Shin-Yokohama Station Orientation & Facilities

Shin-Yokohama Station is the high-speed shinkansen terminal for the city of Yokohama. This station serves the Tokaido Shinkansen, the JR Yokohama Line, the Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line and the Sotetsu & Tokyu Shin-Yokohama Line.

Train Services from Shin-Yokohama Station

• The Tokaido Shinkansen can be used for high-speed intercity services to Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka.
• The JR Yokohama Line can be used to get to Yokohama Station. It also has services for Machida and Hachioji in Tokyo.
• The Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line can also be used to get to Yokohama Station or to travel further south to Sakuragicho Station, which is convenient for the Minato Mirai area of Yokohama Bay, and Kannai station, which is convenient for Yokohama Chinatown.
• The Sotetsu & Tokyu Shin-Yokohama Line links the private Sotetsu and Tokyu railway networks. This line can be used to access Meguro and Shibuya in Tokyo.

Orientation

Shin-Yokohama Station is located inside a 19-story building that also contains a shopping center and a hotel. Ticket gates for the JR Yokohama Line and for the Tokaido Shinkansen are located on the 2nd floor of the station building. The JR Yokohama Line platforms are on the ground floor and the shinkansen platforms are on the 3rd floor.

The ticket gates for the Municipal Subway Blue Line and the Sotetsu & Tokyu Shin-Yokohama Line are all located on the B1 basement level. Blue Line platforms are on the B2 level and Sotetsu & Tokyu platforms are on B4.

The station building has entrances on the north and south side. The main entrance is on the north side on the 2nd floor. This entrance gives access to the Tokaido Shinkansen and the JR Yokohama Line. Outside this entrance is a pedestrian deck leading to a bridge that crosses the road in front of the station. The entrance on the south side of the station is called the Shinohara Entrance and this entrance gives access to the JR Yokohama Line.

On the north side of the station building there is a bus terminal on the 1st floor. Taxi ranks can also be found on the 1st floor on the north side of the station building or outside the Shinohara Entrance on the south side.

Ticket Gates for the JR Yokohama Line and the Tokaido Shinkansen

Ticket gates for the JR Yokohama Line and the Tokaido Shinkansen are located on the main station concourse on the 2nd floor. This concourse can be accessed via the 2nd floor main entrance on the north side of the station building.

As you stand just inside the main entrance there are two sets of shinkansen ticket gates on the right and left. The Shinkansen West Entrance gates are located on the right and the Shinkansen East Entrance gates are located on the left.

Either gate can be used to access all the shinkansen platforms.

The JR Yokohama Line North Entrance gates are located directly across from the main entrance between the two sets of shinkansen gates.

Between the Shinkansen West Entrance and the JR Yokohama Line North Entrance there is a passageway that leads to the south side of the station.

On the south side of the station are the Shinohara Entrance gates to the JR Yokohama Line.

Inside the ticket gates there are also transfer gates between the Tokaido Shinkansen and JR Yokohama Line. Passengers can use these to move between the shinkansen and Yokohama Line tracks without exiting the gates.

Passengers transferring to the Tokaido Shinkansen to the JR Yokohama Line can buy shinkansen tickets at ticket machines beside the transfer gates.

Buying Tickets for the Tokaido Shinkansen and JR Yokohama Line

There is a large ticket office for both the Tokaido Shinkansen and for the JR Yokohama Line on the main concourse of the station. This ticket office is located between the North Entrance gates for the JR Yokohama Line and the East Entrance gates for the Tokaido Shinkansen.

There are also automatic ticket machines for the Tokaido Shinkansen beside the Shinkansen West Entrance gates.

Automatic ticket machines for the JR Yokohama Line are located beside the North Entrance gates and the Shinohara Entrance gates.

Fare charts are located above the ticket machines and they have English language options so they are easy to use.

Tokaido Shinkansen & JR Yokohama Line Platforms

Tokaido Shinkansen services depart from Platforms 1-4 on the 3rd floor of the station building. Services departing from Platforms 1 and 2 are bound for Tokyo. Services departing from Platforms 3 and 4 are bound for Nagoya, Kyoto, Shin-Osaka, and Hakata.

JR Yokohama Line services depart from Platforms 5 and 6 on the 1st floor of the station building. Trains departing from Platform 5 are bound for Higashi-Kanagawa and Yokohama. Trains departing from Platform 6 are bound for Machida and Hachioji.

All platforms have digital signs giving departure information in both English and Japanese.

The Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line at Shin-Yokohama Station

Transfers between the JR Yokohama Line, Tokaido Shinkansen and the Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line are very simple. Escalators and stairs leading down to the Blue Line underground station can be found on the 2nd floor of the station building. If you are standing outside the Shinkansen and JR Lines Ticket Office facing towards the main entrance, then the escalators and stairs for the subway station are ahead of you and on the right.

The Blue Line subway station has three sets of ticket gates on the B1 basement level.

Ticket machines are located beside each set of gates.

There are two platforms on the B2 level. Trains departing Platform 1 are southbound services for Yokohama, Sakuragicho, Kannai, and Shonandai. Trains departing Platform 2 are northbound services for Center-Minami and Azamino.

Digital signage gives departure information in both English and Japanese.

The Sotetsu & Tokyu Shin-Yokohama Line at Shin-Yokohama Station

To reach the Sotetsu and Tokyu Shin-Yokohama Line from the 2nd floor of the station building, go out of the station’s main exit on the north side of the building. Cross the pedestrian deck directly ahead of you and on the other side you will see entrance 5A on your right. Entrance 5A has escalators leading to the Sotetsu & Tokyu Shin-Yokohama Line. If you turn right here and walk a little further you can find entrance 5B, which has an elevator and stairs leading down to this line.

Ticket gates for the Sotetsu & Tokyu Shin-Yokohama Line are on the B1 basement level with four platforms on the B4 level. Ticket machines are located beside the gates.

This line is divided into two parts which meet at Shin-Yokohama Station. The Sotetsu Shin-Yokohama Line runs south from Platforms 1 and 2 with services bound for Hazawa Yokohama-Kokudai and Nishiya, and through services bound for Ebina and Shonandai. The Tokyu Shin-Yokohama Line runs north from Platforms 3 and 4 with services bound for Shin-Tsunashima and Hiyoshi and through services bound for Shibuya, Ikebukuro and Meguro.

Signs at this station are color-coded blue for Sotetsu and pink for Tokyu and departure information is given in both English and Japanese.

Facilities at Shin-Yokohama Station

The Shin-Yokohama Station building also contains the Cubic Plaza shopping center, which contains branches of the Bic Camera electronics store, Loft and Uniqlo lifestyle stores, and Gu clothing store. A variety of restaurants serving Japanese and international cuisine can be found on the 9th and 10th floors.

Hotel Associa Shin-Yokohama is a luxury hotel located on the upper floors of the building and its reception desk can be found on the 10th floor. In addition to comfortably furnished rooms this hotel has a lounge, fitness room, and self-service laundry. There is also a currency exchange machine beside the reception desk of this hotel.

A JP Bank ATM machine can be found on the north-west corner of the station’s main concourse on the 2nd floor. There is also a Railway Police Office and a Lost & Found Office in the passageway that leads between the north and south sides of the station.

Also on the main concourse, just across from the East Entrance gates for the Tokaido Shinkansen, there is a Tourist Information Office. This office also has a baggage storage service. For details of that and where to find lockers at this station please see our article: Lockers and Baggage Storage at Shin-Yokohama Station.

Shin-Yokohama Station is also a short walk from Yokohama Arena and the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum.

Article and original photos by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.