Ochiai Station
T02 · Tozai Line · Shinjuku
Ochiai Station (落合)
Ochiai means the place where rivers meet, and the station takes the name from the junction of the Kanda and Myoshoji rivers nearby. T02 opened on 16 March 1966 under Waseda-dori, an island platform with gates at each end, and it sits on the boundary between Shinjuku and Nakano wards — its entrances come up in four different neighborhoods, two on each side of the line.
The station was refurbished in two stages, in the late 1990s and again in 2007, when the platform walls were redone, an escalator and elevator were fitted on the way to exit 2; the round white benches installed then are not used anywhere else on Tokyo Metro. An underground passage and exit 2b followed on 1 April 2014 and departure melodies on 24 May 2015. Trains are stabled on both tracks overnight, and because there is no crossover here they are moved empty to and from Nakano, changing tracks at Takadanobaba.
Finding Ochiai 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 Ochiai
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 Ochiai
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 |
|---|---|---|
| TTozai | 24 trains/hour (about one every 2.5 min) | 14 trains/hour |
Departures in one direction during the hour with the most trains at this station, counted in the operators’ timetable.
Next stations from Ochiai
Scheduled running time between Ochiai and the stations either side of it.
| Line | Next station | Running time |
|---|---|---|
| TTozai | T01Nakano | 3 min |
| TTozai | T03Takadanobaba | 3 min |
Transfers and connections
Only the Tozai 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTozai | Yes | Yes | Yes | 5 |
- Tozai Line: Step-free elevator route street-gate-platform (official “1-route by elevator”). Street elevator at exit(s): 2a, 2b. 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 Ochiai Station?
This is a residential slice of Shinjuku and Nakano with no large draw of its own. The Ochiai post office is about 180 m from the exits, a temple roughly 310 m, and four small parks lie between 140 m and 390 m, including the Nakano 21st Century Garden around 260 m. Most people using the gates live within a few streets, and the shops are the kind that serve them.
| Place | Distance (straight line) | On foot, estimated |
|---|---|---|
| 最勝寺 | 310 m | about 5 min |
| すみよし公園 | 140 m | about 2 min |
| 上落合西公園 | 240 m | about 4 min |
| 中野21世紀庭園 | 260 m | about 4 min |
| けやき公園 | 390 m | about 6 min |
| Ochiai Post Office 落合郵便局 | 180 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
From the confluence of the Kanda and Myoshoji rivers close to the station. Ochiai is the district name that grew from it, and the station simply took the local name when it opened in 1966.
Both, in effect. The station lies across the boundary between Shinjuku and Nakano wards, with exits in Kami-ochiai on the Shinjuku side and Higashi-nakano on the Nakano side — four neighborhoods in all around the two ends of the platform.