A beautifully ornate streetcar, adorned with lights and colorful artificial flowers, began what is scheduled to be its final period of service on Wednesday in the city of Kagoshima. Used to promote the Ohara Festival slated for Nov. 3, the Hana No. 2 has been popular among the locals for about 40 years.
According to the Kagoshima City Transportation Bureau, the streetcar was manufactured in 1911, toward the end of the Meiji era (1868-1912) and was operated by Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co., based in Fukuoka, during the Hakata Dontaku festival before being purchased by the bureau in 1979. Since then, its promotion of the Ohara Festival each year has become an autumn tradition.
With 109 years having passed, procuring necessary parts for the streetcar's maintenance has become very difficult.
A new decorated streetcar is expected to run from next year on.
The Hana No. 2 is scheduled to run twice a day through Nov. 2 and will then be exhibited near the city's Tenmonkan shopping district on Nov. 3.
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