Downtown Tokyo set to open its most important train station in 50 years, and now it has a name

Did the planners take our readers’ suggestion for the new Yamanote Line stop?

Trains are important in public transportation-reliant Japan, and none are more important than the ones that run on the Yamanote Line. Encircling central Tokyo, the Yamanote loop includes such vital commercial, educational, and cultural community access points as Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shibuya, and Shinjuku Stations, and also connects to dozens of other train and subway lines that crisscross the city and connect it with the outlying suburbs.

For almost the last 50 years, there have been 29 stops on the Yamanote Line, with the most recent addition being Nishi-Nippori in 1971. The Yamanote Line station family is set to grow to an even 30 soon, though, with construction currently taking place for a new station to be slotted between the existing Shinagawa and Tamachi Stations, and planners have finally announced the name of the new stop.

Set to open in 2020, the new station will be called Takanawa Gateway (or “Takanawa Geetouei,” using the local pronunciation), referencing the station’s location in the Takanawa neighborhood, roughly 900 meters (0.56 miles) north of Shinagawa Station. Some may question the need for the English “Gateway” flourish, but it’s there to help differentiate the upcoming Yamanote stop from Shirokane-Takanawa Station on the Namboku and Mita subway lines, which has been in operation since 2000.

While Takanawa Gateway will be ready to have passengers pass through in time for the opening of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, final construction of the facility won’t be completed until 2024.

The Takanawa Gateway name was selected by planners, who also consulted public opinion polls that included options such as “Shin Shinagawa” and “Space Station.” Sadly, despite strong support in SoraNews24’s reader poll for “Mr. Sato Memorial Station,” the station planners elected not to honor our ace reporter, perhaps because he’s not actually dead…yet.

Sources: NHK News Web via Jin, The Sankei News
Top image: Pakutaso

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