Ochanomizu Station
M20 · Marunouchi Line · Chiyoda
Ochanomizu Station (御茶ノ水)
The railway on the viaduct above the Kanda river arrived here on 31 December 1904; the subway took another half-century, M20 opening on 20 January 1954. The complex straddles the boundary between Chiyoda and Bunkyo wards, which is unusual enough, and for a station of this size it has only two ways out to the street: the larger Ochanomizu-bashi exit at one end and the smaller Hijiri-bashi exit at the other. The Marunouchi Line platform is the subway’s whole presence here.
What the station is for has not changed much in a century. It stands in the middle of a cluster of universities and teaching hospitals, and the morning crowd is students, staff and patients rather than office workers. There is a second subway connection as well: Shin-ochanomizu, on the Chiyoda Line, is close by and used as a transfer, although it is a separate station with a separate name. Awajicho and Hongo-sanchome are the stations either side.
Finding Ochanomizu on the signs
Every line gives the station its own letter-and-number code. You never have to read the Japanese name to find the right platform.
Station numbers at Ochanomizu
Tokyo signposts every platform, exit and train door with a letter and a two-digit number. Matching the number is faster than reading the name — and it is what you will see on the map, in announcements and on the platform edge.
First and last trains at Ochanomizu
| Line and direction | Weekdays first – last | Saturdays, Sundays & holidays first – last |
|---|---|---|
| MMarunouchiM20 towards Ikebukuro | 05:24 – 00:18 | 05:24 – 00:18 |
| MMarunouchiM20 towards Ogikubo | 05:11 – 00:05 to Shinjuku | 05:11 – 00:05 to Shinjuku |
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.
How often do trains run?
| Line | Weekdays, busiest hour | Sat / Sun / holidays, busiest hour |
|---|---|---|
| MMarunouchi | 27 trains/hour (about one every 2.2 min) | 15 trains/hour |
Departures in one direction during the hour with the most trains at this station, counted in the operators’ timetable.
Next stations from Ochanomizu
Scheduled running time between Ochanomizu and the stations either side of it.
| Line | Next station | Running time |
|---|---|---|
| MMarunouchi | M19Awajicho | 2 min |
| MMarunouchi | M21Hongo-sanchome | 2 min |
Transfers and connections
- JR: Chuo Rapid Line (JR East), Chuo-Sobu Local Line (JR East). These are separate railways with their own fares.
Accessibility
| Line | Step-free by elevator | Accessible toilet | Escalator | Exits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMarunouchi | Yes | Yes | Not listed | 2 |
- Marunouchi Line: Step-free elevator route street-gate-platform (official “1-route by elevator”). Street elevator at exit(s): 1, 2. Operator page (checked Oct 20, 2026).
Taken from the operators’ own accessibility pages and nothing else. Tokyo Metro: the “1-route” (step-free street-gate-platform path by elevator, slope, stair lift or wheelchair escalator) is complete at all 180 stations; a separate list shows stations with an elevator-only 1-route.
What is near Ochanomizu Station?
Medicine and teaching dominate the immediate blocks: the Institute of Science Tokyo’s Yushima campus is about 110 m from the exits, with its dentistry faculty roughly 70 m and its medical faculty around 160 m, and the Nihon University School of Dentistry some 220 m away. Meiji University’s buildings and its museum stand between 230 m and 300 m. Yushima Seido is about 180 m from the station, the Holy Resurrection Cathedral known as Nikolai-do roughly 280 m, Kanda-myojin around 360 m, and Ochanomizu Park about 180 m.
| Place | Distance (straight line) | On foot, estimated |
|---|---|---|
| Institute of Science Tokyo - Yushima Campus 東京科学大学 湯島キャンパス | 110 m | about 2 min |
| Yushimaseido Temple 湯島聖堂 | 180 m | about 3 min |
| Meiji University Museum 明治大学博物館 | 280 m | about 5 min |
| Holy Resurrection Cathedral (Nikolai-do) ニコライ堂 | 280 m | about 5 min |
| Kanda-myojin 神田明神 | 360 m | about 6 min |
| 2号館 | 120 m | about 2 min |
| Faculty of Dentistry 東京科学大学（歯学部） | 70 m | about 1 min |
| Faculty of Medicine 東京科学大学（医学部） | 160 m | about 3 min |
Places from OpenStreetMap within 400 m of the station. The walking time is an estimate (straight line plus 30 %, 80 m a minute), not a measured route. © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Frequently asked questions
Not within this station, but Shin-ochanomizu on the Chiyoda Line is close by and is used as a transfer. It is a separate station with its own name and gates, so treat it as a short walk rather than a platform change.
Campuses. Meiji University, Nihon University’s dental school and the Yushima campus of the Institute of Science Tokyo, with its medical and dental faculties and teaching hospital, all stand within a few hundred meters of the exits, which gives the station its term-time rhythm.