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, 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 ...

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

through services A through service is a concept of passenger transport that involves a vehicle travelling between lines, networks or operators on a regularly specified schedule, on which the passenger can remain on board without alighting. It may be in form of eith ...

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 railwa ...

s – namely

Tōkyū Corporation The is a Japanese multinational ''keiretsu'' ( conglomerate) holding company headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. Its main operation is , a wholly owned subsidiary operating railways in the Greater Tokyo Area. History The oldest predecessor ...

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 longe ...

. The line is connected to

Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line The is a major commuter line operated by the private railway operator Tokyu Corporation and connecting south-western suburbs of Tokyo and neighbouring Kanagawa Prefecture, with its western terminus of , to a major railway junction of western d ...

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 c ...

to the south, and to the

Tobu Skytree Line The is a section of the Tobu Isesaki line operated by the private railway company Tobu Railway, extending from Asakusa Station in Tokyo to Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen Station in Saitama Prefecture. Some trains from the line continue to the Tokyo ...

at to the north. Through trains operate between on the Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line and on the

, 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 Asak ...

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 longe ...

.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 The is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. The official name is . It is 14.3 km long and serves the wards of Shibuya, Minato, Chūō, Chiyoda, and Taitō. It is the oldest subway line in Asia. The line was named aft ...

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 refer ...

, as well as at

Mitsukoshimae Station is a subway station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line and Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line, in Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. Lines Mitsukoshimae Station is served by the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line (station number G-12) and the Tokyo Metro Ha ...

. 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 other ...

, 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 Taish ...

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 a ...

Tokyo Metro 08 series The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated on the Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line in Tokyo, Japan since 2003. Introduced into service on 7 January 2003, a total of six ten-car trainsets were manufactured by Nippon Sharyo between 200 ...

* 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 L ...

Tokyu 5000 series The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by the private railway operator Tokyu Corporation since 2002 on many of its commuter lines in the Tokyo area of Japan. Design First introduced in 2002, the design is based on the JR ...

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 Indones ...

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 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 ...

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 serv ...

Tokyu 8590 series The and the related were commuter electric multiple unit (EMU) train types that were operated by the private railway operator Tokyu Corporation in the Kanto region of Japan from 1980 until 2019. Technical specifications The trains have stain ...

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 Yūrakuchō Line may refer to: * Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line * Seibu Yūrakuchō Line * Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line The , formally the , is a subway line operated by Tokyo Metro in west-central Tokyo and Wako, Saitama, Japan. The newest line ...

, as a reliever line for the heavily congested

Ginza Line The is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. The official name is . It is 14.3 km long and serves the wards of Shibuya, Minato, Chūō, Chiyoda, and Taitō. It is the oldest subway line in Asia. The line was named af ...

. 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 defini ...

on the

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 lo ...

. 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