Overview
The funicular line serves for the visitors to Kurama-dera temple built in 770. As the temple resides in the heart of the Mount Kurama, it takes roughly 30 minutes on foot from the main gate (山門, Sanmon?) while the funicular line links the same route in just 2 minutes. The temple, however, recommends its visitors not to use the funicular, but to walk on foot if possible to feel stronger impressions.
As a legally recognized Japanese railway line, this is the only one operated by a religious institution (宗教法人, Shūkyō Hōjin?), as well as the only one that is nominally free of charge. This is also the shortest line in the country, if considered as a railway. The line has only single car, counterbalanced by a weight. The line opened on January 1, 1957, as an ordinary iron-wheeled funicular with two cars, 762 mm gauge, later changed in 1996 as the current rubber-tired system with 800 mm gauge. The current car is nicknamed Ushiwaka-gō III, after Minamoto no Yoshitsune (called Ushiwakamaru in his childhood), who was put and got training in the temple.
Although the fare is free, only the people who donated the temple more than ¥100 is allowed to ride, meaning it is the substantial fare. This still is one of the cheapest fares among Japanese railways.
Read more about this topic: Kurama-dera Cable