Shibuya Station

Shibuya Station 渋谷駅
Shibuya Station viewed from the east.
Location
Prefecture	Tokyo (See other stations in Tokyo)
Ward	Shibuya
Coordinates	35°39′31″N 139°42′05″E / 35.658514°N 139.70133°E / 35.658514; 139.70133Coordinates: 35°39′31″N 139°42′05″E / 35.658514°N 139.70133°E / 35.658514; 139.70133
(in Japanese)	東京都渋谷区
Rail services
Operator(s)	JR East Keio Tokyu Tokyo Metro
Major bus terminal(s) attached to the station

Shibuya Station (渋谷駅, Shibuya-eki^?) is a train station located in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. With 2.4 million passengers on an average weekday in 2004, it is the fourth-busiest commuter rail station in Japan (after Shinjuku , Ikebukuro, and Ōsaka / Umeda) handling a large amount of commuter traffic between the center city and suburbs to the south and west^[1] .

Lines

JR East

• Saikyō Line / Shōnan-Shinjuku Line (Yamanote Freight Line) - also used by Narita Express trains
• Yamanote Line - unusual platform configuration, with both train lines on the same side (east) of platform

Private railways

• Keiō Inokashira Line - terminus
• Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line - through service with Hanzōmon Line
• Tōkyū Tōyoko Line - terminus

Subways

• Tokyo Metro Ginza Line - terminus
• Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line - through service with Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line
• Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line - terminus (through service to Tōkyū Tōyoko Line beginning in 2012)

Note that the Hanzōmon Line and the Fukutoshin Line are directly connected (without passing through ticket gates), but they are not directly connected to the Ginza Line. There is no direct connection between the two Tōkyū lines either.

Station layout

The statue of Hachikō, outside the Hachikō Exit

The main station building is occupied by a Tokyu department store. The Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, originally built and operated by a Tokyu keiretsu company, uses platforms on the third floor. The JR lines and Tōkyū Tōyoko Line use parallel platforms on the second floor, while the Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line and Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line share platforms underground, and the Keiō Inokashira Line uses platforms on the second floor of the Shibuya Mark City building to the west of the main station complex. The Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line, opened in 2008 is located on the fifth basement under Meiji Street, to the east of the Tōyoko Line station. The Tōyoko Line will be connected to the Fukutoshin Line station to allow through service between the two lines starting in 2012.

There are six exits from the main JR/Tōkyū/Tōkyō Metro complex. The Hachikō Exit (ハチ公口, Hachikō-guchi^?) on the west side, named for the nearby statue of the dog Hachikō and adjacent to Shibuya's famous scramble crossing, is a particularly popular meeting spot. The Tamagawa Exit (玉川口, Tamagawa-guchi^?) on the west side leads to the Keiō Inokashira Line station.

On November 17, 2008, a mural by Tarō Okamoto, "The Myth of Tomorrow", depicting a human figure being hit by an atomic bomb, was unveiled in its new permanent location at the station, in the connecting passage to the Keiō Inokashira Line entrance.

JR East

• Yamanote Line: Two side platforms serving two tracks
• Saikyō Line and Shōnan-Shinjuku Line: One island platform serving two tracks

Tōkyū Tōyoko Line

Tōkyū (Tōyoko Line)
Shibuya Station 渋谷駅
Tōkyū Tōyoko Line platforms
Location
Prefecture	Tokyo
Ward	Shibuya
Neighborhood etc.	24-1 Shibuya Nichōme
(in Japanese)	東京都渋谷区渋谷二丁目24-1
History
Year opened	1927
Rail services
Operator(s)	Tokyu Corporation
Line(s)	Tōyoko Line

• Four bay platforms serving four tracks

Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line and Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line

• One island platform serving two tracks

Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line

Two island platforms serving two tracks. The two platforms are connected by temporary structures bridging the currently unused two tracks between them.

Tokyo Metro Ginza Line

Tokyo Metro
Shibuya Station 渋谷駅
A Ginza Line train arriving in Shibuya. Shibuya is the only place where the line runs above ground.
Location
Prefecture	Tokyo
Ward	Shibuya
Neighborhood etc.	1-1 Dogenzaka Itchōme
(in Japanese)	東京都渋谷区道玄坂一丁目1-1
History
Year opened	1938
Rail services
Station number(s)	G-01
Operator(s)	Tokyo Metro
Line(s)	Ginza Line
Major bus terminal(s) attached to the station

• Two side platforms serving two tracks

Keiō Inokashira Line

• Two bay platforms serving two tracks

History

Bus terminal on the west side of Shibuya Station

Shibuya Station first opened on March 1, 1885 as a stop on the Shinagawa Line, a predecessor of the present-day Yamanote Line. The station was later expanded to accommodate the Tamagawa Railway (1907; closed 1969), the Tōkyō Line (1927), the Teito Shibuya Line (1933; now the Inokashira Line), the Tōkyō Rapid Railway (1938; began through service with the Ginza Line in 1939 and formally merged in 1941), the Den-en-toshi Line (1977) and the Hanzōmon Line (1978).

Around the station

Around the station is the commercial center of Shibuya. The Tokyu Department Store is connected to the east gate of the station and several other department stores are within walking distance.

There is an underground river running under the station, to the east and parallel to the JR tracks. Unlike most other Japanese department stores, the east block of Tokyu Department Store does not have retail space in the basement because of this. An escalator in the east block built over the river stops a few steps above floor level to make space for machinery underneath without digging. Rivers are deemed public space by Japanese law, so building over one is normally illegal. It is not clear why this was allowed when it was first built in 1933.

Adjacent stations

References

See also

• Media related to Shibuya, Tokyo at Wikimedia Commons
• Transportation in Greater Tokyo

External links

• Shibuya Station map (JR East) (English)