Shin-Ōkubo Station 4.38

Shin-Ōkubo Station is a railway station on the Yamanote Line in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Opened on November 15, 1914, it is close to the large local Korean ethnic neighborhood. Shin-Ōkubo Station has only one exit.LinesShin-Ōkubo Station is served by the circular Yamanote Line, with trains running every four minutes during the daytime off-peak. It is one of only two stations on the Yamanote Line that does not provide a direct connection to any other line, the other being Mejiro Station.Surrounding areaLess than a kilometer north of the sprawling Shinjuku Station, Shin-Ōkubo Station is located approximately 5 minutes' walk from Shinjuku's Kabukichō district. It is also about a 3-minute walk from Ōkubo Station on the Chūō-Sōbu Line.Near the station, Okubo-dori (Okubo street) and surrounding side streets are lined with all kinds of small shops, most of them selling Korean food and pop-culture items. Also in the vicinity are Korean-themed bars, nightclubs, and restaurants.HistoryThe station opened on 15 November 1914.During the late 1940s, while Seibu Railway was planning the extension of the Seibu Shinjuku Line from Takadanobaba to Shinjuku, Seibu planned to open a station at Shin-Okubo. Among several plans considered, one option called for the existing JR station to be moved to the west and for Seibu to take over the existing station. Toyama Park, at that time under US occupation, was being considered as a location for a new freight yard, and the rerouting of the Yamanote and Seibu lines was intended to accommodate freight traffic to and from the new yard. However, the freight yard plan was later abandoned, and the Seibu extension opened in 1952 with no stop at Shin-Okubo.