Tobu Asakusa Station Orientation & Facilities

Tobu Asakusa Station is a station on the Tobu Skytree Line located in Tokyo’s Asakusa district. This station has Tobu Skytree Line services bound for Tokyo Skytree, Higashi-Mukojima, Kita-Senju, and Tobu-Dobutsu-Koen. There are also limited express services bound for Nikko, Kinugawa Onsen, Aizu, and other destinations in Chiba, Gunma, and Tochigi prefectures.

Location

Tobu Asakusa Station is housed in an elegant Neo-Renaissance building located at the intersection of Umamichi-dori Street and Edo-dori Avenue. The station building also houses the Ekimise shopping complex. The station occupies part of the 1st floor at the front and back of the building and the entirety of the 2nd floor. There are four stations called “Asakusa Station” in Asakusa, but the Tobu station is the only one that is above ground. It is however, connected to the nearby Tokyo Metro, and Toei stations by underground passageways. TX Asakusa Station on the Tsukuba Express Line is located about 600 meters further west or an 8 minute walk away. Tobu Asakusa Station is also very convenient for Asakusa’s main sightseeing area and the Kaminarimon Gate is just a 3 minute walk away from the front of the station.

The Station Layout

Tobu Asakusa Station can be entered from the front or back of the Ekimise building. The Main Entrance is at the front of the building. Inside the Main Entrance you will find ticket machines, ticket counters, and stairs and escalators leading up to the Main Ticket Gates.

There are information screens over the stairs showing the latest train departure times.

This station has two sets of ticket gates. The Main Gate is on the 2nd floor and can be accessed from the front of the building.

The North Gate is at the back of the building on the 1st floor.

Buying Tickets

There are automatic ticket machines beside each ticket gate, and also on the 1st floor inside the Main Entrance.

There are also ticket counters on the 1st floor inside the Main Entrance.

Ticket machines are operated by touch screens and are easy to use. Press the blue language button at the top right to change the on screen language to English.

Fare tables above the ticket machines are written in Japanese and English.

Platforms

Tobu Asakusa Station has five platforms. However, Platform 5 is currently not in use and is closed to entry.

Regular services on the Tobu Skytree Line depart from Platforms 1 and 2. These services include local trains, section semi express trains, semi express trains, section express trains, and express trains.

Limited Express services depart from Platforms 3 and 4. There is a counter at the entrance to Platforms 3 and 4 where you should show your limited express ticket before entering the platform and boarding your train.

The following Limited Express services depart from these platforms:

• Revaty Services for Nikko, Aizu, and Tatebayashi
• The Spacia Kegon and the Kirifuri for Nikko
• The Spacia Kinu for Tobu World Square & Kinugawa Onsen
• The Ryomo for Tatebayashi, Ota, Akagi, Kuzu, and Isesaki
• The Shimotsuke for Tobu Utsunomiya
• The Urban Park Liner for Omiya, Noda, and Unga
• The Skytree Liner for Tokyo Skytree and Kasukabe

Facilities

Tobu Asakusa Station has a number of useful facilities for tourists and travelers.

Inside the Main Entrance on the 1st floor you will find a Tourist Information Center. Here you can pick up free tourist maps and brochures, ask for directions, and also ask about travel plans on the Tobu Railway network. The staff here speak Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, and Thai. Because this information center is operated by the Tobu Railway company, the staff will be happy to offer assistance with the purchase of Tobu rail tickets, limited express tickets, and travel passes. They can also offer sightseeing advice on other Tobu Railway network destinations such as Tokyo Skytree Town, Nikko, and Kinugawa Onsen.

The Tobu Tourist Information Center is open every day from 7.20 to 19.00.

There is a 7-bank ATM in the ticket sales area on the 1st floor at the front of the station building. 7-bank ATMs have English guidance and are easy to use. They accept Visa, Plus, MasterCard, Maestro, Cirrus, UnionPay, American Express, JCB, Discover, and Diners Club International.

Tobu passengers also have immediate access to the shopping, dining, and other facilities of the Ekimise shopping center. There is a currency exchange machine on the 1st floor of this shopping center, which can be found on the east side of the building by the East Central Exit. Restaurants can be found on the the 7th floor. More restaurants and shops can be found in the underground passageways that connect the Tobu and Tokyo Metro stations.

If you need help from the police, there is a police box which is a two minute walk from the front of the station on the east side of Edo-dori Avenue. Here is a map showing its location.

Connections

Transferring from Tobu Asakusa Station to the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line is very simple. Inside the Tobu station building by the 1st floor front entrance there is an entrance leading directly to Tokyo Metro Asakusa Station. Simply go down the stairs, and follow the passage which will take you straight to the Ginza Line’s ticket gates.

It is also possible to transfer to Toei Asakusa Station and the Asakusa Subway Line by underground passageways, but this is more complicated. It is probably easier to walk above ground to the A5 entrance of Toei Asakusa Station, which is just 200 meters away on the west side of Edo-dori Avenue.

There are no passageways connecting the Tobu station with TX Asakusa Station on the Tsukuba Express Line. To reach TX Asakusa Station walk west on Kaminarimon-dori Street and then north on Kokusai-dori Avenue. It should take around 8 minutes.

Buses and Taxis

There are taxi ranks outside Tobu Asakusa Station, and several useful bus services. There are bus stops for Megurin tourist buses on the east side of the station building. Some local Toei bus services run from stops on both the east and west sides of the station building. There are also some highway bus services that depart from a stop near the station’s north exit. For more detailed information about taxi and bus services in Asakusa please see our articles: Taxis in Asakusa and Tourist and City Bus Services in Asakusa.

Lockers & Baggage Storage

Tobu Asakusa Station has some coin lockers on the 2nd floor behind the main stairwell. There is also a baggage storage service on the 1st floor of the Ekimise shopping complex. For more details about baggage storage at this and the other Asakusa stations, please see our article: Lockers & Baggage Storage in Asakusa.

Article and original photos by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.