There’s one thing barely mystical and Harry Potter-like about these platforms and one has to marvel why some stations have them whether or not or not it’s as a result of it’s been added on that individual aspect of platform 1 or simply as a result of they started their numbering from zero! I’m undecided if I’ll ever go to all of them however definitely hope to tick just a few extra off because the years go by! The problem continues with a go to to all of the platform 0 stations in Nagano!
Situated in central Japan, the landlocked prefecture of Nagano is joint second (together with Yamaguchi) on the subject of possessing stations with a platform zero. Neighbouring prefecture Niigata is the king of platform zeros in Japan however Nagano is just one in need of that whole, and my mission was to go to all of them in at some point.
1. Okaya station, Nagano Prefecture
With a visit to Matsumoto deliberate, I couldn’t assist however disembark a a few stops earlier to go and see a few the platform zero stations. First up was Okaya which is pretty straightforward and handy to get to through the Azusa No. 5 Restricted Categorical Practice direct from Shinjuku.
It ought to take two hours 20 minutes however a 5 minute delay someplace alongside the road meant I wasn’t ready to go searching the station as leisurely as I had hoped for.
The station, which opened in November 1905, has island and aspect platforms with a cut-out on the latter for the Iida Line serving stations like Tatsuno, Iida and Ina. That was really the platform I wanted for my subsequent prepare which was already ready on platform zero to take me to the subsequent vacation spot a mere 11 minutes away.
2. Tatsuno station, Nagano Prefecture
Fringed by stunning mountain surroundings, blue skies and luxurious inexperienced vegetation, this was a fairly picturesque setting however my time on the station was too restricted to essentially admire it.
That is essentially the most distant of the platform zero stations in Nagano, however with very cautious planning I used to be in a position to squeeze it in to my schedule with the least quantity of disruption when it comes to being stranded there for a very long time. Earlier plans to tick off Tatsuno concerned a mixture of very quick (3 minutes) and overly lengthy (one hour plus) ready instances on the station with a back-up plan of working the near-ten kilometre journey northwards to Okaya. Finally I managed to shuffle round my varied factors of curiosity in Nagano in order that I’d nearly have sufficient time to do what I wanted.
There was little or no room for error however fortunately the prepare left Okaya with typical Japanese precision that means that I had the total seven minutes to disembark, traverse the tracks through footbridge, take my pictures after which cross again to the opposite aspect of the island platform (one in every of two on the station) for my prepare to Matsumoto through Shiojiri.
3. Matsumoto station, Nagano Prefecture
This station has been open since June 1902 with many passengers going there to see the well-known fort or passing by way of en-route for a snowy mountain vacation in Hakuba, or to go mountain climbing in Kamikochi. Technically I used to be there for the previous (in addition to a few different sights within the area) however my first place of curiosity was one which bypasses the overwhelming majority of individuals.
After I consider platform zero stations it’s the smaller stations that come to thoughts however the likes of Kyoto, Himeji, Nippori, Okazaki, Kumamoto and Matsumoto are all sizable stations when it comes to the variety of each day passengers utilizing them.
The larger stations are naturally much more dependable for offering me with a adequate quantity of zero-related signage in order that was a most welcome sight once I alighted at Matsumoto.
There are 4 island platforms at Matsumoto and the platform zero is on the Chuo Predominant Line getting into each instructions to the likes of Shiojiri, Kofu, Shinjuku, Kiso Fukushima and Nagoya.
That’s now 19 out of 34 stations with a platform zero in Japan that I’ve coated in these sequence of posts. Annoyingly, I’ve really been to a couple others in faraway locations however that was earlier than I even knew concerning the platform zero phenomenon! I’d higher begin occupied with which one may be subsequent, and the way I’ll be capable of match it in with another sights or actions in that area. What is for certain is that none of them will probably be completed in a day journey as was the case with these Nagano ones.
- Right here is the entire record of stations which have a platform zero. Let me know of any errors or omissions…
Morioka & Kitakami (Iwate)
Sakata (Yamagata)
Kashiwazaki, Echigoyuzawa, Shibata & Higashisanjo (Niigata)
Tatsuno, Okaya & Matsumoto (Nagano)
Anamizu (Ishikawa)
Takasaki (Gunma)
Nippori & Ayase (Tokyo)
Sawara & Yotsukaido (Chiba)
Okazaki (Aichi)
Toba (Mie)
Gifu-Hashima (Gifu)
Kyoto (Kyoto)
Himeji (Hyogo)
Gobo & Shirahama (Wakayama)
Yonago (Tottori)
Hashioka (Kagawa)
Naruto (Tokushima)
Gomen (Kochi)
Nagatoshi, Iwakuni & Ube (Yamaguchi)
Tagawagotoji & Haruda (Fukuoka)
Ishaya (Nagasaki)
Kumamoto (Kumamoto)
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