JR Shonan-Shinjuku Line Services Bound for Shibuya, Shinjuku and Utsunomiya

JR Shonan-Shinjuku Line services at Kamakura Station are through services that run to and from three destinations on the JR Utsunomiya Line: Koga Station in Ibaraki Prefecture, and Koganei Station and Utsunomiya Station in Tochigi Prefecture.

These services provide a useful connection between Kamakura and several key destinations in Tokyo because they all travel via Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro.

JR Shonan-Shinjuku Line local and rapid services exit and enter the Yokosuka Line at Nishi-Oi Station, and stop at all the stations on the Yokosuka Line between Nishi-Oi and Zushi. For information on stops along the Yokosuka Line please see our Yokosuka Line article.

Below are the details of the stops between Nishi-Oi and Utsunomiya.

Nishi-Oi to Utsunomiya

After Nishi-Oi Station, rapid and local services bound for Utsunomiya run along the Yamanote Freight Line between Osaki and Ikebukuro, and then the Utsunomiya Line between Akabane and Utsunomiya. Below are the stations along the route from Nishi-Oi to Utsunomiya. Local services stop at all stations listed below while rapid services do not stop at the stations which are in brackets: ().

Nishi-Oi > Osaki > Ebisu > Shibuya > Shinjuku > Ikebukuro > Akabane > Urawa > Omiya > (Toro) > Higashi-Omiya > Hasuda > (Shiraoka) > (Shin-Shiraoka) > Kuki > (Higashi-Washinomiya) > (Kurihashi) > Koga > (Nogi) > (Mamada) > Oyama > Koganei > Jichi Medical University > Ishibashi > Suzumenomiya > Utsunomiya

The key destinations are listed below with example fares and journey times given from Kamakura Station.

Key Destinations

Ebisu Station

The main attraction in this area is Ebisu Garden Place, a commercial complex featuring shops, restaurants, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum and Yebisu Brewery Tokyo — a small brewery and museum. The complex is directly connected to Ebisu Station by the Sky Walker, a covered conveyor belt.

Transfers can be made here to JR’s Yamanote Line, Saikyo Line and Hibiya Line.

Shibuya Station

Shibuya is a colorful shopping and entertainment area famous for its youth fashion and neon lights. Outside Shibuya Station’s Hachiko Exit you will find the Shibuya Scramble Crossing, a giant pedestrian crossing overlooked by tower blocks and giant video screens. Nearby is Hachiko Square,a popular meeting spot where you can find the bronze statue of Hachiko, the loyal dog who waited at the station everyday for his master — even after his master had passed away. There are many department stores in this area, but probably the best known is the fashion hotspot Shibuya 109 which is easily identified by its cylindrical shape. Key streets here are the pedestrian shopping street Center Gai, and the nightlife hub Dogenzaka, which is famous for its restaurants, bars and clubs.

Transfers can be made at Shibuya Station to JR’s Yamanote Line and Saikyo Line, the Keio Inokashira Line, the Den-en-toshi Line, the Toyoko Line, and Tokyo Metro’s Ginza Line, Hanzomon Line and Fukutoshin Line.

Shinjuku Station

The top attractions in Shinjuku are Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden — a large public landscape garden, the Kabukicho entertainment district, the bars of the Golden Gai and Omoide Yokocho areas, and the views from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Observatories.

Shinjuku Station is a major transportation hub in Tokyo and registered with Guinness World Records as the world’s busiest railway station. Here you can transfer to JR’s Chuo Line, Chuo-Sobu Line, Saikyo Line and Yamanote Line. Private railway lines at Shinjuku Station are the Keio Line, the Keio New Line, the Odakyu Odawara Line and Toei Subway’s Oedo Line and Shinjuku Line. Tokyo Metro’s Marunouchi Line also serves Shinjuku Station.

The New Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal at Shinjuku Station has low-cost highway bus services for destinations across Japan.

Ikebukuro Station

Ikebukuro is a major commercial center and close by the station you can find the Tobu and Seibu department stores, the Bic Camera and Yamada Denki electronics stores, and the Sunshine City complex which includes an aquarium, planetarium, an indoor theme park and the Ancient Orient Museum.

Ikebukuro Station serves the railway lines of JR East, Seibu Railway, Tobu Railway and Tokyo Metro. Here you can transfer to JR’s Saikyo Line and Yamanote Line, the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, the Tobu Tojo Line, and Tokyo Metro’s Marunouchi Line, Fukutoshin Line and Yurakucho Line.

Omiya Station

Attractions in the Omiya area include Hikawa Shrine (which is said to be 2,400 years old), Omiya Railway Museum, Omiya Bonsai Village, the Japan Mint Museum, and Saitama Prefectural Museum of History and Folklore.

Omiya Station is an important transportation hub in the city of Saitama with multiple Shinkansen services bound for destinations in northern Honshu and Hokkaido. Transfers can be made here to JR’s Tohoku Main Line, Takasaki Line, Ueno-Tokyo Line,Keihin-Tohoku Line, Saikyo Line, and Kawagoe Line, Tobu Railway’s Tobu Urban Park Line, and Saitama New Urban Transit’s New Shuttle service.

Utsunomiya Station

Utsunomiya is the capital city of Tochigi Prefecture and has a large number of cultural attractions.

Oyaji is an ancient cave temple built into volcanic rock with several statues carved out of rock. The temple also has a small museum that exhibits items dating back to the Jomon period (1000–300 BCE). Accessible by bus or taxi the temple and museum are a 30 minute drive from the station.

Futaarayama Jinja is a large shrine complex with a history dating back 1,600 years. Visitors pray here for protection against fire. The shrine is a 20 minute walk from the station.

Utsunomiya Castle is a partially reconstructed castle in Utsunomiya Castle Ruins Park. The original castle was much bigger and dated back to 1063. The current partial reconstruction is free to view and a 20 minute walk from the station.

Utsunomiya Museum of Art exhibits works by international artists such as Chagall, Kandinsky, Magritte, and paintings by Japanese artists such as Nakamura Tsune and Kuroda Seiki. The museum is a 25 minute bus ride or a 20 minute taxi ride from Utsunomiya Station.

Utsunomiya is also famous for its gyoza fried dumplings, and has a large number of specialty restaurants serving gyoza dumplings with various fillings. There is a large gyoza-shaped statue outside Utsunomiya Station, and a gyoza festival is held every year on the first weekend of November in Castle Ruins Park.

Transfer here to the Tohoku Shinkansen, and JR’s Tohoku Main Line, Nikko Line and Karasuyama Line.

Useful Links

To plan your journey via the Yokosuka Line use an English language route finder like Jorudan’s Japan Transit Planner. JR East has a PDF route map of their railway network in which the Yokosuka Line is numbered 2 and colored dark blue and the Shonan-Shinjuku Line is numbered 3 and colored red. Current timetables for all services from Kamakura Station can be found on JR East’s English-language website.

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Article and original photos by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved. Last updated 28-Sept-2025.