Its popularity raised a question on both sides of the Pacific: since Osaka is San Francisco’s sister city in Japan, why not a vintage streetcar from there? As it turns out, a private streetcar company in Osaka, the Hankai Electric Rail Service Company, was about to retire the last of a group of streetcars built by Kawasaki in 1927. The car had been renovated several times (for example, it originally had two trolley poles on each end, operating under double overhead wire like a trolley bus), and most documentation of the car’s early history was lost in the bombing of Osaka during World War II. But it was a good operating car, and had several advantages over the Hiroshima car: it had doors on both sides at both ends, as well as in the center. (Since Japanese traffic moves on the left, their streetcars’ front doors are on the left as well. With a front door on the right as well, this car could be operated safely by a single-person crew in San Francisco, while the 578-J, with no right front door, requires a two-person crew.) Additionally, this car had four powerful motors, a big advantage in hilly San Francisco.

Getting the car here proved a test of patience and resources for both its Japanese sponsor—the Corporate Railway Assembly, a trade group—and supporters in San Francisco, including Market Street Railway. But, with the support of Mayor Dianne Feinstein, Car No. 151 was brought to San Francisco in 1988. By then, the Historic Trolley Festivals had given way to reconstruction of the tracks on Market Street for the permanent F-line. Market Street Railway volunteers have performed some rust removal and other cosmetic improvements for the car, and it now awaits final restoration before it can be put into service in San Francisco.