Fukutoshin Line — Tokyo subway
Brown line joining Ikebukuro, Shinjuku and Shibuya, the newest and deepest on the network, with express trains throughout.
The Fukutoshin Line at a glance
The Fukutoshin Line is 20.2 km long and runs through west-central Tokyo and into Wako in Saitama. The name means sub-city centre, and that is the job: it links Ikebukuro, Shinjuku and Shibuya, three of Tokyo’s secondary centres, which before it opened were connected to each other only by JR East.
It is the newest line on the Tokyo subway, opened in stages between 1994 and 2008, and the deepest, averaging 27 m below the surface. North of Kotake-mukaihara it shares tracks with the Yurakucho Line as far as Wakoshi. It carries the fewest passengers of any Tokyo Metro line, roughly a third of the Yurakucho Line’s traffic.
What to watch out for on the Fukutoshin Line
Every station on the Fukutoshin Line
16 stations in order with their station numbers. A ringed dot marks a station where you can transfer; the small coloured dots are the other lines there.
Service hours on the Fukutoshin Line
| Timetable | First – last departure on the line |
|---|---|
| Weekdays | 05:00 – 00:29 |
| Saturdays, Sundays & holidays | 05:00 – 00:29 |
Departure times come from the operators’ own GTFS timetables (ODPT GTFS Toei-Train-GTFS (version 20261009, valid 2026-03-14..2027-03-12) + TokyoMetro-Train-GTFS (version 20261008, valid 2026-09-19..2027-03-12)). Japan publishes two subway timetables: 平日 weekdays and 土休日 Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays. There is no separate Sunday timetable, and the December 30 – January 3 period runs the holiday timetable. Each station page gives its own first and last train by direction.
How often trains run
| Timetable | Morning peak (08:00) | Midday (12:00) | Evening (21:00) | Measured at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekdays | 3.6 min | 4.3 min | 4.9 min | Ikebukuro |
| Saturdays, Sundays & holidays | 4.2 min | 4.3 min | 6.8 min | Ikebukuro |
Average gap between trains in one direction at the busiest station of the line.
Where you can transfer
| Station | Other lines | Operator |
|---|---|---|
| F01 Wakoshi | YYurakucho | Tokyo Metro |
| F02 Chikatetsu-narimasu | YYurakucho | Tokyo Metro |
| F03 Chikatetsu-akatsuka | YYurakucho | Tokyo Metro |
| F04 Heiwadai | YYurakucho | Tokyo Metro |
| F05 Hikawadai | YYurakucho | Tokyo Metro |
| F06 Kotake-mukaihara | YYurakucho | Tokyo Metro |
| F07 Senkawa | YYurakucho | Tokyo Metro |
| F08 Kanamecho | YYurakucho | Tokyo Metro |
| F09 Ikebukuro | MMarunouchi YYurakucho | Tokyo Metro |
| F12 Higashi-shinjuku | EOedo | Toei Subway |
| F13 Shinjuku-sanchome | MMarunouchi SShinjuku | Toei Subway Tokyo Metro |
| F15 Meiji-jingumae (Harajuku) | CChiyoda | Tokyo Metro |
| F16 Shibuya | GGinza ZHanzomon | Tokyo Metro |
A transfer to a line of the other company is a change of railway as well as of platform: your fare is the sum of the two, less the connecting discount. See fares.
History
The line was planned in 1972 as Line 13, from Shiki to Shinjuku, with a possible extension to Shibuya, Shinagawa and Haneda; it was meant to relieve a crowded corridor and to give the northwest and southwest of the city a through connection past the centre. A second transport ministry committee fixed Shibuya as the terminus in 1985, and improvements to the Tobu Tojo Line and the start of Yurakucho Line through services made part of the northern plan unnecessary.
A 3.2 km segment from Kotake-mukaihara to Ikebukuro opened in 1994, running beside the Yurakucho Line on its own tracks and with no intermediate stops; it was then called the Yurakucho New Line. The original design had fifteen stations, and Kita-sando was added to the plan in May 1999 under the working name Shin-Sendagaya. The section from Shinjuku to Shibuya by way of Zoshigaya, Shinjuku-sanchome and Meiji-jingumae opened on 14 June 2008, completing the line and bringing Senkawa and Kanamecho into use on it; technical trouble delayed trains by up to half an hour in the first days. Express trains began calling at Meiji-jingumae on weekends and holidays from 6 March 2010, Tokyu Toyoko through services started on 16 March 2013, and Sotetsu services on 18 March 2023.
Trains and service
Two timetables apply, 平日 on weekdays and 土休日 on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays. First trains leave about 05:00 and the last about 00:29, and nothing runs overnight. Measured at Ikebukuro, trains come roughly every four minutes through the weekday peak, midday and evening alike, and about every four to seven minutes on Saturdays and holidays. Express and commuter express trains run the whole length of the line, a first for Tokyo Metro, and pass local trains at Higashi-shinjuku, which has extra tracks for the purpose; locals call everywhere. Through trains reach the Tobu Tojo and Seibu Ikebukuro lines in the north and the Tokyu Toyoko, Minatomirai and Sotetsu lines in the south.
Rolling stock
Tokyo Metro runs 10000 series trains, mostly ten-car, and 17000 series eight- and ten-car sets introduced on 21 February 2021; the 7000 series lasted until April 2022. The through services make this the most mixed fleet on the network after the Asakusa Line: Seibu 6000, 6050, 40000 and 40050 series, Tobu 9000, 9050 and 50070 series, Tokyu 5000, 5050 and 5050-4000 series, Sotetsu 20000 series and Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Y500 series trains all work it.
Frequently asked questions
It averages 27 m below ground, the deepest average on the Tokyo subway. The lowest point is at Higashi-shinjuku, 35 m down, partly because space was reserved beneath it for a possible extension of the Joetsu Shinkansen to Shinjuku. At Shinjuku-sanchome the line squeezes between the Marunouchi Line above and the Shinjuku Line below, with only 11 cm of clearance from the Shinjuku Line tunnel.
Local trains call at all sixteen stations. Express and commuter express trains skip some of them and run fast over the whole line rather than just one section, which was new for Tokyo Metro when the line opened. Expresses overtake locals at Higashi-shinjuku, the only station with extra tracks for it.
Between Wakoshi and Kotake-mukaihara the two lines use the same tracks and platforms, and the Fukutoshin Line grew out of the Yurakucho New Line of 1994, which ran alongside the Yurakucho Line on its own pair of tracks. At Senkawa, Kanamecho and Ikebukuro the two have separate platforms in the same station.