160306-0017 - Manseibashi Station

Streetcars nearby Manseibashi Station in Tokyo as seen from Sudacho. The station, opened on April 1, 1912 (Meiji 45), was designed by by architect Kingo Tatsuno ( (辰野金吾, 1854-1919)).

The building was destroyed by the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, but a new building was built after the quake. Over the years, passenger numbers declined as other stations took over Mansebashi’s functions. In 1936 (Showa 11) it was given a new lease on life when the Railway Museum was installed here.

Manseibashi Station was officially closed in 1943 (Showa 18) and the station building was torn down. The Railway Museum, now named Transportation Museum, remained until 2006 (Heisei 18), when it was moved to a new Railway Museum in Saitama.

Sudacho managed to survive the air raids of WWII fairly well and still offers a few remnants of prewar Tokyo today.