Sakuradamon Station
Y17 · Yurakucho Line · Chiyoda
Sakuradamon Station (桜田門)
The name belongs to a gate of Edo Castle, one of its thirty-six mitsuke, and the station sits beside it — no station is closer to the Imperial Palace. Yurakucho Line trains reached Y17 on 30 October 1974, when the line was still run by the TRTA; the island platform, on the second basement level, lies 20.2 km from the far end of the line at Wakoshi. Platform doors came into use in February 2012.
For its first twenty years the station had a second role. A control room on the first basement level directed Yurakucho and Hanzomon Line trains until 1994, when the work moved to a combined control center. A connecting track between here and Nagatacho still joins the Yurakucho Line to the Chiyoda Line, and stock heading for inspection at the Ayase depot runs over it. For all its position among the ministries, Sakuradamon is the quietest station on the Yurakucho Line, with 13,160 passengers a day in 2025.
Finding Sakuradamon 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 Sakuradamon
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 Sakuradamon
| Line and direction | Weekdays first – last | Saturdays, Sundays & holidays first – last |
|---|---|---|
| YYurakuchoY17 towards Shin-kiba | 05:17 – 00:17 | 05:17 – 00:17 |
| YYurakuchoY17 towards Wakoshi | 05:14 – 00:15 to Ikebukuro | 05:14 – 00:15 to Ikebukuro |
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 | 22 trains/hour (about one every 2.7 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 Sakuradamon
Scheduled running time between Sakuradamon and the stations either side of it.
| Line | Next station | Running time |
|---|---|---|
| YYurakucho | Y16Nagatacho | 2 min |
| YYurakucho | Y18Yurakucho | 2 min |
Transfers and connections
Only the Yurakucho 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YYurakucho | Yes | Yes | Yes | 5 |
- Yurakucho Line: Step-free elevator route street-gate-platform (official “1-route by elevator”). Street elevator at exit(s): 4. 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 Sakuradamon Station?
Government and the law fill the streets above. The Metropolitan Police Department headquarters stands about 60 m from an exit, the Old Ministry of Justice building about 190 m, and the Tokyo High Court, District Court, Summary Court and Family Court all lie between roughly 230 and 370 m away, along with several of the Central Government Buildings. The Sakurada Gate itself is about 220 m off at the edge of the palace moat, and Japan’s benchmark levelling datum sits in the grounds nearby.
| Place | Distance (straight line) | On foot, estimated |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese Datum of Lebeling 水準原点 | 370 m | about 6 min |
| Metropolitan Police Department 警視庁 | 60 m | about 1 min |
| Old Ministry of Justice Building 法務省旧本館 | 190 m | about 3 min |
| Sakurada Gate 桜田門 | 220 m | about 4 min |
| Tokyo High Court 東京高等裁判所 | 230 m | about 4 min |
| Central Gov't Bldg. No.2 中央合同庁舎第2号館 | 230 m | about 4 min |
| Tokyo District Court 東京地方裁判所 | 260 m | about 4 min |
| Mutsu Munemitsu 陸奥宗光 | 330 m | about 5 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
Because the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters stands at the Sakurada Gate, and the gate’s name became a byword for the force itself. The building is about 60 m from the station, which takes its name from the same gate rather than from the police.
Sakuradamon serves ministries and courts rather than homes or shops, and the passengers who could use it concentrate instead on the larger interchanges nearby. At 13,160 passengers a day in 2025 it is the least-used station on the Yurakucho Line and one of the two quietest on the Tokyo Metro network.