Kanamecho Station
Y08 F08 · Yurakucho Line and Fukutoshin Line · Toshima
Kanamecho Station (要町)
For fourteen years there was a finished platform here that no train ever stopped at. Kanamecho opened on 24 June 1983 with the Yurakucho Line, and the structure built at the same time included a second island platform one level below for the line then planned as the Yurakucho New Line. Those tracks opened in 1994, but every train ran straight through; the stairway down was boarded over and the lift stopped at the upper level. Only when the Fukutoshin Line began on 14 June 2008 was the lower platform fitted out and opened, as F08 beneath Y08.
The station is part of a single enormous underground structure known as the Kanroku box, which carries the road, the subway and the utilities together where Kanamecho-dori meets Yamate-dori; the platforms sit deeper than the Yamate road tunnel above them, and four of that tunnel’s ventilation pipes run below the Fukutoshin platform. Platform edge doors reached the Yurakucho level in January 2011. The 2025 survey counted 41,717 entries and exits a day.
Finding Kanamecho 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 Kanamecho
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 Kanamecho
| Line and direction | Weekdays first – last | Saturdays, Sundays & holidays first – last |
|---|---|---|
| YYurakuchoY08 towards Shin-kiba | 05:07 – 00:03 to Ikebukuro | 05:07 – 00:03 to Ikebukuro |
| YYurakuchoY08 towards Wakoshi | 05:14 – 00:15 | 05:14 – 00:15 |
| FFukutoshinF08 towards Shibuya | 05:04 – 00:12 | 05:04 – 00:12 |
| FFukutoshinF08 towards Wakoshi | 05:24 – 00:13 | 05:24 – 00:13 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| YYurakucho | 19 trains/hour (about one every 3.2 min) | 12 trains/hour |
| FFukutoshin | 12 trains/hour (about one every 5 min) | 10 trains/hour |
Departures in one direction during the hour with the most trains at this station, counted in the operators’ timetable.
Next stations from Kanamecho
Scheduled running time between Kanamecho and the stations either side of it.
| Line | Next station | Running time |
|---|---|---|
| YYurakucho | Y09Ikebukuro | 3 min |
| YYurakucho | Y07Senkawa | 2 min |
| FFukutoshin | F09Ikebukuro | 2 min |
| FFukutoshin | F07Senkawa | 2 min |
Transfers and connections
- Subway: transfer between Yurakucho Line and Fukutoshin Line.
Accessibility
| Line | Step-free by elevator | Accessible toilet | Escalator | Exits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YYurakucho | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6 |
| FFukutoshin | Yes | Yes | Yes | 6 |
- Yurakucho Line: Step-free elevator route street-gate-platform (official “1-route by elevator”). Street elevator at exit(s): 1. 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 Kanamecho Station?
Rikkyo University’s Ikebukuro campus and its affiliated schools sit a few minutes from the exits, with the middle and senior high schools about 380 m away, and they shape the morning crowd. The Kumagai Morikazu Museum, devoted to the painter who lived here, is within walking distance, and the Ikebukuro timber market stands roughly 100 m from a gate. Chihaya Second Park is about 180 m off and a waterside park on the old course of the Yabata river around 260 m, with Shoun-ji roughly 290 m away.
| Place | Distance (straight line) | On foot, estimated |
|---|---|---|
| 祥雲寺 | 290 m | about 5 min |
| 洞雲寺 | 360 m | about 6 min |
| 千早第二公園 | 180 m | about 3 min |
| 高松一丁目児童遊園 | 210 m | about 3 min |
| 谷端川第二親水公園 | 260 m | about 4 min |
| Senkawa Junior High School 豊島区立 千川中学校 | 360 m | about 6 min |
| Rikkyo Ikebukuro Senior High School 立教池袋高等学校 | 380 m | about 6 min |
| Rikkyo Ikebukuro Middle School 立教池袋中学校 | 390 m | about 6 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.