The is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by

Tokyo Metro The is a major rapid transit system in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo Metro Co. With an average daily ridership of 6.84 million passengers, the Tokyo Metro is the larger of the two subway operators in the city; the other being the Toe ...

Overview

The 16.8 km line serves the wards of

Shibuya Shibuya (渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

Minato Minato (港 or 湊) is Japanese for 'harbor', and may refer to: Places * Minato, Tokyo or Minato City, a special ward in Tokyo, Japan * Minato-ku, Nagoya, a ward of Nagoya, Japan * Minato-ku, Osaka, a ward of Osaka, Japan * Minato (湊), a neig ...

, Chiyoda, Chūō,

Kōtō is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Kōtō City in English. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 488,632, and a population density of 12,170 persons per km². The total area i ...

, and Sumida. Despite being shorter in length than nearly all other Tokyo subway lines, the Hanzōmon Line operates some of the longest through services with

private railway A private railway is a railroad run by a private business entity (usually a corporation but not need be), as opposed to a railroad run by a public sector. Japan In Japan, , commonly simply ''private railway'', refers to a public transit railway o ...

s – namely Tōkyū Corporation and

Tobu Railway is a Japanese commuter railway and ''keiretsu'' holding company in the Greater Tokyo Area as well as an intercity and regional operator in the Kantō region. Excluding the Japan Railways Group companies, Tobu's rail system is the second longes ...

. The line is connected to Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line at

Shibuya Station is a railway station in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, operated jointly by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Keio Corporation, Tokyu Corporation, and Tokyo Metro. With 2.4 million passengers on an average weekday in 2004, it is the fourth-busiest ...

to the south, and to the Tobu Skytree Line at to the north. Through trains operate between on the Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line and on the Tobu Skytree Line, onward to on the

Tobu Isesaki Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by the private railway company Tobu Railway, extending from Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen Station in Saitama to Isesaki Station in Gunma Prefecture. The Isesaki Line can refer to the entire section between Asa ...

and on the

Tobu Nikko Line is a Japanese commuter railway and ''keiretsu'' holding company in the Greater Tokyo Area as well as an intercity and regional operator in the Kantō region. Excluding the Japan Railways Group companies, Tobu's rail system is the second long ...

.Tobu Timetable, 16 March 2013, p.168-176 Through-service trains between Chūō-Rinkan and Minami-Kurihashi cover a total distance of 98.5 km in a single run – nearly six times the length of the Hanzōmon Line alone. The Hanzōmon Line has direct interchanges with all other Tokyo Metro and Toei lines. It connects with the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line at five stations (the four stations between

and

Nagatachō is a district of Tokyo, Japan, located in Chiyoda Ward. It is the location of the Diet of Japan and the Prime Minister's residence ( Kantei). The Supreme Court of Japan is located in neighboring Hayabusachō. Nagatachō is often used to r ...

, as well as at Mitsukoshimae Station. The line is named after the west gate of the Imperial Palace (''Hanzōmon''), which in turn is named after 16th century samurai

Hattori Hanzō or ''Second Hanzō'', nicknamed , was a famous Ninja of the Sengoku era, who served the Tokugawa clan as a ninja, credited with saving the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu and then helping him to become the ruler of united Japan. He is often a subje ...

, who was important to the founding of the shogunate which built the palace. The Hanzōmon Line's color on maps and station guides is purple, and stations carry the prefix "Z" followed by a number. According to the

Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation The , also known as , is a bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government which operates public transport services in Tokyo. Among its services, the Toei Subway is one of two rapid transit systems which make up the Tokyo subway system, the othe ...

, as of June 2009 the Hanzōmon Line is the sixth most crowded subway line in Tokyo, at its peak running at 173% capacity between

and

Omotesandō is a zelkova tree-lined avenue located in Shibuya and Minato, Tokyo, stretching from the Meiji Shrine entrance to Aoyama-dōri (Aoyama Street), where Omotesandō Station can be found. History Omotesandō was originally created in the Taishō ...

stations.

Station list

* All stations are located in Tokyo. * All services stop at every station.

Rolling stock

Current

Tokyo Metro 18000 series The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated Tokyo Metro on the Hanzomon Line in Japan. Introduced into service on 7 August 2021, a total of 19 ten-car trainsets are being manufactured by Hitachi Rail from 2020 to replace the ag ...

* Tokyo Metro 08 series * Tokyo Metro 8000 series *

Tokyu 2020 series The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) commuter train type built by J-TREC and used by the Japanese private railway operator Tokyu Corporation in the Tokyo area since March 2018. The 2020 series is used primarily on the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line ...

* Tokyu 5000 series *

Tokyu 8500 series The is a commuter electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by the private railway operator Tokyu Corporation on the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line and Tokyu Oimachi Line in the Tokyo area of Japan since 1975 and the Jabodetabek area of Indon ...

Tobu 50000 series The is a DC electric multiple unit (EMU) commuter train type operated by the private railway operator Tobu Railway in Japan since March 2005, manufactured by Hitachi to its "A-train" concept. The trains represent the first use of aluminium bod ...

* Tobu 50050 series File:Tokyo-Metro Series18000-18102 Test-Run.jpg, Tokyo Metro 18000 series File:Tokyo-Metro Series08-102.jpg, Tokyo Metro 08 series File:Tokyo-Metro Series8000-8108.jpg, Tokyo Metro 8000 series File:Tokyu-Series2020-2146.jpg, Tokyu 2020 series File:Tokyu-Series5000-5106.jpg, Tokyu 5000 series File:Tokyu-Series8500-8619.jpg, Tokyu 8500 series File:Tobu-Series50050-50052.jpg, Tobu 50050 series

Former

Tobu 30000 series The is a DC electric multiple unit (EMU) commuter train type operated by the private railway operator Tobu Railway in Japan since 1997. Initially formed as six-car and four-car sets, sets are mostly formed as permanently coupled ten-car format ...

Tokyu 2000 series The , reclassified from 2019, is a Japanese commuter electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by Tokyu Corporation in the Tokyo area since 1992. They were used on Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line and Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line inter-running servi ...

* Tokyu 8590 series

History

The Hanzōmon Line was first planned in 1971, along with the

Chiyoda Line The is a subway line owned and operated by Tokyo Metro in Tokyo, Japan. On average, the line carries 1,447,730 passengers daily (2017), the second highest of the Tokyo Metro network, behind the Tozai Line (1,642,378).Yūrakuchō Line, as a reliever line for the heavily congested Ginza Line. Its initial routing was from

Futako-Tamagawa Station is located in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, on the north-east bank of the Tama River. The area surrounding the station is commonly called Futako-Tamagawa, and often refers to the Tamagawa and Seta districts of Setagaya, but there is no precise definit ...

on the Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line to a new station in the Fukagawa district of

. In 1985, a second draft plan from the Ministry of Transportation moved the Hanzōmon Line's final terminus to

Matsudo 260px, Matsudo City Hall is a city in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 498,575 in 242,981 households and a population density of 8100 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Matsudo is ...

. During the planning stage, it was known as Line 11. Construction began in 1972 and the majority of the line was expected to open in 1975. However, the

Teito Rapid Transit Authority The is a major rapid transit system in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo Metro Co. With an average daily ridership of 6.84 million passengers, the Tokyo Metro is the larger of the two subway operators in the city; the other being the Toei ...

did not have enough funds to build the line, which delayed its construction. On August 1, 1978, the first section of the Hanzōmon Line finally opened from Shibuya to Aoyama-itchōme, including through services with the Den-en-toshi Line. It was then extended to Nagatachō Station in September 1979. However, the next extension posed political problems, as the original plan had the line run directly under the Imperial Palace to Ōtemachi Station. TRTA decided to divert the route around the north side of the Imperial Palace, which required the construction of three new stations. An

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

battle erupted with landowners along the proposed route, which delayed the completion of the next stage of the line. Hanzomon Station opened in December 1982, and the full extension around the Imperial Palace, terminating at Mitsukoshi-mae, was not completed until January 1989. The line was then extended to Suitengu-mae in November 1990 and finally Oshiage in March 2003, the latter also enabling through service with the Tobu Skytree Line. The line, station facilities, rolling stock, and related assets were inherited by

after the privatization of the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (TRTA) in 2004. The Ministry of Transportation recommended in 2000 that the line be extended to Matsudo by 2015. However, Tokyo Metro stated in its

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

that its construction operations would cease once the Fukutoshin Line is completed, which casts some doubt as to whether the Matsudo extension will actually be built.

Notes

a. Crowding levels defined by the

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism The , abbreviated MLIT, is a ministry of the Japanese government.国土交通省設置法 ...

: :100% — Commuters have enough personal space and are able to take a seat or stand while holding onto the straps or hand rails. :150% — Commuters have enough personal space to read a newspaper. :180% — Commuters must fold newspapers to read. :200% — Commuters are pressed against each other in each compartment but can still read small magazines. :250% — Commuters are pressed against each other, unable to move.

References

External links

Tokyo Metro website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanzomon Line Lines of Tokyo Metro Railway lines in Tokyo 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 1978 1978 establishments in Japan