Ikebukuro Station

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Ikebukuro Station building (east side) at night, looking South on Meiji-Dori.

Ikebukuro Station (池袋駅, Ikebukuro-eki^?) is a train station located in the Ikebukuro district of Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. With 2.7 million passengers on an average weekday in 2004, it is the second-busiest train station in the world (after Shinjuku Station), and the busiest station in the Tobu, Seibu and Tokyo Metro networks. It primarily serves commuters from Saitama and other residential areas northwest of the city center. It is the Tokyo terminal of the Seibu Ikebukuro Line and the Tōbu Tōjō Main Line.

[edit] Lines

Platforms 1 and 2 of Tōbu Tōjō Main Line looking south

• JR East
  • Saikyō Line
  • Shōnan-Shinjuku Line - through service to Takasaki Line and Utsunomiya Line; also used by Narita Express trains
  • Yamanote Line - along with Osaki, one of two stations where Yamanote loop trains are taken in and out of service
• Seibu Railway
  • Ikebukuro Line
• Tōbu Railway
  • Tōjō Main Line
• Tokyo Metro subways
  • Marunouchi Line
  • Yūrakucho Line
  • Yūrakucho New Line (Shinsen Ikebukuro Station)

[edit] Layout

Ikebukuro Station has two entrances, East and West. The JR lines run north/south through the center. The Tobu platforms are to the northwest and the Seibu platforms are to the southeast. Both Tobu and Seibu operate department stores adjacent to their terminal stations. (Ironically, "Seibu" (西武) starts with the Chinese character for "west" (西), but its platforms are in the eastern part of the station, while "Tōbu" (東武) starts with the character for "east" (東), but its platforms are in the western part of the station.)

The Marunouchi Line and Yurakucho Line run east/west two stories underground, while the Yurakucho New Line is four stories underground to the west of the main station complex. The latter line will eventually be extended south toward Shinjuku and Shibuya along Meiji-dori, and by 2012 will offer through service to the Tokyu Toyoko Line.

The surrounding Ikebukuro district is a major commercial center. Sunshine City, Parco, Mitsukoshi, and Bic Camera are located to the east of the station, while the Metropolitan Plaza is located to the west.