Ikebukuro Station

Ikebukuro Station 池袋駅
Ikebukuro Station building (east side) at night, looking South on Meiji-Dori.
Location
Prefecture	Tokyo (See other stations in Tokyo)
Ward	Toshima
Neighborhood etc.	1-28-1,2 Minami-Ikebukuro
(in Japanese)	東京都豊島区南池袋一丁目28-1～2
History
Year opened	1903
Rail services
Operator(s)	East Japan Railway Company, Seibu Railway, Tōbu Railway, Tokyo Metro
Line(s)	Yamanote Line Saikyō Line Shōnan-Shinjuku Line Seibu Ikebukuro Line Tōbu Tōjō Line Marunouchi Line Yūrakuchō Line Fukutoshin Line
Major bus terminal(s) attached to the station

Ikebukuro Station (池袋駅, Ikebukuro-eki^?) is a train station located in the Ikebukuro district of Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. With 2.71 million passengers on an average daily in 2007, it is the second-busiest train station in the world (after Shinjuku Station), and the busiest station in the Tobu, Seibu and Tokyo Metro networks. It primarily serves commuters from Saitama and other residential areas northwest of the city center. It is the Tokyo terminal of the Seibu Ikebukuro Line and the Tōbu Tōjō Line.

Lines

• JR East
  • Saikyō Line
  • Shōnan-Shinjuku Line - through service to Takasaki Line and Utsunomiya Line; also used by Narita Express trains
  • Yamanote Line - along with Ōsaki, one of two stations where Yamanote loop trains are taken in and out of service
• Seibu Railway
  • Ikebukuro Line
• Tōbu Railway
  • Tōjō Line
• Tokyo Metro subways
  • Marunouchi Line
  • Yūrakuchō Line
  • Fukutoshin Line

Layout

Tōbu Tōjō Line platforms 1 and 2 looking south

Seibu Line platforms

Ikebukuro Station has two main entrances, the East exit and the West exit. There are a number of other secondary entrances such as the JR North exit, the various Seibu exits. and multiple subway exits.

The JR lines run north/south through the center. The Tōbu platforms are to the northwest and the Seibu platforms are to the southeast. Both Tōbu and Seibu operate department stores adjacent to their terminal stations. (Ironically, "Seibu" (西武) starts with the kanji for "west" (西), but its platforms are in the eastern part of the station, while "Tōbu" (東武) starts with the character for "east" (東), but its platforms are in the western part of the station.)

The Marunouchi Line and Yūrakuchō Line run east/west two stories underground, while the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line is four stories underground to the west of the main station complex. The latter line currently runs south toward Shinjuku and Shibuya along Meiji-dori, and by 2012 will offer through service to Motomachi-Chūkagai Station in Yokohama via the Tōkyū Tōyoko Line and Minatomirai Line.

Tokyo Metro's Echika underground mall is also located inside the station.^[1]

The surrounding Ikebukuro district is a major commercial center. Sunshine City, Parco, Mitsukoshi, and Bic Camera are located to the east of the station, while the Metropolitan Plaza is located to the west.

History

The station was opened on April 1, 1903 by the national railway. This is relatively late opening among major stations on the Yamanote Line. The station and the surrounding area saw rapid development after the opening of the Tōjō Railway Line (present-day Tobu Tōjō Line) in 1914 and the Musashino Railway Line (present-day Seibu Ikebukuro LIne) in 1915.

Daily entries/exits

Operator Number Fiscal year Source

JR 1,179,674 2007 ^[2]

Seibu 520,164 2007^[3]

Tobu 519,271 2007 ^[4]

Tokyo Metoro 491,958 2007 ^[5]

Ikebukuro Totals 2,711,067 2007

Adjacent stations

See also

• Transportation in Greater Tokyo

References

External links

• JR Ikebukuro Station map (English)
• Seibu Ikebukuro Station map (Japanese)
• Tōbu Ikebukuro Station information (Japanese)
• Tokyo Metro Ikebukuro Station information (Japanese)
• Fukutoshin Line Ikebukuro Station information (Japanese)

Coordinates: 35°43′49″N 139°42′41″E / 35.73028°N 139.71139°E / 35.73028; 139.71139