Higashi-nakano Station
E31 · Oedo Line · Nakano
Higashi-nakano Station (東中野)
The railway above has been here since 14 June 1906, when it opened as Kashiwagi and took the name Higashi-Nakano eleven years later. The subway arrived ninety-one years after that: Toei opened its platform on what was then Line 12 on 19 December 1997, and the line was renamed the Oedo Line in 2000.
E31 is unusually deep even for that line. Its island platform lies 38.8 m below the surface, measured from street level to the platform at the centre of the station, which makes it the second deepest station in the Tokyo subway; the tunnels here thread beneath the Yamate road tunnel of the Chuo Circular Route, as they do at Nakai and Nakano-sakaue on either side. A third entrance, A3, was opened on 3 October 2009 to relieve crowding at the others. Toei counted 25,362 entries and exits a day in 2024, a modest figure beside the JR traffic in the building above.
Finding Higashi-nakano 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 Higashi-nakano
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 Higashi-nakano
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 |
|---|---|---|
| EOedo | 19 trains/hour (about one every 3.2 min) | 12 trains/hour |
Departures in one direction during the hour with the most trains at this station, counted in the operators’ timetable.
Next stations from Higashi-nakano
Scheduled running time between Higashi-nakano and the stations either side of it.
| Line | Next station | Running time |
|---|---|---|
| EOedo | E32Nakai | 1 min |
| EOedo | E30Nakano-sakaue | 2 min |
Transfers and connections
- JR: Chuo-Sobu Local Line (JR East). These are separate railways with their own fares.
Accessibility
| Line | Step-free by elevator | Accessible toilet | Escalator | Exits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EOedo | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 |
- Oedo Line: Toei: step-free “1-route” secured; 2 elevator(s) on this line. Elevator exit(s): A1. Operator page (checked Oct 20, 2026).
Taken from the operators’ own accessibility pages and nothing else. Toei: every station has elevators and a street-gate-platform “1-route” is secured.
What is near Higashi-nakano Station?
The JR station and the Atre Vie shopping building sit directly above the subway exits, and Yamate-dori runs past them; a plaza on the west side was completed in 2015. This part of Nakano is mostly flats and small streets, with Tokyo Technical College about 210 m from the gates, the ward library roughly 320 m and Meiji University’s Nakano junior and senior high school around 360 m. A small art-house cinema stands about 150 m away, and several temples line the blocks between 330 m and 400 m from the station.
| Place | Distance (straight line) | On foot, estimated |
|---|---|---|
| 正見寺 | 330 m | about 5 min |
| 青原寺 | 350 m | about 6 min |
| 源通寺 | 350 m | about 6 min |
| 高徳寺 | 380 m | about 6 min |
| 龍興寺 | 400 m | about 6 min |
| Higashi-Nakano Eki Stamp 東中野駅 駅スタンプ | 130 m | about 2 min |
| 桜山公園 | 280 m | about 5 min |
| ポレポレ東中野 | 150 m | about 2 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.