The is a railway line in

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

owned by the

Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Company The is a third-sector railway company funded by the city of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Tokyu Corporation. The company oversees the Minatomirai Line The Minatomirai 21 Line (みなとみらい21線 ''Minato-mirai-21-sen''), commonly ...

and operated by

Tokyu Corporation The is a Japanese multinational ''keiretsu'' ( conglomerate) holding company headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. Its main operation is , a wholly owned subsidiary operating railways in the Greater Tokyo Area. History The oldest predecessor ...

History

The line opened in April 1967, at the same time as its 'parent' station, Nagatsuta. It is a single track local line designed principally to cater for visitors to

Kodomonokuni Theme Park Kodomonokuni Theme Park (こどもの国) is an amusement park near Tokyo, located in Yokohama, Japan. The park's name means Children's Country. As the name implies, it is more oriented towards young children than teenagers. It was founded in commem ...

(Children's Land) park. Consequently, the two-car trains are particularly busy during summer weekends and holidays. The line originally was built and opened as a transportation link to the park (which opened in 1965) from the

Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line The is a major commuter line operated by the private railway operator Tokyu Corporation and connecting south-western suburbs of Tokyo and neighbouring Kanagawa Prefecture, with its western terminus of , to a major railway junction of western d ...

. The Children's Land Association (''Shakai Fukushi Houjin Kodomonokuni Kyokai'') owned the right-of-way and the Kodomonokuni Station, but the actual operation was contracted out to

. In 1997, the line was sold to

(MMR), a joint venture of Tokyu Corporation, the Kanagawa prefectural government and the

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

city government. In 2000, an intermediate station, Onda, opened in

Aoba-ku, Yokohama is one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 302,643 and a density of 8,610 persons per km². The total area was 35.14 km². Geography Aoba is located in ...

to reflect the changing role of this line as a commuter line. MMR today owns the right-of-way, Kodomonokuni and Onda stations and the rolling stock, but the actual operation continues to be contracted to Tōkyū. Local residents along the train line have expressed an interest in getting the Kodomonokuni Line extended northward to meet the

Odakyū Odawara Line The is the main line of Japanese private railway operator Odakyu Electric Railway. It extends 82.5 km from Shinjuku in central Tokyo through the southwest suburbs to the city of Odawara, the gateway to Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture. It is ...

at Tsurukawa; however the planning has not yet taken off because the proposed rail alignment, despite its short distance, involves two prefectures (

Kanagawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

) and three cities (

;

Asao-ku, Kawasaki is one of the 7 wards of the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 167,792 and a density of 7,210 persons per km². The total area was 23.28 km². Geography Asao Ward is located ...

and

Machida, Tokyo is a Cities of Japan, city located in West Tokyo, the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 428,851, and a population density of 6,000 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography ...

). The travel time from Nagatsuta to Kodomonokuni is 7 minutes (with one stop at Onda). At both Kodomonokuni and Nagatsuta stations there are ticket machines for this line, but the Kodomonokuni Line shares Tōkyū platforms at Nagatsuta. Trains depart every 20 minutes throughout the day (every 10 minutes between 8 and 9 a.m. both directions) and at weekends; however, services are more regular during morning and evening peak times, and during Golden Week.

Station list

All stations are located in

Rolling stock

* Y000 series (since 1999) All trains are based at Nagasuta Depot, accessed via a spur located before Onda Station.

Former rolling stock

* Tokyu 3000 series (original) (from 1967 until 1975) *

Tokyu 3600 series Tokyu may refer to: * Tokyu Group, a group of companies centered on Tokyu Corporation ** Tokyu Corporation, a Japanese railway company, the largest member and parent company of the group ** Tokyu Car Corporation, a former Japanese railway vehicle m ...

(from 1975 until 1980) *

Tokyu 7200 series Tokyu may refer to: * Tokyu Group, a group of companies centered on Tokyu Corporation ** Tokyu Corporation, a Japanese railway company, the largest member and parent company of the group ** Tokyu Car Corporation, a former Japanese railway vehicle m ...

(sometimes substituted by Tokyu 5000 (original), 6000 (original) and 8000 series, from 1980 until 1993) * Tokyu 7000 series (original) (from 1993 until 2000)

External links

Tokyu Corporation website

Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Company website
{{Tokyo transit Railway lines in Kanagawa Prefecture Lines of Yokohama Minatomirai Railway 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Japanese third-sector railway lines Railway lines opened in 1967 1967 establishments in Japan