Collecting ink stamps has long been popular with both kids and adults alike in Japan but I always thought they were mainly just for promoting upcoming events on a temporary basis. Whilst that is very true, I never realised there were permanent stamping posts at many stations around Japan and they can make a nice, unique, personal souvenir of anyone’s time at that location.

Having done a few Star Wars stamp rallies in Tokyo and Yokohama over the last decade or so I am certainly no stranger to such events in Japan. However, I didn’t realise there were so many devoted fans of these stamp rallies who put them in special books or collate them carefully on a big sheet of paper. Some people even bring their own inkpads as some of those provided may be dry.

It seems this Yamanote Line one is quite popular with some tourists who even devote one whole day of their precious time in Japan to do this. I wasn’t really too aware of this until a few years ago and had no real desire to ever do it but over time my attitude changed thanks to seeing a random Facebook community page dedicated to this hobby. My first thought was to cycle round the line getting the ink stamps at the 30 locations. However, I’ve ridden around it twice already now (once in each direction!) so decided against that.

The next idea involved a glorified dog walk on a Sunday each month. The complete circling of the line in advancing numerical order (anticlockwise starting at Tokyo station or JY01 if you’re that way inclined!) was broken down into the following five parts.

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

Those walks included a few sights of sorts along the way as well as selfies with my dog at each station. However, there was one more thing which I did at each station along the line and if you’re following closely, you’ll have worked out that that was getting an eki (station) stamp at the 30 stops.

Not the best presentation but that’s the complete collection of 30 ink stamps

Some stations do actually provide special papers to be stamped. I do wish every station provided them as I’d prefer to collate them in this form. Many people have special notebooks for their collection of stamps and for the more modern person it is possible to scan the QR code at each stamping post and collect them online.

These are the locations of each stamping post for the 30 JR Yamanote Line stations. They are all located outside the ticket gates so if doing it by train then a commuter day-pass is essential. These fairly small plinth-like tables can be quite difficult to find, especially in the busy stations where many people congregate and maybe block the view. Please note that the stamping posts do occasionally move, especially when other stamp rallies have campaigns.

JY01 Tokyo -Marunouchi South Exit

Jy02 Kanda – South Exit

JY03 Akihabara – Central Exit

JY04 Okachimachi – North Exit

JY05 Ueno – Central Exit

Jy06 Uguisudani – South Exit

JY07 Nippori – North Exit

JY08 Nishi-Nippori – North Exit

JY09 Tabata – North Exit

JY10 Komagome – North Exit

JY11 Sugamo – South Exit

JY12 Otsuka – Main Exit

JY13 Ikebukuro – South Exit

JY14 Mejiro – Main Exit

JY15 Takadanobaba – Waseda Exit

JY16 Shin-Okubo – Main Exit

JY17 Shinjuku – East Gate B1F inside the JR Ticket Office (Midori no Madoguchi)

JY18 Yoyogi – West Exit

JY19 Harajuku – Omotesando Exit

JY20 Shibuya – South Exit

JY21 Ebisu – West Exit

JY22 Meguro – Central Exit

JY23 Gotanda – Central Exit

JY24 Osaki – North Exit

JY25 Shinagawa – Central Exit inside the JR Ticket Office (Midori no Madoguchi)

JY26 Takanawa Gateway – South Exit

JY27 Tamachi – North Exit

JY28 Hamamatsucho – South Exit

Jy29 Shimbashi – South Exit

JY30 Yurakucho – Ginza Exit

As a long-term resident of Tokyo, I often roll my eyes whenever I see various influencers posting about something I chronicled many years ago. However, there are occasionally a few things I’ve been unaware of and this stamp rally at each station on the iconic train line was one of them.

Click here to read ‘Doing the Star Wars Tokyo Metro Stamp Rally in One Day……by Bicycle!’

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

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

Click here to read ‘The Complete Tour of Katakana-Named Stations in Tokyo’