Ushigome-kagurazaka Station
E05 · Oedo Line · Shinjuku
Ushigome-kagurazaka Station (牛込神楽坂)
E05 opened on 12 December 2000 with the full Oedo Line, under the Okubo-dori in Tansumachi. Its name puts two things together: Kagurazaka, the hill of small restaurants and shops that the line serves, and Ushigome, the ward that was absorbed into Shinjuku long ago but survives in the area’s street names. The working title during construction was Shin-Kagurazaka.
The station is a single island platform with one set of ticket gates, and the finish is deliberate rather than standard: dark grey tile on the side walls, orange tile across the platform floor and along the foot of the stair walls, chosen to suit the district above. A crossover towards Ushigome-yanagicho lets trains reverse here if something goes wrong further down the line. The forecast before opening was 14,000 boardings a day and the station has never been busy: 13,686 people used it on an average day in 2024, one of the lowest figures on the Oedo Line.
Finding Ushigome-kagurazaka 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 Ushigome-kagurazaka
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 Ushigome-kagurazaka
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 | 15 trains/hour (about one every 4 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 Ushigome-kagurazaka
Scheduled running time between Ushigome-kagurazaka and the stations either side of it.
| Line | Next station | Running time |
|---|---|---|
| EOedo | E06Iidabashi | 2 min |
| EOedo | E04Ushigome-yanagicho | 2 min |
Transfers and connections
Only the Oedo Line stops here, and no other railway serves this station, so there is nothing to transfer to inside the station.
Accessibility
| Line | Step-free by elevator | Accessible toilet | Escalator | Exits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EOedo | Yes | Yes | Yes | — |
- Oedo Line: Toei: step-free “1-route” secured; 3 elevator(s) on this line. 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 Ushigome-kagurazaka Station?
Above the station the main road is busy and the side streets are not. Temples are the dominant feature: Nanzoin about 40 m from the exits, Jonenji about 40 m, Ryumonji about 170 m and Zenkoku-ji about 330 m, with half a dozen more in between. The Miyagi Michio Memorial Museum is about 150 m away and Jinai Park about 340 m. Publishers and printers fill many of the buildings, and the shops and restaurants of Kagurazaka-dori begin a short walk from the exits.
| Place | Distance (straight line) | On foot, estimated |
|---|---|---|
| Zenkoku-ji Temple 善國寺 | 330 m | about 5 min |
| 法正寺 | 110 m | about 2 min |
| 長源寺 | 150 m | about 2 min |
| 圓福寺 | 160 m | about 3 min |
| 光照寺 | 200 m | about 3 min |
| 正蔵院 | 250 m | about 4 min |
| 安養寺 | 270 m | about 4 min |
| Nanzoin 南蔵院 | 40 m | about 1 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
Shin-Kagurazaka, the name used while it was being built. The final choice added the name of the old Ushigome ward, which is how the station ended up with a compound name even though everyone locally calls the district Kagurazaka.
The design was chosen to echo the district above rather than follow a standard pattern: dark grey tile on the side walls and orange on the platform floor and the base of the stair walls. It is one of the few Oedo Line stations given a distinct colour scheme of its own.