Aomori Station

Aomori Station (青森駅, Aomori-eki) is a railway station in the city of Aomori in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The station has been operating since September 1891, though the most recent station building, which consists of three island platforms connected to the station building by a footbridge, was completed in March 2021. Since 1987 the station has been used by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) which operates various services to destinations throughout the Tōhoku region. Since 2010 the station's operations have been jointly run by JR East and the Aoimori Railway Company, a third sector, regional rail operator.

Aomori Station 　青森駅
The west entrance of Aomori Station in March 2021
General information
Location	1 Yanagawa, Aomori, Aomori Prefecture Japan
Coordinates	40°49′43.87″N 140°44′4.89″E / 40.8288528°N 140.7346917°E / 40.8288528; 140.7346917
Operated by	JR East Aoimori Railway
Line(s)	Ōu Main Line      Tsugaru ■ Aoimori Railway Line
Platforms	3 island platforms
Connections	Bus terminal
Other information
Status	Staffed ("Midori no Madoguchi")
History
Opened	1 September 1891; 131 years ago (1 September 1891)
Rebuilt	27 March 2021
Passengers
FY2016	JR East: 5,342 (daily)
Services
Preceding station JR East Following station Shin-Aomori towards Akita Tsugaru Terminus Ōu Main Line Rapid Shin-Aomori towards Shinjō Ōu Main Line Local Aburakawa towards Minmaya Tsugaru Line Preceding station Aoimori Railway Following station Tsutsui towards Metoki Aoimori Railway Line Terminus
Location
Aomori Station Location within Aomori Prefecture Show map of Aomori Prefecture Aomori Station Aomori Station (Japan) Show map of Japan

Location

Aomori Station is located at the western terminus of Aomori Prefecture Route 16, a 1,169-meter-long (3,835 ft) road that provides access to the station from Japan National Route 4 in central Aomori.^[1] The station is situated within the urban core of central Aomori^[2] and is in close proximity to the city hall, prefectural hall, the city library, and several landmarks and museums including the Aomori Bay Bridge, A-Factory, and Nebuta Museum Wa Rasse.^[3] Aomori Station is the northern terminus of the Ōu Main Line and the Aoimori Railway Line and the southern terminus of the Tsugaru Line. The stations adjacent to it along those lines, respectively, are Shin-Aomori Station, Tsutsui Station, and Aburakawa Station.^[4][5]

Station layout

Aomori Station has three island platforms connected to the station building by a footbridge. The station has a "Midori no Madoguchi" staffed ticket office, a convenience store, and a View Plaza travel agency.^[5] The station's two ticket offices for JR East and the Aoimori Railway Company are attended from 5:20 am to 10:30 pm each day, while the View Plaza agency is attended from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm daily.^[6][7] Tickets can also be purchased at two separate automatic dispensers for JR East and the Aoimori Railway Company.^[5] A second footbridge added during the station's reconfiguration in March 2021 connects the areas to the east and west of the station, allowing pedestrians to cross over the station's platforms without purchasing a ticket.^[8]

Platforms

1	■ Aoimori Railway Line	for Asamushi-Onsen, Noheji, and Hachinohe
2	■ Aoimori Railway Line	for Asamushi-Onsen, Noheji, and Hachinohe
	■ Ōu Main Line	for Shin-Aomori, Hirosaki, Ōdate, and Akita
3-6	■ Ōu Main Line	for Shin-Aomori, Hirosaki, Odate, and Akita
	■ Tsugaru Line	for Kanita and Minmaya

History

The station opened on 1 September 1891 as the northern terminus of the Ueno–Aomori line of the Nippon Railway.^[9] It became a station on the Tōhoku Main Line of the Japanese Government Railways (JGR), the pre-war predecessor to the Japan National Railways (JNR), after the nationalization of the Nippon Railway on 1 November 1906.^[10] The station and its adjacent port facilities were destroyed during strategic bombing of Aomori in World War II on 28 July 1945. Kominato Station in Hiranai picked up the destroyed station's role as the terminal station of the Tōhoku Main Line until the reconstruction of Aomori Station was completed on 15 July 1949.^[11] The temporary structure built after the war was replaced in 1959 with the station building that was used until March 2021.^[12]

 

Aomori Station in July 2011

With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR) on 1 April 1987, the station came under the control of JR East.^[9] On 4 December 2010, the Tōhoku Shinkansen was successfully extended north to Shin-Aomori Station from Hachinohe.^[13] As a result of the opening of the bullet train between the two stations, that section of the Tōhoku Main Line including the line's platforms at Aomori Station was transferred to the Aoimori Railway Company from JR East on the same day.^[14]

In October 2018 construction commenced on the fifth iteration of the Aomori Station building with improved access to the station's western entrance.^[15] On 27 March 2021, the fourth-generation station building was closed following the opening of the fifth-generation station building and the conclusion of celebratory festivities in the older building.^[16] Following the movement of station operations, the area occupied by the older building is slated to be replaced with commercial space operated by the city of Aomori and JR East as well as a hotel that overlooks the station platforms. The multi-use, ten-story building is set to completed in 2024.^[17]

Services

 

Aomori Bay Bridge and trains for the JR Ōu Main Line

Aomori Station is served by the Ōu Main Line and the Tsugaru Line of JR East. It is also served by the regional Aoimori Railway Line. The Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line formerly served Aomori Station as a connection to Hakodate in Hokkaido via the Seikan Tunnel; however, with the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen, conventional rail passenger services between Aomori and Hakodate have since been discontinued.

Aoimori Railway services

Aomori Station is primarily served by trains operating on a local service on the Aoimori Railway Line between it and Hachinohe Station; however, the station is also served by one rapid express train on the line, the 560M train operated jointly by the Aoimori Railway and the Iwate Galaxy Railway between Aomori and Morioka. Passenger trains serve Aomori Station just over 18 hours a day from 5:41 am to 11:54 pm. At peak hours between the first train and 9:39 am, trains depart from the station roughly every 30 minutes; otherwise trains depart at an approximate hourly basis.^[18]

Limited express train services

The following limited express services stop at Aomori Station:

• Tsugaru (Akita - Aomori)

Former services

The following Limited express services used to stop at Aomori Station:

• Hakuchō / Super Hakuchō (Shin-Aomori - Hakodate via Aomori)

The following overnight sleeping car services also used to operate to and from Aomori Station.

• Akebono (Ueno - Aomori)
• Nihonkai (Osaka - Aomori)

Bus services

 

A bus of JR Bus Tōhoku at the station's bus terminal.

Buses serving the station are operated by the following operators.

• Aomori City Bus
• Kōnan Bus Company
• JR Bus Tōhoku
• Towada Kankō Electric Railway
• Shimokita Kōtsu [ja]

Highway buses

• Asunaro; For Namioka, Kuroishi, Kosaka, and Morioka Station^[19]
• Blue City; For Sendai Station^[20]
• Sky; For Ueno Station^[21]
• Panda; For Ueno Station^[22]
• Enburi; For Shinjuku Station and Tokyo Station^[23]
• Tsugaru; For Shinjuku Station and Tokyo Station^[24]
• Dream Aomori–Tokyo; For Tokyo Station and Tokyo Disneyland^[25]

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2016, the JR East portion of the station was used by an average of 5,342 passengers daily (boarding passengers only).^[26]

In popular culture

Aomori Station is the setting for the 1977 enka song by Sayuri Ishikawa "Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki". The song is about a young woman who has left a lover behind in Tokyo and is thinking back on them as she disembarks from a train at the station and prepares to board a ferry boat to Hokkaido.^[27]

See also

• List of railway stations in Japan

References

1. "道路情報（東青地域県民局地域整備部）" [Road information (Aomori Metropolitan Prefectural Bureau Regional Development Department)] (in Japanese). Aomori Prefecture. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
2. [2018 snow removal implementation plan] (PDF) (in Japanese). City of Aomori. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
3. "青森駅前のおすすめスポット！観光・グルメ・人気の名所をご紹介" [Recommended spots in front of Aomori Station! Introducing sightseeing, gourmet food, and popular attractions] (in Japanese). Willer Express. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
4. "路線図" [Route map] (in Japanese). Aoimori Railway Co.,Ltd. 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
5. "青森駅の構内図" [Aomori Station layout] (in Japanese). East Japan Railway Company. 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
6. "駅情報" [Station Information]. JR East. 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
7. "基本情報" [Basic Information] (in Japanese). Aoimori Railway Co.,Ltd. 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
8. "新青森駅舎と東西自由通路、利用始まる" [New station building and east-west free passage at Aomori Station begins operation]. Kahoku Shimpō (in Japanese). 27 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
9. Ishino, Tetsu, ed. (1998). 停車場変遷大辞典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory - JNR/JR]. Vol. II. Japan: JTB. p. 420. ISBN 4-533-02980-9.
10. "鐵道國有法" [Railway Nationalization Act]. Act of 1906 (in Japanese). Imperial Diet. Retrieved 21 March 2021 – via Wikisource.
11. "駅や築港は国策に翻弄" [Stations and ports are at the mercy of national policy]. Mutsu Shimpō (in Japanese). 9 March 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
12. "昭和歌謡に歌われた青森駅、60年ぶり一新 戦前からの立ち食いそばも歴史に幕 写真でたどる懐かしの駅舎" [Aomori Station was sung about in Shōwa Kayo, renewed for the first time in 60 years.] (in Japanese). The Tō-Ō Nippō Press. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
13. "Tokyo-Aomori bullet train debuts". The Japan Times. Aomori. Kyodo. 5 December 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
14. "青い森鉄道線について" [About the Aoimori Railway Line] (in Japanese). Aoimori Railway Co.,Ltd. 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
15. "青森駅自由通路供用開始及び落成式典開催について" [About the start of service of the free passage at Aomori Station and the holding of the inauguration ceremony] (PDF) (in Japanese). City of Aomori. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
16. "ありがとう4代目青森駅舎現駅舎での最後のイベントを開催します！" [Thank you fourth-generation Aomori Station building. We will hold the final event at the current station building!] (PDF) (in Japanese). JR East. 15 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
17. "JR東日本、青森駅舎跡地に複合商業ビル" [A commercial complex run by JR East on the site of the former Aomori Station building]. The Nikkei (in Japanese). 25 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
18. "青い森鉄道列車時刻表" [Aoimori Railway Train Timetable] (PDF) (in Japanese). Aoimori Railway Co.,Ltd. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
19. "あすなろ号 - 弘南バス株式会社". www.konanbus.com. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
20. "ブルーシティ号 - 弘南バス株式会社". www.konanbus.com. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
21. "スカイ号 - 弘南バス株式会社". www.konanbus.com. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
22. "パンダ号 - 弘南バス株式会社". www.konanbus.com. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
23. "えんぶり号 - 弘南バス株式会社". www.konanbus.com. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
24. "津輕号 - 弘南バス株式会社". www.konanbus.com. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
25. "青森→東京・「東京ディズニーランド®」（ドリーム青森・東京号）" [Aomori → Tokyo ・ "Tokyo Disneyland®" (Dream Aomori–Tokyo)]. JR Bus Tōhoku. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
26. 各駅の乗車人員 (2016年度) [Station passenger figures (Fiscal 2016)] (in Japanese). Japan: East Japan Railway Company. 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
27. Sayuri Ishikawa (January 1977). 津軽海峡・冬景色 [Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki] (Vinyl record) (in Japanese). Japan: Nippon Columbia.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aomori Station.

• JR East station information (in Japanese)
• Aoimori Railway station information (in Japanese)