is a railway station in the city of Aomori in

Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the eas ...

, Japan. The station has been operating since September 1891, though the most recent station building, which consists of three island platforms connected to the station building by a footbridge, was completed in March 2021. Since 1987 the station has been used by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) which operates various services to destinations throughout the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku reta ...

. Since 2010 the station's operations have been jointly run by JR East and the

Aoimori Railway Company The is a public-private transport company that operates the Aoimori Railway Line in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Its headquarters are located in the city of Aomori. The government of Aomori Prefecture and the city of Aomori are the primary shareh ...

, a third sector, regional rail operator.

Location

Aomori Station is located at the western terminus of Aomori Prefecture Route 16, a road that provides access to the station from

Japan National Route 4 is a major national highway in eastern Honshū, Japan. Measuring it is the longest highway in the country. When oversea routes are included, it is the second longest highway in Japan, with National Route 58 then measuring because of its mar ...

in central Aomori. The station is situated within the urban core of central Aomori and is in close proximity to the city hall, prefectural hall, the city library, and several landmarks and museums including the Aomori Bay Bridge, A-Factory, and Nebuta Museum Wa Rasse. Aomori Station is the northern terminus of the

Ōu Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Fukushima Station through Akita Station to Aomori Station. Since the opening of the Yamagata Shinkansen on July 1, 1992, the Fukushima–Yama ...

and the

Aoimori Railway Line The is a regional rail line in Aomori Prefecture, Japan that is operated by the Aoimori Railway Company. It connects the terminal station of the Iwate Galaxy Railway Line, Metoki Station, in the town of Sannohe to Aomori Station, the termi ...

and the southern terminus of the

Tsugaru Line The is a railway line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Aomori Station and Minmaya Station on the Tsugaru Peninsula in western Aomori Prefecture. The section of the line between Aomori Station and Naka-Oguni Stat ...

. The stations adjacent to it along those lines, respectively, are

Shin-Aomori Station is a railway station in the city of Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). Lines Shin-Aomori Station is the northern terminus of the Ōu Main Li ...

, Tsutsui Station, and

Aburakawa Station is a railway station on the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) Tsugaru Line located in the city of Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Lines Aburakawa Station is served by the Tsugaru Line and is located from the starting point of the line at . ...

Station layout

Aomori Station has three

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

s connected to the station building by a footbridge. The station has a "

Midori no Madoguchi , which stands for ''Multi Access (originally Magnetic-electronic Automatic) seat Reservation System'', is a train ticket reservation system used by the railway companies of former Japanese National Railways, currently Japan Railways Group (JR Grou ...

" staffed ticket office, a convenience store, and a View Plaza travel agency. The station's two ticket offices for JR East and the Aoimori Railway Company are attended from 5:20 am to 10:30 pm each day, while the View Plaza agency is attended from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm daily. Tickets can also be purchased at two separate automatic dispensers for JR East and the Aoimori Railway Company. A second footbridge added during the station's reconfiguration in March 2021 connects the areas to the east and west of the station, allowing pedestrians to cross over the station's platforms without purchasing a ticket.

Platforms

History

The station opened on 1 September 1891 as the northern terminus of the Ueno–Aomori line of the

Nippon Railway was the first private railway company in the history of Japan. The company built trunk lines connecting Tokyo with the Tōhoku region to the northeast. Most of its lines came under the control of Japanese Government Railways following nationaliza ...

. It became a station on the

Tōhoku Main Line The Tōhoku Main Line ( ja, 東北本線, ) is a long railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line starts from Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and passes through such cities as Saitama, Utsunomiya, Fuku ...

of the

Japanese Government Railways The Japanese Government Railways (JGR) was the national railway system directly operated by the Japanese Ministry of Railways ( ja, 鉄道省, Tetsudō-shō, ) until 1949. It was a predecessor of Japanese National Railways and the later Japan Ra ...

(JGR), the pre-war predecessor to the

Japan National Railway The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pre ...

s (JNR), after the nationalization of the Nippon Railway on 1 November 1906. The station and its adjacent port facilities were destroyed during strategic bombing of Aomori in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

on 28 July 1945. Kominato Station in

Hiranai ( ain, ピラナィ, piranay) is a town located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan and a part of the Aomori metropolitan area. , the town had an estimated population of 10,460 in 4,860 households, and a population density of 48 persons per km². It i ...

picked up the destroyed station's role as the terminal station of the Tōhoku Main Line until the reconstruction of Aomori Station was completed on 15 July 1949. The temporary structure built after the war was replaced in 1959 with the station building that was used until March 2021. Aomori Station East Entrance 1

With the privatization of

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

(JNR) on 1 April 1987, the station came under the control of JR East. On 4 December 2010, the

Tōhoku Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture in a route length of , making it Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main ...

was successfully extended north to

from Hachinohe. As a result of the opening of the bullet train between the two stations, that section of the Tōhoku Main Line including the line's platforms at Aomori Station was transferred to the

from JR East on the same day. In October 2018 construction commenced on the fifth iteration of the Aomori Station building with improved access to the station's western entrance. On 27 March 2021, the fourth-generation station building was closed following the opening of the fifth-generation station building and the conclusion of celebratory festivities in the older building. Following the movement of station operations, the area occupied by the older building is slated to be replaced with commercial space operated by the city of Aomori and JR East as well as a hotel that overlooks the station platforms. The multi-use, ten-story building is set to completed in 2024.

Services

Aomori Station is served by the

and the

of JR East. It is also served by the regional

. The

Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line The was a railway line in northern Japan that linked Aomori Station in Aomori Prefecture and Hakodate Station in Hokkaido. The Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line was actually made up of portions of four separate lines: the Tsugaru Line, operated by East Japa ...

formerly served Aomori Station as a connection to

Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.8 ...

in Hokkaido via the

Seikan Tunnel The Seikan Tunnel ( ja, 青函トンネル, or , ), is a dual-gauge railway tunnel in Japan, with a portion under the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait, which separates Aomori Prefecture on the main Japanese island of Honshu from the northern isl ...

; however, with the opening of the

Hokkaido Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line that links up with the Tōhoku Shinkansen in northern Aomori Prefecture in Honshu and continues on into the interior of Hokkaido through the undersea Seikan Tunnel. Construction started in May ...

, conventional rail passenger services between Aomori and Hakodate have since been discontinued.

Aoimori Railway services

Aomori Station is primarily served by trains operating on a local service on the Aoimori Railway Line between it and

Hachinohe Station is a railway station operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Hachinohe, Aomori, Japan. Lines Hachinohe Station is served by the high-speed Tōhoku Shinkansen line between and , and forms the starting point of the Hachinohe ...

; however, the station is also served by one rapid express train on the line, the 560M train operated jointly by the Aoimori Railway and the Iwate Galaxy Railway between Aomori and . Passenger trains serve Aomori Station just over 18 hours a day from 5:41am to 11:54pm. At peak hours between the first train and 9:39am, trains depart from the station roughly every 30 minutes; otherwise trains depart at an approximate hourly basis.

Limited express train services

The following limited express services stop at Aomori Station: * ''

Tsugaru Tsugaru (津軽) may refer to: * Tsugaru, Aomori, a city of Aomori Prefecture, Japan * Tsugaru Peninsula * Tsugaru Strait, between Honshū and Hokkaidō ** Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry, a ferry crossing this strait * Tsugaru-jamisen, a traditional style of ...

'' (Akita - Aomori)

Former services

The following Limited express services used to stop at Aomori Station: * '' Hakuchō / Super Hakuchō'' (Shin-Aomori - Hakodate ''via'' Aomori) The following overnight sleeping car services also used to operate to and from Aomori Station. * '' Akebono'' (Ueno - Aomori) * '' Nihonkai'' ( - Aomori)

Bus services

Buses serving the station are operated by the following operators. *

Aomori City Bus is the bus public transit system in the city of Aomori (city), Aomori in northern Japan. References External links Aomori City Bus website
{{Aomori transit Bus companies of Japan Transport in Aomori Prefecture ...

Kōnan Bus Company is a bus company in Japan. Office Bus garage * Hirosaki Bus office (Hirosaki) ** Wattoku Branch office (Hirosaki) ** Fujishiro Branch office (Hirosaki) * Kuroishi Bus office ( Kuroishi) * Goshogawara Bus office ( Goshogawara) ** Kodomari ...

JR Bus Tōhoku is an operator of inter-city and regional bus lines based in the Tōhoku region of Japan. A subsidiary of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) group, JR Bus Tohoku is one of eight JR Bus companies within Japan Railways Group (JR Group). Outli ...

Towada Kankō Electric Railway The , or , is a transportation company that provides transportation services over a wide range of southeastern and central Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The company used to operate the Towada Kankō Electric Railway Line, which connects Misawa Stat ...

Highway buses

* ''Asunaro''; For Namioka, Kuroishi, Kosaka, and

Morioka Station Morioka Station ( ja, 盛岡駅, ) is a railway station in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by JR East. Lines Morioka Station is a major junction station, and is served by both the Tōhoku Shinkansen and the Akita Shinkansen. I ...

* ''Blue City''; For Sendai Station * ''Sky''; For

Ueno Station is a major railway station in Tokyo's Taitō ward. It is the station used to reach the Ueno district and Ueno Park—which contains Tokyo National Museum, The National Museum of Western Art, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo University of the Arts and other ...

* ''Panda''; For Ueno Station * ''Enburi''; For Shinjuku Station and

Tokyo Station Tokyo Station ( ja, 東京駅, ) is a railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is not far from the Ginza ...

* ''Tsugaru''; For Shinjuku Station and Tokyo Station * ''Dream Aomori–Tokyo''; For Tokyo Station and

Tokyo Disneyland (local nickname ''TDL'') is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to ...

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2016, the JR East portion of the station was used by an average of 5,342 passengers daily (boarding passengers only).

In popular culture

Aomori Station is the setting for the 1977 ''

enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form, which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than '' ryūkōka'' music, ...

'' song by

Sayuri Ishikawa is a Japanese enka singer who made her professional debut in 1973. With a career nearing five decades, she is one of the most-recognized and successful enka singers in history. Ishikawa is a popular contestant on the annual NHK ''Kōhaku Uta Gas ...

" Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki". The song is about a young woman who has left a lover behind in Tokyo and is thinking back on them as she disembarks from a train at the station and prepares to board a ferry boat to Hokkaido.

References

External links

JR East station information

Aoimori Railway station information
{{Portal bar, Trains, Japan

Aomori Station is a railway station in the city of Aomori in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The station has been operating since September 1891, though the most recent station building, which consists of three island platforms connected to the station building by a ...

Ōu Main Line Tōhoku Main Line Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line Aomori (city) Railway stations in Japan opened in 1891