Umi-Shibaura Station

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Umi-Shibaura Station (海芝浦駅, Umishibaura-eki^?) is a train station on the Tsurumi Line in Yokohama, Japan. It is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), and is the terminus of the Umi-Shibaura branch of the Tsurumi Line.

The station is located on the grounds of the Shibaura Factory, the principal manufacturing plant of Toshiba. Only Toshiba employees and invitees are permitted to pass through the station gates. Other than this, the station contains typical facilities such as a ticket disposal box and automatic ticket machine. Toshiba owns the land beneath the station and the surrounding portion of the Tsurumi Line, and JR East operates both under a long-term lease.

A single platform, located on the waterfront of Tokyo Bay, serves one line for both inbound and outbound trains. The exit is located opposite the buffer stop, where there are simple Suica machines.

Because of the surrounding scenery, and its status as "the station which you can never leave," Umi-Shibaura has been featured in several books and television programs and has gained some popularity as a day-trip destination. Toshiba has catered to these tourists by constructing a small park within the station, complete with a vending machine.

Author Kyotaro Nishimura is reportedly writing a novel set at the station, entitled Unga no Mieru Eki de ("At The Station Where You Can See The Canal").^{[citation needed]}

[edit] History

The station first opened for service on 1 November 1940 as part of the Tsurumi Waterfront Railway. The line was nationalized in 1943 and became part of the Japanese National Railways network, which was privatized in 1987.

In 2000, Umi-Shibaura was selected as one of the top 100 stations in the Kantō region by a public poll conducted by the Transport Ministry.

[edit] Service

Umi-Shibaura is served hourly during off-peak times (midday, night and weekends), with more frequent services during morning and evening rush hours. Because station traffic is so closely tied to Toshiba commuters, train schedules are often adjusted to accommodate factory-wide overtime or holiday work schedules. These adjustments are not published in timetables and can only be confirmed by checking notices posted at Tsurumi and other stations along the line.

v • d • e Stations of the JR Tsurumi Line Tsurumi - Kokudō - Tsurumi-Ono - Bentembashi - Asano - Anzen - Musashi-Shiraishi - Hama-Kawasaki - Shōwa - Ōgimachi Branches: Asano - Shin-Shibaura - Umi-Shibaura, Anzen - Ōkawa