A Brief History of the Shonan Monorail

The Shonan Monorail is a suspended monorail which means it hangs down from its rails as it speeds over the streets and through the hills.

(Not my video. Much better than I could do!)

As you can see, it’s pretty nifty. It was also the first of its kind in Japan.

Since 1970, the Mitsubishi built monorail has linked Ofuna, in the northeast of Kamakura, to Enoshima, the little island just on the border of Fujisawa and Kamakura – which you may recall from the Enoden stations list.

(Should you wish to see the Enoshima specific post, it’s here.)

Enoshima is where the monorail terminates, and you can get a lovely view of Mount Fuji, weather permitting:

You might just be able to make out the Enoden track in this picture as well – the Enoden Enoshima station is just across the road from the monorail terminus.

The Mission

For me, the monorail has always been something of a curiosity. It doesn’t seem entirely practical. I’m not exceptionally clear on which need it really addresses, in terms of public transport – perhaps when it was built, it was seen as a better option than say, widening roads and adding bus routes.

(It’s certainly a much more fun option than either of those.)

I’d started one of my 52 Fuji adventures at Fujimicho, the second station on the Shonan monorail. I’d also participated in their 50th anniversary stamp rally :

Monorail Notebook A5 - prize for completing the stamp rally

Originally tweeted by cityhillsandsea (@cityhillsandsea) on September 7, 2020.

So yes, something of a fan.

Since it was only a few stations, I thought I would add another daft list to my list of things to do before I left Japan; even though there isn’t really a whole heap of excitement to be found along the route, save for the rollercoastery type journey itself.

Here’s a list of posts about the stations:

A List of the Shonan Monorail Stations

Here are all our destinations in one handy place, complete with the train station number for your viewing pleasure.

#	NAME	NAME (Japanese)
SMR01	Ofuna	大船
SMR02	Fujimicho	富士見町
SMR03	Shonan-Machiya	湘南町屋
SMR04	Shonan-Fukasawa	湘南深沢
SMR05	Nishi-Kamakura	西鎌倉
SMR06	Kataseyama	片瀬山
SMR07	Mejiroyamashita	目白山下
SMR08	Shonan-Enoshima	湘南江の島