160730 Karuizawa Station Karuizawa Nagano pref Japan08s3

is a railway station in the town of

Karuizawa, Nagano is a resort town located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 20,323 in 9897 households, and a population density of 130 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Karuizawa is one of the oldest and most ...

, Japan, operated jointly by the

JR Group The Japan Railways Group, more commonly known as the or simply JR, consists of seven for-profit stock companies that took over most of the assets and operations of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. Mo ...

company

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

(JR East) and the third-sector railway operator

Shinano Railway The is a Japanese third-sector railway operating company established in 1996 to operate passenger railway services on the section of the JR East Shinetsu Main Line within Nagano Prefecture when it is separated from the JR East network in Octob ...

Lines

Karuizawa Station is served by the JR East

Hokuriku Shinkansen The is a high-speed Shinkansen railway line jointly operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West), connecting Tokyo with in the Hokuriku region of Japan. The first section, between and in Nagano Pr ...

high-speed line from Tokyo to via . On the Shinkansen line, it is located 146.8 kilometers from

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 Tokyo Imperial Palace, Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is ...

. It is also a terminal station for the 65.1 kilometer

Shinano Railway Line The is a 65.1 km railway line operated by the third-sector railway operating company Shinano Railway in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. It connects Karuizawa Station in Karuizawa with Shinonoi Station in Nagano. Overview Before October 19 ...

which operates between Karuizawa and Nagano.

Station layout

The JR portion of the station has two elevated

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, serving four tracks, with the station building underneath. 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. The Shinano Railway portion of the station has one ground-level island platform serving two tracks, connected to the JR East portion of the station by a footbridge.

JR East platforms

Shinano Railway platforms

History

160730 Old Karuizawa Station Karuizawa Nagano pref Japan02s3

The station began service on December 1, 1888, as the terminal 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 Rai ...

between (near the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

coast) and Karuizawa. The line was extended from Karuizawa to through the

Usui Pass The is a mountain pass that lies between Nagano and Gunma prefecture in Japan. It has served as one of the major transportation routes in central Japan since at least the eighth century. Road The pass on the ancient Tōsandō highway was des ...

on April 1, 1893, completing the trunk line between (connecting to a

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 ...

line to

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 fam ...

in Tokyo) and Naoetsu, which was later named the

Shinetsu Main Line The Shinetsu Main Line ( ja, 信越本線, ) is a railway line, consisting of three geographically separated sections, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It was originally one continuous line connecting and via . S ...

. At Karuizawa, all trains were coupled with or separated from helper locomotives that were required for all trains to go through the

section. When the

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) were divided and privatized on April 1, 1987, Shinetsu Main Line became a part of the system of East Japan Railway Company (JR East). On October 1, 1997, JR East opened the

Nagano Shinkansen The is a high-speed Shinkansen railway line jointly operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West), connecting Tokyo with in the Hokuriku region of Japan. The first section, between and in Nagano Pr ...

with a stop at Karuizawa. At the same time, JR East ceased to operate the conventional Shinetsu Main Line between Yokokawa and , of which, the section between Yokokawa and Karuizawa (Usui Pass) was closed permanently and the remaining section was transferred to

. Since then, Karuizawa Station has been shared by JR East and Shinano Railway.

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2015, the JR East portion of the station was used by an average of 2,889 passengers daily (boarding passengers only).

Surrounding area

* Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza * Karuizawa Prince Hotel Ski Resort

Hotels

* Karuizawa Prince Hotel * Mampei Hotel * Mikasa Hotel

Bus routes

;Track 1 *Seibu Kanko Bus **For

Manza-Kazawaguchi Station is a railway station in the village of Tsumagoi, Gunma, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East).

**For Manza Onsen and Shirane Kazan ;Track 2 *Kusakaru Kotsu **For Kita-Karuizawa **For

Naganohara-Kusatsuguchi Station is a passenger railway station in the town of Naganohara, Gunma, Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Naganohara-Kusatsuguchi Station is a station on the Agatsuma Line, and is located 42.0 ...

**For Kusatsu Onsen Bus Terminal ;Track 3 *Seibu Bus and Chikuma Bus **For Kawagoe Matoba,

Nerima Station is a railway station in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Seibu Railway and the Tokyo subway operator Toei Subway. Lines Nerima Station is served by the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, Seibu Yurakucho Line, and Seibu Toshima ...

and

Ikebukuro Station Ikebukuro Station ( ja, 池袋駅, ) is a major railway station located in the Ikebukuro district of Toshima, Tokyo, Japan, shared by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro, and the two private railway operato ...

**For Tamagawa-Josui Station and

Tachikawa Station is a junction passenger railway station located in the city of Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Tachikawa Station is served by the Chūō Main Line, and is located 37.1 kilometers from the ...

*Tokyu Bus **For

Shibuya Station is a railway station in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, operated jointly by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Keio Corporation, Tokyu Corporation, and Tokyo Metro. With 2.4 million passengers on an average weekday in 2004, it is the fourth-busiest c ...

and

Futako-tamagawa Station is located in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, on the north-east bank of the Tama River. The area surrounding the station is commonly called Futako-Tamagawa, and often refers to the Tamagawa and Seta districts of Setagaya, but there is no precise defini ...

Kintetsu Bus is a bus company in the Kintetsu Group. Major routes Expressway bus routes *Osaka/Kyoto - Sendai (Forest) *Osaka/Kyoto - Tokyo/Ueno/Yokohama (Flying Liner) *Osaka/Kyoto - Shinjuku/Hachioji ("Twinkle") *Osaka/Kyoto - Nagasaki (Oranda) *Osaka/ ...

**For Namba Station ;Track 4 *Community bus **Around Karuizawa Town ;Track 5 * JR BUS KANTO Usui Line **For

Yokokawa Station is a railway station in the city of Annaka, Gunma, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Yokokawa Station is a terminal station for its segment of the Shinetsu Main Line, and is located 29.7 kilometers from the sta ...

***This bus route passes through

Megane Bridge or Spectacles Bridge, over the Nakashima River (中島川) was built in Nagasaki in 1634 by the Chinese monk Mokusunyoujo who was in the second generation of Chinese monks living at Kofukuji Temple. It is said to be the oldest stone arch br ...

during autumn. ;North Exit *Shoei Kotsu **For Nagano Station and Suzaka Station **For

Shinjuku Station is a major railway station in the Shinjuku and Shibuya wards in Tokyo, Japan. In Shinjuku, it is part of the Nishi-Shinjuku and Shinjuku districts. In Shibuya, it is located in the Yoyogi and Sendagaya districts. It is the world's busiest rai ...

and

References

External links

JR East Karuizawa Station

{{Shinano Railway Line Railway stations in Nagano Prefecture Stations of East Japan Railway Company Hokuriku Shinkansen Shinano Railway Line Railway stations in Japan opened in 1888 Karuizawa, Nagano