Needing some original Sunday morning dog walking ideas, my wife and I decided to walk round the famous green train line which passes through most of Tokyo’s urban centres in a loop. I should point out that our little six-year-old chihuahua would do a mix of walking and being carried either in my arms or in his backpack.

The 35-kilometre route for the whole Yamanote line was broken down into five parts. The 1st part consisted of a walk between Tokyo station (JY01) and Nishi-Nippori (JY08). This is Part 2 which began back at Nishi-Nippori in order to fully navigate the line on foot.

Date: Sunday 7th December 2025

Starting Point: Nishi-Nippori (JY08)

End Point: Ikebukuro (JY13)

Duration: 3.5 hours

Approximate Distance: 6 km

On paper, this looked like the easiest and quickest of the five walks but it still ended up taking us 3.5 hours (just 30 minutes less than Part 1). This venture is not really about seeing a load of sights on the way as it is basically a glorified dog walk! That’s lucky I guess as there weren’t too many things to see this time.

The first highlight was not until we approached Komagome station where there is a giant golf ball next to Dai-ni Nakazoto Crossing, the only level crossing on the Yamanote Line.

Light Golf Shop

Next up was a toilet! Yes, you read that correctly! I’ve actually featured this cool-looking toilet block design on Tokyo Fox before in a best public toilet designs compilation post. It’s called Toshima Kuritsu Nishisugamo Nichome Park and urine for a treat should you ever go there!

This Green Lawson convenience store isn’t too far away from Otsuka station. It has been around for quite a few years now and is an experimental convenience store for the future. The first time I went in there I had my headphones in and did not realise a remote-working staff member was talking to me through the video screen at the checkout. No such mistakes this time as I didn’t bother getting anything!

As we walked from Otsuka onto our destination of Ikebukuro, we came across a fairly unique vending machine selling some homegrown drinks and a snack or two. The cola was a small can but one I’d never seen before so couldn’t resist such a purchase. It had a gentle fruity taste with a hint of lemon and shikukwasa which is an Okinawan specialty green-coloured citrus.

The next instalment will begin back at Ikebukuro station to ensure the whole loop is walked in its entirety and that will appear here soon.

Click here to read ‘Circling Tokyo’s Iconic Yamanote Line on Foot! (Part 1)’

Click here to read ‘Cycling Round the Yamanote Line in the Opposite Direction To 12 Years Ago!’

Click here to read ‘Cycling the Yamanote Line (2009)’ 

Click here to read ‘#WeStopAtNothing! Platform Zeros in Japan, Z Stations in Tokyo & The Opening of a New Yamanote Line Station’