and can be seen in the grounds of S-Pulse Dream Plaza , a shopping and entertainment complex on the station's former site. The best preserved of the stations
270-484: The many export factories in the region. On December 1, 1934, Ejiri Station was renamed as Shimizu Station in part to reflect the growing influence the port had on the region's identity. On July 1, 1944, the line was further extended a further 6 km into Miho, with the addition of four new stations: Tomoegawaguchi Station ( 巴川口駅 , Tomoegawaguchi eki ) , Orido Station ( 折戸駅 , Orido eki ) and Miho Station ( 三保駅 , Miho eki ) . This extension also included
288-543: The river head, which is also known for its numerous landslides and for the Abe Great Falls , one of Japan's Top 100 Waterfalls . Unlike the nearby Tenryū River and Ōi River , there are no dams on the Abe River. Tokugawa Ieyasu carried out extensive construction and formed the present route of the lower course of the river. Abekawamochi ( 安倍川餅 ) , a mochi rice cake dusted with kinako ( soybean flour ), has been
306-410: The small city of Fuji (1970 pop. 180,000) produced 2.4 million short tons (2.2 Mt) of waste water every day – equivalent to the daily sewage of Tokyo at the time (1970 pop. 9 million). The sulphur-laden sludge was so thick that it threatened to block the harbour, requiring dredging that severely damaged the marine life. Protests from local citizens and fishermen in the area put pressure on
324-405: The then-named Ejiri Station into the industrial area of Shimizu port. The first stretch of the line ran as a 1.6 km spur to Shimizukō Station ( 清水港駅 , Shimizukō eki , "Shimizu Port Station") . An extension on February 1, 1930, took the line deeper into the port district, with a station opening as Shimizufutō Station ( 清水埠頭駅 , Shimizufutō eki , "Shimizu Pier Station") to further service
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