Upon learning last year that two of only seven suspended railways operating in the world were in Japan was something of a surprise, and I instantly had it in mind to visit both despite having ridden on them in the past. Back then though I just rode on them without any care or interest. I ticked off the Shōnan Monorail in Kanagawa Prefecture in August and then set my sights on a trip to Chiba for the other one.

However, I was then informed that there was a third one in Japan in the form of the Skyrail Midorizaka Line in Hiroshima. Some people, including myself, don’t consider that to be a monorail though and think of it more as a driverless gondola-sized car/automated people mover (APM) used in places like airports or theme parks. The short three-station Skyrail will close at the end of this year putting pay to any doubts about its authenticity as a true suspended railway line.

Seven days (albeit in different years!) after riding on Skyrail, it was time to complete the set of suspended railways in Japan when I spent the day in Chōshi and Sawara before arriving back at Chiba station mid-afternoon. It gave me a bit of time to check out the world’s longest suspended monorail system which features 18 stations over two lines with a track length of 15.2 kilometres (9.4 miles).

Daylight was fading fast so I needed to capture what I could as nighttime shots of stations are not so appealing. I didn’t really feel the need to visit every single station on this line though and was happy to just get a feel for the dangletrain by riding it for a bit and seeing it from a view vantage points. Subsequently I rode just three stops south to the end of Line 1 which connects Chibaminato and Kenchō-mae stations over a distance of 3.2 kilometres (2 miles).

All the stations on the line opened in 1998 and 1999. Kenchō-mae station was in the latter year and was my first choice destination due to its more unique architecture and photographic potential not that I’m particularly good at capturing such shots!

From there I then took the short walk to Yoshikawa-kōen station which was less than ten minutes away.

With a tributary of the Miyako River flowing beneath parts of the elevated track, it did make for some nice views with the golden facade of the station building reflecting in the waters.

The tracks wind their way between the concrete buildings of the city and pass over five national highways which makes for a truly urban and futuristic-looking metropolis experience.

I continued walking on north to Chiba station for another ten minutes or so and saw this very interesting-looking koban (police box).

The area around Chiba station was a bit of a maze and I continuously got lost as I searched for some viewing spots.

I should probably have left it at that but decided to take one more sky trip over the city via a short journey on Line 2; the 12 kilometre (7.5 miles) line connecting Chiba and Chishiro-dai stations.

I rode a few stops south before backtracking to Sakusabe where I then walked back to Chiba station via Chibakōen. As it was getting dark I was sadly unable to really appreciate the scenery too much.

It had been a very long day by this point and I wanted to get back to Tokyo but there was still one little detour to take to a nearby station. Due to its urban location, the Chiba Monorail is not quite as aesthetically pleasing as the one in Kanagawa but it does run along a bit more stylishly, and at a greater height than the one in Shōnan. Both are certainly worth checking out if you’re into that kind of thing.

Click here to read ‘The Forgotten Suspended Railway In Japan Which Will Soon Be No More!’

Click here to read ‘Riding On One Of The World’s Seven Dangletrains’

Click here to read ‘Going Back & Forth To Visit All The Stations Of Kawasaki’s Industrial Line’

Click here to read ‘The Japanese Town Which Has It’s Own Local Rail Line’