JR Yamanote Line: all 30 stations around central Tokyo

The Yamanote Line is JR East's loop around central Tokyo. It goes back to the Shinagawa Line between Shinagawa and Akabane, opened in 1885. After the Toshima Line between Ikebukuro and Tabata opened in 1903, the two were joined in 1909 and named the Yamanote Line, and loop service began in 1925 when the elevated section between Ueno and Tokyo was finished. Takanawa Gateway, the first new station in 49 years, opened on March 14, 2020 and brought the line to 30 stations.

Once around

In HelloSubway you go once around starting from Shinagawa: Takanawa Gateway, Tamachi, Hamamatsucho, Shimbashi, Yurakucho, Tokyo, Kanda, Akihabara, Okachimachi, Ueno, Uguisudani, Nippori, Nishi-Nippori, Tabata, Komagome, Sugamo, Otsuka, Ikebukuro, Mejiro, Takadanobaba, Shin-Okubo, Shinjuku, Yoyogi, Harajuku, Shibuya, Ebisu, Meguro, Gotanda and Osaki, and then back to Shinagawa.

Riding the loop

The loop is 34.5 kilometres long and a full circuit takes about an hour. Every train stops at every station, and in busy periods they come every two to three minutes in each direction. Trains going clockwise run on the outer loop and trains going counter-clockwise run on the inner loop, so a station has one platform for each direction.

Transfers

Seventeen of the 30 stations are shared with subway lines in the game, among them Shimbashi, Tokyo, Ueno, Ikebukuro, Shinjuku and Shibuya. Because it touches almost every subway line, the Yamanote is the easiest way to get your bearings in Tokyo.

Typing it

The loop takes 238 letters in romaji, about eight per station, the lightest per station of the Tokyo lines in this list. Takanawa Gateway is the longest at 15 letters, then Hamamatsucho and Nishi-Nippori at 12, and Ueno the shortest at four. Other loops are compared in lines that loop. Start the Yamanote Line.