After enjoying the Seibu-Yamaguchi line, I got off at Seibu-en-yuenchi (Seibu-en Amusement Park) station on the line. I suddenly encountered a retro town in front of the station. What was that?
The answer is an attraction in the amusement park. It's an imaginary town that makes visitors feel like they're traveling into the Showa period. Showa is one of the titles of the Japanese calendar system. It refers to the period between 1926 and 1989, when Emperor Hirohito was on the throne. I found a nostalgic tramcar in front of the imaginary town. What was that?
The answer is the electric car, unit 1051 of the ex-Nagasaki Electric Tramway 1050 series. It was originally commissioned in 1952 as unit 117 of the Sendai City Tram MoHa 80 series (later called the MoHa 100 series). After the abolition of Sendai City Tram in 1976, it was transferred to Nagasaki Electric Tramway, and renamed as unit 1051. It was eventually retired from the track in 2019, and moved to Seibu-en Amusement Park in 2021 as an attraction.
I was a little disappointed that unit 1051 had its body colors changed. There wasn't the name of the operator and the unit number on the body. There was also no description about the history of this tramcar. The destination and the name of the tram stop are all fictional... but it can't be helped. This is the imaginary town that makes visitors feel the nostalgic atmosphere of the Showa period. The nameless tramcar is better than nothing.
