Born of disasters, war and massive infrastructure projects, 21st-century Tokyo has plenty of ghosts buried underground. If you ride the subway these days, you can catch a fleeting glimpse of two of them but, if you blink, you'll miss them. The Ginza Line is marking 90 years since its opening with the illumination of two "ghost stations" abandoned long ago. Manseibashi and Jingumae stations have been brought back from the dead as part of a tribute to the Ginza Line, which was the first subway line built in Japan and East Asia.
Dec. 18 marks the last day of a special event in which the timeworn platforms of Manseibashi and Jingumae stations appeared in the darkness outside the windows of passing trains, like apparitions from another world. Passengers keeping a weather eye peeled may have spotted the tiles and station names as they pass by; some trains paid tribute to the stations by traveling slower than usual, giving riders a better chance at looking into the past.
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