This is my new project. I will be exploring the Kanto area by train. I will take a train line and stop at each station, then explore the area around it. If there’s anything interesting to see, I may visit it or wait until another day to go back and see it. For each train station, I’ll be taking pictures of the neighbourhood and any interesting places nearby. I hope this will become a useful travel guide for anyone interested in traveling in Japan. If you live in Japan, maybe you’ll find something new!
I’ll be exploring the following train lines first (Please note that I have not published the area tours yet. However, I have visited several stations, and these are noted on the individual train line pages. I’ll begin publishing tours early 2011):
Japan Rail East
- Negishi Line (Kanagawa) - 5 stations visited
- Keihin-Tohoku Line (Kanagawa, Tokyo, Saitama)
- Yamanote Line (Tokyo)
- Tokaido Line (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka) - 4 stations visited
- Shonan-Shinjuku Line (Kanagawa, Tokyo, Saitama) – 3 stations visited
- Yokosuka Line (Tokyo, Kanagawa) – 4 stations visited
- Yokohama Line (Kanagawa, Tokyo)
- Nanbu Line (Kanagawa, Tokyo)
- Sagami Line (Kanagawa)
- Tsurumi Line (Kanagawa)
- Chuo Main Line (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano)
- Chuo Rapid Line (Tokyo)
- Chuo-Sobu Line (Tokyo, Chiba)
- Hachiko Line (Tokyo, Saitama, Gunma)
- Itsukaichi Line (Tokyo)
- Joban Line (Tokyo, Chiba, Ibaraki, Fukushima, Miyagi)
- Kawagoe Line (Saitama)
- Keiyo Line (Tokyo, Chiba)
- Musashino Line (Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba)
- Narita Main Line (Chiba)
- Narita Abiko Branch Line (Chiba)
- Ome Line (Tokyo)
- Saikyo Line (Tokyo, Saitama)
- Sobu Line (Tokyo, Chiba)
- Sotobo Line (Chiba)
- Takasaki Line (Saitama, Gunma)
- Utsunomiya Line (Tokyo, Saitama, Ibaraki, Tochigi)
- Uchibo Line (Chiba)
- Ito Line (Shizuoka)
Japan Rail Central
- Gotenba Line (Kanagawa, Shizuoka)
Keihin Kyuko (Keikyu)
- Main Line (Tokyo, Kanagawa) – 3 stations visited
- Kurihama Line (Kanagawa)
- Zushi Line (Kanagawa)
- Daishi Line (Kanagawa)
- Kuko Line (Tokyo)
Odakyu
- Enoshima Line (Kanagawa) – 4 stations visited
- Odawara Line (Tokyo, Kanagawa)
- Tama Line (Kanagawa, Tokyo)
Tokyu
- Den-en-toshi Line (Tokyo, Kanagawa)
- Toyoko Line (Kanagawa, Tokyo)
- Meguro Line (Tokyo, Kanagawa)
- Oimachi Line (Tokyo, Kanagawa)
- Ikegami Line (Tokyo)
- Setagaya Line (Tokyo)
- Tamagawa Line (Tokyo)
Sagami Railway (Sotetsu)
- Main Line (Kanagawa)
- Izumino Line (Kanagawa) - 2 stations visited
Yokohama Kosoku Tetsudo (Minato Mirai 21 Railway)
- Minatomirai Line (Kanagawa)
- Kodomonokuni Line (Kanagawa)
Yokohama City Subway
- Blue Line (Kanagawa) – 6 stations visited
- Green Line (Kanagawa)
Keio
- Sagamihara Line (Kanagawa, Tokyo)
- Keio Line (Tokyo)
- Takao Line (Tokyo)
- Inokashira Line (Tokyo)
- New Line (Tokyo)
- Dobutsuen Line (Tokyo)
- Keibajo Line (Tokyo)
Keisei Electric Railway
- Main Line (Tokyo, Chiba)
- Oshiage Line (Tokyo)
- Chiba Line (Chiba)
- Chihara Line (Chiba)
- Kanamachi Line (Tokyo)
Izu-Hakone Railway
- Daiyuzan Line (Kanagawa)
Izukyu Corporation
- Izu Kyuko Line (Shizuoka)
Other independent lines
- Shonan Monorail (Kanagawa) – 6 stations visited
- Enoshima Electric Railway (Enoden) (Kanagawa) – 5 stations visited
- Yokohama Seaside Line (Kanagawa) – 3 stations visited
I’ll add more lines to the list, of course.
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WOW! This is amazing and ambitious! My goal is to just ride all of the JR East lines (I’ve already ridden all of the Metro lines!)… I can’t be bothered to get off and explore! lol. Good luck! I’ll have to check back and see how many you visit as you go along
Thanks for the post. Quite ambitious, and probably will never be finished. I’d like to get some of the area tours up soon. I’ve only been to 25 stations, though I have picked up the pace this year. I’ve been living near Tokyo for nearly 6 years, and I don’t think I’ve taken all the Metro lines!
My metro-line-ing was an accident, hahaha. I was trying to return home from the eye doctor and my eyes were dilated and I got on the wrong train and when I realized this I was stupid and rather than ASK for directions (my eyes were too fuzzy to read a map) I decided to train hop at stations that I knew and train hopped across like 7 lines, hahaha.
I should count how many stations I’ve been too, for my personal train-related purposes. Legit, I have a list of all the lines I’ve ridden, lol.
Good luck!!!
Me and my husband have a goal of trying out all the trains available in Japan, but its kinda hard not living in Japan. But, we’re still trying! And hopefully get to try again this year.
It would definitely be hard if you don’t live in Japan! I find it hard, and I live in Japan.
Bit late to this but I love this idea! Best of luck with the exploring.
Thanks! It’s quite time consuming to do this, but sometimes I can get a couple stations done in a day. But it’s nearly impossible during rainy season.
Hope you have not given up on visiting all the stations in Japan and exploring them. Good Luck!
Visiting all the stations in Japan would require an incredible amount of time and money. My goal was all of Kanagawa, but that’s quite difficult these days due to the fact that I only have one day off a week and I spend that day with my family. But I’ll try get as much done as I can.
you live in japan?
Yes, I do. Not far from Tokyo.
What a great plan. I am jealous – and also a bit concerned that there are so many other people who like riding trains in Japan, and exploring those neighborhoods. I thought I was a freak!
While not as systematic as you (and others) I try to seek out those little one-carriage trains. I am now comfortable about pushing kids out of the way so I can stand next tot the driver.
One carriage trains? Wow, nothing like that around here. You must go way out into the countryside for that.
Unfortunately, this plan has been derailed (pun not intended) by marriage and a baby. What I have done, I will still be posting the photos and tours when I can finally get around to them (as well as pulling off all my photos from my now corrupt 9 year old Sony Vaio).
Thanks for following, by the way!
Not too far out, and often the one-carriage trains are on private lines. I wrote 2 stories about these lines that you might be interested in.
The little train that can – http://tonyj2japan.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/watarase-railroad/
Boy with the 1,000 Yen note
http://tonyj2japan.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/1000yennote/
Tony
Tony J
Thanks. I enjoyed reading those stories. The closest I’ve been to such a small local train is actually very busy. Enoden in Kamakura/Fujisawa is a tourist train, but old fashioned. Always crowded. And the Hakone-Tozan line to Hakone is also busy, but single track and short. However, the JR Sagami line from Chigasaki to Sagamihara has manual doors which you must open with a button.