Which Tokyo subway line, opened in 1927, was the first subway line built in Asia? It was the Ginza Line.
The line’s first section opened on December 30, 1927, between Asakusa and Ueno. It was built by the Tokyo Underground Railway, founded by businessman Noritsugu Hayakawa after he saw the London Underground during a 1914 visit and concluded that Tokyo needed an underground railway of its own.
Construction began in 1925, but financing was difficult after the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 and the recession that followed. Despite opening as a short route, the new subway was immediately popular: passengers reportedly waited for hours to experience a journey that took only a few minutes. The line eventually expanded through central Tokyo and became part of today’s Tokyo Metro network.
The Ginza Line is often confused with Tokyo’s other famous subway routes. The Marunouchi Line opened later, in 1954; the Hibiya Line opened in 1961; and the Toei Asakusa Line opened in 1960. The Ginza Line’s historic distinction comes from its 1927 opening, not from being Tokyo’s longest or busiest line.