Think of train stations in Japan and the mighty Shinjuku station is sure to come to mind for many people. That is the world’s busiest train station, and Japan monopolises the top 50 list with only five of them not in this country. However, at the other end of the scale are some tiny stations which are usually unstaffed and used by very few commuters.

Station: Daishimae (TS51)

Prefecture: Tokyo

Line(s): Tobu Daishi Line

Average No. of Daily Passengers: 13,613

The last station in this series featured Kamakurakōkōmae in Kanagawa Prefecture which I thought to be anything but tiny. When I was promoting the post on social media I, without any real thought or research, said that it may be the busiest unstaffed station in Japan. It seems I was wrong and that there was a much busier one closer to home. Three times busier! That’ll teach me to make such throwaway comments without checking facts! Thank you @Networker_365!

Admittedly, I had never heard of Daishimae but I must’ve been quite close to it when I was cycling around the Adachi area hunting down every Inari Shrine a couple of years ago. 18 months on and it was time for a bike ride back to the area north of the Arakawa River to see Japan’s busiest unstaffed station.

This line, which opened in December 1931, was originally intended to link the Tobu Isesaki and Tobu Tojo lines but it never came to fruition due to various reasons as a consequence of the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 such as priority and costs. As a result, it remains as a short two-station line that runs for just one kilometre (0.62 miles) to Nishiarai which is the other station on the line.

The construction may be (partly) in place for them but there are no automatic ticket gates installed so you can just walk in and look around this station. Not only that but there aren’t even any ticket machines!

The single terminating side platform serving the sole track is unbelievably wide and spacious.

It really did give me the feeling of a hangar or maybe that was just because I had only re-watched ‘Top Gun Maverick‘ (2022) a few days before making this trip and so had such things on the brain!

I didn’t ride on the train myself but know that the fare has to be paid via cash or IC Card at the transfer walkway at Nishiarai Station.

I never thought there would be an unstaffed station in any of Tokyo’s 23 wards but the uniqueness of having just two stops on the Tobu Daishi Line allows for such a sizable station to save on labour costs.

Click on the following links for previous ‘Unstaffed Stations of Japan’ posts…

1. Kamiyagi   #2. Funamachi   #3. Inazusa   #4. Yodo   #5. Nebukawa   #6. Miyamae   #7. Arao   #8. Higashi-Abiko   #9. Nukazawa   #10. Shin Shibaura   #11. Kubiki   #12. Kamakurakōkōmae