Kyoto Station (京都駅, Kyōto-eki) is a major railway station and transportation hub in Kyoto, Japan. It has Japan's second-largest station building (after Nagoya Station) and is one of the country's largest buildings, incorporating a shopping mall, hotel, movie theater, Isetan department store, and several local government facilities under one 15-story roof. It also housed the Kyoto City Air Terminal until August 31, 2002.
Kyoto Station is served by the following railway lines:
Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central)
Tokaido Shinkansen
West Japan Railway Company (JR West)
Tokaido Main Line (Biwako Line and JR Kyoto Line)
Sanin Main Line (Sagano Line)
Nara Line
Kintetsu Railway
Kyoto Line
Kyoto Municipal Subway
Karasuma Line
In addition to the lines above, the following lines, among others, have through services to Kyoto Station:
JR West
Kosei Line
Kusatsu Line
The station has a side platform and four island platforms serving eight tracks for the Tokaido Line (Biwako Line, JR Kyoto Line) and Kosei Line at ground level, three dead-end platforms serving four tracks for the Sanin Line (Sagano Line) to the west of platform 0 at ground level, and two dead-end platforms serving 3 tracks to the south of platform 7 at ground level. Two island platforms serving four tracks for the Shinkansen are elevated, above the platforms for the Kintetsu Kyoto Line.
for the Hokuriku Line
limited express Thunderbird: Osaka - Kanazawa, Wakura Onsen
for the Tokaido Line, the Chūō Line, and the Takayama Line
limited express Shinano: Osaka - Nagano
limited express Hida: Osaka - Takayama
limited express Biwako Express: Osaka - Maibara
for the Sanin region via the Chizu Express Chizu Line
limited express Super Hakuto: Kyoto - Tottori, Kurayoshi
for the Hanwa Line, Kansai Airport Line and the Kinokuni Line
Kansai Airport limited express Haruka: Maibara, Kyoto - Kansai Airport
limited express Kuroshio: Kyoto, Shin-Osaka - Shirahama, Shingu
for the Sanin Line, the Maizuru Line and the Kitakinki Tango Railway lines
limited express Kinosaki: Kyoto - Fukuchiyama, Toyooka, Kinosaki Onsen
limited express Hashidate: Kyoto - Miyazu, Amanohashidate, Toyooka
limited express Maizuru: Kyoto - Higashi-Maizuru
The station has three levels. Four dead-end platforms serving four tracks are located on the second floor. The 1st floor is a shopping street and the 3rd is the platforms for the Shinkansen (JR Central).
The station consists of one underground island platform serving two tracks.
The governmental railway from Kobe reached Kyoto on September 5, 1876, but the station was under construction and a temporary facility called Ōmiya-dōri (Ōmiya Street) Temporary Station was used until the opening of the main station. The first Kyoto Station opened for service by decree of Emperor Meiji on February 5, 1877.
In 1889, the railway became a part of the trunk line to Tokyo (Tokaido Main Line). Subsequently, the station became the terminal of two private railways, Nara Railway (1895, present-day Nara Line) and Kyoto Railway (1897, present-day Sagano Line), that connected the station with southern and northern regions of Kyoto Prefecture, respectively.
The station was replaced by a newer, Renaissance-inspired facility in 1914, which featured a broad square (the site of demolished first station) leading from the station to Shichijō Avenue. Before and during World War II, the square was often used by imperial motorcades when Emperor Showa traveled between Kyoto and Tokyo. The station was spacious and designed to handle a large number of people, but when a few thousand people gathered to bid farewell to naval recruits on January 8, 1934, 77 people were crushed to death. This station burned to the ground in 1950, and was replaced by a more utilitarian concrete facility in 1952.
The current Kyoto Station opened in 1997, commemorating Kyoto's 1,200th anniversary. It is 70 meters high and 470 meters from east to west, with a total floor area of 238,000 square meters. Architecturally, it exhibits many characteristics of futurism, with a slightly irregular cubic façade of plate glass over a steel frame. The architect was Hiroshi Hara.
Kyoto, one of the least modern cities in Japan by virtue of its many cultural heritage sites, was largely reluctant to accept such an ambitious structure in the mid-1990s: The station's completion began a wave of new high-rise developments in the city that culminated in the 20-story Kyocera Building.
Aside from the main building on the north side of the station, the Hachijō-guchi building on the south side was built to house Tokaido Shinkansen which started operation in 1964. The underground facilities of the station, including the shopping mall Porta beneath the station square, were constructed when the subway opened in 1981.
Shichijō Station (Keihan Main Line)
Kyoto Station Building
JR Kyoto Isetan
Kyoto Station Shopping street "The Cube"
Hotel Granvia Kyoto
Kyoto Gekijo
Museum of Art "Eki" Kyoto
Kyoto Station Underground Mall "Porta"
Kyoto-Yodobashi
Hotel New Hankyu Kyoto
Kyoto Tower
Higashi Hongan-ji
Shimogyo-ku General Building
Campus Plaza Kyoto
Kyoto Central Post Office
Omron
Kyoto Bus Station
Bic Camera JR Kyoto Station (JR Kyoto Station NK Building)
Hotel Kintetsu Kyoto Station
Kyoto Avanti
Hotel Keihan Kyoto
Sightseeing Bus Terminal
Expressway Bus Terminal
New Miyako Hotel
To-ji
ÆON Mall Kyoto
PHP Institute
Karasuma Gate Bus Terminal
Dream / Hiru Tokkyu; For Shinjuku Station and Tokyo Station
Harbor Light; For Hon-Atsugi Station, Machida Station, and Yokohama Station
Dream Saitama; For Tachikawa Station, Higashi-Yamatoshi Station, Tokorozawa Station, and Ōmiya Station (Saitama)
Keihanshin Dream Shizuoka; For Hamamatsu Station, Kakegawa Station, Yaizu, and Shizuoka Station
Meishin Highway Bus; For Yōkaichi, Taga, Ōgaki, and Nagoya Station
Hokurikudo Hiru Tokkyu Osaka / Hokuriku Dream Osaka; For Fukui, Komatsu, Kanazawa Station and Toyama Station
Seishun Dream Shinshu; For Nagano Station, Sakaki, Ueda Station, Tōmi, and Sakudaira Station
Wakasa Maizuru Express Kyoto; For Nishi-Maizuru Station, Higashi-Maizuru Station, and Obama Station
For Miyazu Station, Amanohashidate Station, Amino Station, and Taiza
Tsuyama Express Kyoto; For Katō, Kasai, Shisō, Mimasaka, Shōō, and Tsuyama Station
Miyako Liner; For Fukuyama Station and Onomichi Station
Kyoto Express; For Akaiwa, Okayama Station, and Kurashiki Station
Sanyodo Hiru Tokkyu Hiroshima / Seishun Dream Hiroshima; For Hiroshima University, Nakasuji Station, Hiroshima Bus Center, and Hiroshima Station
Awa Express Kyoto; For Naruto, Matsushige, and Tokushima Station
Takamatsu Express Kyoto; For Higashikagawa, Sanuki, Miki, and Takamatsu Station (Kagawa)
Kochi Express; For Kōchi Station, Harimayabashi Station, Kōchi University, and Susaki Station
Izumo no Okuni / Izumo Express Kyoto; For Matsue Station, Shinji, and Izumoshi Station
Tottori Express Kyoto; For Chizu and Tottori Station
Yonago Express Kyoto; For Yonago Station
Hotel New Hankyu Kyoto bus stop
Alpen Nagano; For Omi, Chikuma, and Nagano Station
Alpen Matsumoto; For Okaya Station, Shiojiri, and Matsumoto Bus Terminal(Matsumoto Station)
Alpen Suwa; For Okaya Station, Kami-Suwa Station, and Chino Station
Sawayaka Shinshu; For Kamikōchi
Okesa; For Sanjō-Tsubame, Katahigashi, and Nigata Station
For Tonami Station, and Toyama Station
Kyoto Osaka Liner; For Yoshida, Yaizu, Shin-Shizuoka Station, and Shimizu Station
Hotel Keihan Kyoto bus stops
Airport Limousine; For Kansai International Airport
Airport Limousine; For Osaka International Airport
Tokyo Midnight Express Kyoto; For Shibuya Station and Shinjuku Station
For Keisei Ueno Station, Asakusa(Kaminarimon), Tokyo Skytree, Nishi-Funabashi Station, Tokyo Disney Resort, Kaihin-Makuhari Station, Chiba Station and Kamatori Station
Moonlight; For Kokura Station, Hakata Station, and Nishitetsu Fukuoka (Tenjin) Station
For Tsuchiyama and Kintetsu Yokkaichi Station
For Tsuchiyama, Seki, and Tsu Station
Kyoto Express; For Kawauchi I.C., Okaido Station, and Matsuyama City Station
For Kōchi Station, and Harimayabashi Station
Hachijo-Dori Street north side (Kintetsu Bus)
Arcadia; For KaminoyamaYandamagata Station
Forest; For Sendai Station (Miyagi)
Galaxy; For Nishigō, Sukagawa, Kōriyama Station, Nihonmatsu, and Fukushima Station
Tochinoki; For Kuki Station, Tochigi Station, Kanuma, and Utsunomiya Station
Seagull; For Hitachi, Takahagi Station, Isohara Station, and Iwaki Station
Yokappe; For Tsukuba Station, Tsuchiura Station, Ishioka, and Mito Station
Flying Liner; For Yokohama Station, Tokyo Station, Ueno Station, and Asakusa Station
Fujiyama Liner; For Higashi-Shizuoka Station, Fuji Station, Fujinomiya Station, Taiseki-ji, Fuji-Q Highland, Kawaguchiko Station and Fujisan Station
Kintaro; For Shin-Fuji Station, Numazu Station, Mishima Station, Gotemba Station, Shin-Matsuda Station, and Odawara Station
Crystal Liner; For Hokuto, Nirasaki Station, Ryūō Station, and Kōfu Station
Chikumagawa Liner; For Chikuma, Sakaki, Ueda Station, Tōmi, Sakudaira Station, and Karuizawa Station
West Liner; For Gujō and Takayama Station
Karst; For Ōtake, Iwakuni, Shūnan, Tokuyama Station, Hōfu Station, Yamaguchi, Mitō, and Hagi
Shimanto Blue Liner; For Kubokawa Station, Tosa-Saga Station, Nakamura Station, and Sukumo Station
Holland; For Ōmura, Isahaya, Nagasaki Station, and Nagasaki Shinchi Terminal
Sunrise / Aso☆Kuma; For Kumamoto Bus Terminal and Kumamoto Station
Ohisama; For Ebino, Kobayashi, Miyakonojō, and Miyazaki Station
Hachijo-Dori Street south side (Kintetsu Bus and Nankai Bus)
This bus stop is in front of Nippon Rent-A- Car Kyoto Station East Exit Office.
Silk Liner; For Saitama-Shintoshin Station, Ashikagashi Station, Ōta Station, Kiryū Station, Isesaki Station, Takasaki Station, and Maebashi Station
Southern Cross; For Akihabara Station, Yotsukaidō Station, Tomisato, Keisei Narita Station, Narita International Airport, Sawara Station, and Chōshi Station
Dream Wakayama; For Shinjuku Station, Tokyo Station, and Shin-Kiba Station
Let's Go; For Hashimoto Station, Akishima Station, Tachikawa Station, and Tamagawa-Jōsui Station
Southern Cross; For Odawara Station, Fujisawa Station, Kamakura Station, Ōfuna Station, and Totsuka Station
Southern Cross; For Nagano Station, Suzaka Station, Shinshu-Nakano Station, Iiyama Station, and Yudanaka Station
Southern Cross; For Kashiwazaki Station, Nagaoka Station, and Higashi-Sanjō Station
Honokuni; For Toyokawa Station and Toyohashi Station
For Yao Station and Kyūhōji Station
Shirahama Blue Sky; For Inami, Haya Station, Kii-Tanabe Station, and Shirahama
SORIN; For Nakatsu Station, Usa, Beppu, and Ōita Station
Hachijo-Dori Street south side (Osaka Bus)
Kyoto Tokkyu New Star; For Nagata Station and Fuse Station
Tokyo Tokkyu New Star; For Tokyo Station, Akihabara Station, and Ōji Station
