Japan’s coolest station names

Today’s ranking looks at the coolest station names in Japan. I’ll present the kanji characters, the English transliteration, and a short translation of explanation of the name.

Note that the two Disneyland monorail stations have names “station station” – the first is English to be cool, then eki, the Japanese for station.

I’ve lived beside two of the cool names below, and in the same town as a third, but my current local station might feature in a cutest list!

Here’s Bishamon station versus Bishamon himself – you choose which is cooler:

Ranking result

Rank	Station	English	Description	Votes
1	竜王駅	Ryuo station	Dragon king	64
2	毘沙門駅	Bishamon station	Buddhist war god	63
3	九頭竜湖駅	Kuzuryuko station	Nine-headed dragon lake	57
4	龍王峡駅	Ryuokyo station	Dragon king gorge	51
4	虎ノ門駅	Toranomon station	Tiger’s gate	51
6	神楽坂駅	Kagurazaka station	Entertaining the gods slope	45
6	天空橋駅	Tenkubashi station	Heavenly bridge	45
8	嵐電天神川駅	Randen Tenjingawa station	Heavenly gods river (Randen is the rail company name, but can be translated as the rather cool “Storm electric”)	41
9	四天王寺前夕陽ケ丘駅	Shitennojimae Yuhigaoka station	Sunset hill in front of four kings of heaven temple	40
10	天竜川駅	Tenryugawa station	Heavenly dragon River	39
10	雲雀丘花屋敷駅	Hibarigaoka Hanayashiki station	Skylark hill and flower mansion	39
12	天橋立駅	Amanohashidate station	Heavenly bridge	38
12	天神駅	Tenjin station	Gods of heaven	38
14	豪徳寺駅	Gotokuji station	Powerful virtue temple	37
14	竜舞駅	Ryumai station	Dragon dance	37
16	天王寺駅	Tennoji station	Heavenly kings temple	36
16	倶利伽羅駅	Kurikara station	Name of a dragon king	36
16	金剛駅	Kongo station	Adamantine	36
19	祇園四条駅	Gion-Shijo Station	Geisha area in Kyoto-fourth station	35
20	聖蹟桜ヶ丘駅	Seiseki-sakuragaoka Station	Holy site cherry-blossom hill	34
20	海神駅	Kaijin station	Sea god	34
20	強羅駅	Gora station	Might be “rocky world”, from Sanskrit	34
20	宮本武蔵駅	Miyamoto Musashi station	Famous samurai	34
24	海王丸駅	Kaioumaru station	Sea king	33
24	虎姫駅	Torahime station	Tiger princess	33
24	五百羅漢駅	Gohyakurakan station	500 arhat (worthy ones)	33
24	リゾートゲートウェイ・ステーション駅	Resort Gateway Station station	Disneyland monorail station	33
28	有栖川駅	Arisugawa station	Ex-royal dynasty name	30
28	神宮寺駅	Jinguji station	Shrine and temple	30
30	伏見稲荷駅	Fushimi Inari station	Famous fox shrine name	29
30	ベイサイド・ステーション駅	Bayside Station station	Another Disneyland station	29
30	海の王迎駅	Umi-no-Omukae station	Meet the sea king	29
33	竜ヶ崎駅	Ryugasaki station	Dragon headland	28
33	天王洲アイル駅	Tennozu Isle station	Heavenly king sandbank isle	28
33	長久手古戦場駅。ながくてこせんじょう駅愛知県	Nagakute Kosenjo station	Nagakute old battlefield	28
36	鬼越駅	Onigoe station	Surpass the demon	27
37	御嶽山駅	Ontakesan station	Sacred grove mountain	26
38	将軍山駅	Shogunzan station	Shogun mountain	25
38	恵比寿駅	Ebisu station	God of wealth	25
38	大釈迦駅	Daishaka station	Great Buddha	25
38	畝傍御陵前駅	Unebigoryo-mae station	In front of the tomb of Emperor Jimmu	25
42	宝塚駅	Takarazuka station	Treasure hill	24
43	ユニバーサルシティ駅	Universal City station	Universal Studios Japan access	23
43	神武寺駅	Jimmuji station	Emperor Jimmu temple	23
43	東京テレポート駅	Tokyo Teleport station	Tele for rapid communication like telephone and television, and port as in harbour.	23
46	神城駅	Kamishiro station	Castle of the gods	22
47	武蔵大和駅	Musashi Yamato station	Famous samurai and ancient name for Japan	21
48	ハーバーランド駅	Harborland station	Land at Kobe harbour	19
48	スペースワールド駅	Space World station	Near the now shut Space World theme park	19
48	とうきょうスカイツリー駅	Tokyo Skytree station	By Skytree	19
48	品川シーサイド駅	Shinagawa Seaside station	In Shinagawa ward, by the sea	19
52	コスモスクエア駅	Cosmosquare station		18
53	覚王山駅	Kakuozan station	One of the names of Buddha mountain	16
53	スクリーン駅	Screen station	By factory named Screen	16
53	厄神駅	Yakujin station	God of pestilence	16
56	大和西大寺駅	Yamato-Saidaiji station	Yamato west great temple	15
56	白金高輪駅	Shirokane Takanawa station	White gold Takanawa (place name)	15
56	王子駅	Oji station	Prince	15
56	門戸厄神駅	Mondoyakujin Station	Door to the god of pestilence	15
60	神領駅	Jinryo station	Territory of the gods	14
60	ウッディタウン中央駅	Woody Town Chuo station	Woody Town central	14
60	龍岡城駅	Tatsuokajo station	Dragon hill castle	14
60	溜池山王駅	Tameike Sanno station	Reservoir mountain god	14
64	八王子駅	Hachioji station	Eight princes	11
64	長者ヶ浜潮騒はまなす公園前駅	Chojagahama Shiosai Hamanasu Koenmae station	Long and cool name	11
66	高輪ゲートウェイ駅	Takanawa Gateway station	Gateway in English is cool	10
67	千歳烏山駅	Chitosekarasuyama station	Thousand year bird mountain	8
67	宗吾参道駅	Sogosando station	Legendary farmer Sogo shrine approach	8

Demographics

On the 30th of July 2020 500 members of the Freeasy monitor group aged between 20 and 49 years old completed a private internet-based questionnaire. No further demographics were given.