Namba

History

The Osaka Metro Namba Station's Midōsuji Line platforms (Line 1) opened on 30 October 1935 with the Shinsaibashi-Namba extension. The Yotsubashi Line platforms opened on 1 October 1965 as 'Namba-motomachi Station' with the Nishi-Umeda-Daikokuchō extension of Line 3; signage used the hiragana 'Namba-motomachi'. On 11 March 1970 the Sennichimae Line opened between Sakuragawa and Tanimachi 9-chōme, adding Namba Station - and at the same time, Yotsubashi Line's Namba-motomachi was merged into Namba; signage across the station was unified to hiragana 'なんば'. Station-improvement work began in October 1982. On 15 March 1987, the new Platform 2 was completed on the Midōsuji Line, separating it from Platform 1. The 'ekimo Namba' in-station retail facility opened on 31 October 2013. Movable platform doors were activated on the Sennichimae Line platforms on 11 October 2014, the Midōsuji Line on 5 March 2022, and the Yotsubashi Line on 3 October 2024. With the privatisation of the Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau on 1 April 2018, operations and management transferred to Osaka Metro (Osaka City Subway and Light Rail).

History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-22.

Notes

Osaka Metro Namba's signage uses the hiragana 'なんば駅', as do Nankai's signs - but the formal kanji name '難波駅' appears on tickets. The Midōsuji Line was originally a single island platform; rush-hour crowding became so severe that admission control was needed, prompting the 1987 construction of a separate northbound (Umeda-bound) Platform 2 to the west, with the original island fenced off as southbound-only. Platform 1 is 7.9 m wide, Platform 2 is 9.7 m wide. The Yotsubashi Line platforms are 250-300 m west of the Midōsuji Line and near JR Namba; Sennichimae Line platforms sit beneath Sennichimae-dōri, midway between, but stop closer to the Midōsuji Line side. Namba has 36 exits - the most of any Osaka Metro station. Although close to Kintetsu/Hanshin's Osaka-Namba Station and Nankai's Namba Station, the three are operationally separate stations. A specific rule applies for Kintetsu Keihanna Line connection tickets to the Chūō Line: routing is via Nagata, so direct interchange at Osaka-Namba is not permitted on those tickets.