Tokyo/Nakano

Nakano (中野) ward (often called Nakano city in English), adjacent to Shinjuku, is the near edge of the endless urban sprawl of western Tokyo.

Tourist Information Site
The ward has an official Japanese-only guide site with integrated machine translation.

Get in
Nakano is well connected by various train lines, both above and under ground.

The most important stop is Nakano on the JR Chuo and JR Chuo-Sobu lines, where JR Chuo rapid (orange) and JR Chuo-Sobu local (yellow) trains stop. Additionally, there are also local trains on the JR-Chuo line during peak hours. Nakano is also the terminal stop for trains on the Tokyo Metro Tozai subway line (sky blue, stop T01). Nevertheless, some trains of the Tozai line will continue on the JR Chuo line as Chuo-Sobu local trains after reaching Nakano. Travelers reach Nakano quickest with JR Chuo line rapid trains which operate on a frequent schedule from Shinjuku station (1 stop, 5 minutes, ¥150) and Tokyo station (5 stops, 20 minutes ¥210). Nakano's main commercial area (i.e. most shops and restaurants, including Nakano Sunmall and Nakano Broadway) are just north of the station.

Please pay attention to the actual service before you board a JR Chuo rapid train. The most frequent service, called rapid (orange), as well as the commuter rapid (purple) and the Ome special rapid (green) are the only ones stopping in Nakano. But the special rapid (pale turquoise), the commuter special rapid (pink), and the Chuo and Ome liners (both pale orange) pass Nakano. Given in parentheses are the signature colors on the service diagrams (not to be confused with the line colors), which can be found on the station platforms and show what service stops/passes what stations.

Also on the JR Chuo line is Higashi Nakano (東中野, meaning "East Nakano") but only just JR Chuo-Sobu local trains stop there.

Further north of the ward Arai Yakushi-mae (新井薬師前), Numabukuro (沼袋), Nogata (野方), Toritsu Kasei (都立家政) and Saginomiya (鷺宮) are stops on the Seibu Shinjuku line, which does not terminate at Shinjuku (as the name might suggest to some) but at Seibushinjuku, i.e. Seibu's own station a bit north of Shinjuku station.

The south of the ward is connected by Tokyo Metro Marunouchi line with trains stopping in Nakano Sakaue (中野坂上) where the line is split and most trains continue to Shin-Nakano (新中野) but some continue on the Honancho branch to Nakano Shimbashi (中野新橋, featured in You Only Live Twice as the entrance to the villain's underground hideout) and Nakano Fujimicho (中野富士見町) instead. Trains run to Shinjuku and Tokyo stations from all these stops.

Additionally to these east-west bound lines, there's one south-north bound line. The Toei Oedo line stops at the already mentioned Nakano Sakaue and Higashi Nakano station as well as at Shin-Egota (新江古田). Once again, trains on this line also stop at Shinjuku station.

Further stations of various (including not previously mentioned) lines stop just outside of the ward, providing additional connections to places close to the ward's border. Ochiai (落合) station on the Tozai line, while situated in neighboring Shinjuku ward, even has exits in Nakano ward.