History
Ōtsuka Station (JY 12) is a Yamanote Line station in Minami-Ōtsuka 3-chōme, Toshima, Tokyo, opened on 1 April 1903 as part of Japan Railway's Toshima Line (the future Yamanote Line) and nationalised on 1 November 1906. The neighbouring Toden Arakawa Line stop Ōtsuka-eki-mae (SA 23) traces back to 1911 as the Ōji Electric Tramway's southern terminus, and was given its current name on 5 April 1913 when the Tokyo City Tram Ōtsuka Line was extended. Freight handling ended on 1 October 1974 and JR East took over the JR side on 1 April 1987; both south- and north-side automatic ticket gates opened in 1990, and the wooden Showa-era station buildings were demolished in 2009 ahead of the 2013 commercial complex 'Atre Vie Ōtsuka'.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-25.
Notes
Although the station gives Ōtsuka its name, the area was originally called Sugamo — the locality only became 'Ōtsuka' after the station's 1903 opening, with the 1969 residential-address reform formalising 'Kita-Ōtsuka' and 'Minami-Ōtsuka' to match.