Sannomiya Station is the main terminal for Kobe and is approximately 2km east of Kōbe Station. At the beginning of the Meiji period commercial and administrative functions were centred around Kobe Station. However, after Kobe opened as a port for foreign trade, and continuing with the post-World War II reconstruction and expansion of commercial areas, as well as moving Kobe City Hall to the Sannomiya area, the district soon became the new city centre.
Even now, Kobe Station is still the representative station of Kobe. For example, in relation to the calculation of Shinkansen fares, the number of operating kilometres to Shin-Kobe Station is calculated as being the same as to Kobe Station (despite Sannomiya Station in fact being the closest station to it). On the other hand, the number of passengers using Sannomiya Station is greater than that of Kobe Station. Also, the Kobe Terminal for highway buses is in front of Sannomiya Station, not Kobe Station. Likewise, there are more limited express trains, including overnight trains, which stop at Sannomiya Station than at Kobe Station.
Station layout
Station placement
Most of the JR Kobe Line runs on four tracks (複々線, Fukufukusen), meaning that there are two tracks for each direction. Similar to other stations such as Nishinomiya Station, Sannomiya Station is of the island type, with two above-ground platforms which service four tracks. The inner tracks, Nos. 2 and 3, are for all-stations "Local" and "Rapid" trains. The outside tracks, Nos. 1 and 4, are used by "Rapid", "Special Rapid", and "Limited express" trains. Freight trains also pass on these tracks.
Tracks 1 and 4 are capable of accommodating a maximum fifteen-car train, while Tracks 2 and 3 are limited to twelve cars.
The distance to the adjacent Motomachi Station is the shortest anywhere on the JR Kobe Line.
All of the lines below, and their representative stations, are adjacent to JR Sannomiya Station, or are in adjoining buildings, or can be accessed by the underground shopping center, Santica (さんちか).
11 May 1874: Passenger service begins between Osaka Station and Kobe Station. At the same time, Sannomiya Station opens for passenger service.
1 May 1918: Freight and cargo services moved to Kōbekō Station, and were no longer handled at Sannomiya Station.
10 October 1931: During the change from ground level platforms to overhead platforms, Sannomiya Station was moved from where the current Motomachi Station is to where the station is now.
Sogo and other large businesses were moving to the area around the current Sannomiya Station. That area was being developed to be the new center of the city, so it was decided that a new station would be built in that area. The new station built was given the name Sannomiya Station. After the relocation, the former station was reopened in 1934 as Motomachi Station.
Historic view of the south side of the station and surroundings, including the former station building (center, 1981–2018), from 2006
1 April 1987 - With the breaking up of Japanese National Railways into separate individual business units, Sannomiya Station began operating under the West Japan Railway Company.
20 February 1995: Service between Nada Station and Kobe Station resumed. At that point, part of the platform directly above Flower Road remained removed, so passengers were able to use only the Central and East Entrances. The West Entrance reopened at the end of June.
March 2018: Station numbering was introduced with Sannomiya being assigned station number JR-A61.[2][3]
In the past, Blue Trains (overnight trains with non-sleeper passenger cars) leaving Tokyo Station would stop at Sannomiya Station. However, the last of the Blue Trains that stopped, the Fuji, was merged with the Hayabusa in the route/time-table revision on March 1, 2005, and no longer stops. During the time that the Fuji did stop at Sannomiya Station, the next stop was Ogōri Station (小郡駅) (present day Shin-Yamaguchi Station).
Etymology
The name of the area, as well as the station's name, originates from Sannomiya Shrine. Until 1931, Sannomiya Station occupied the place where the modern day Motomachi Station has been established. Motomachi Station is now the closest station to Sannomiya Jinja, however, when the new Sannomiya Station was built, the name went with it.
All of the other transportation facilities in Sannomiya are written in Japanese as 三宮, without the Katakana character "ノ". Only JR includes it in the name, written as 三ノ宮駅. It is thought the reason it was included was to prevent people traveling from other parts of the country from misreading the name. The characters of the station's name can be read many different ways. Now, the difference in the name has actually become helpful to travelers.
In similar fashion, when Nishinomiya Station opened on the same day, the character "ノ" was also displayed in that station's name. However, for many years, the city of Nishinomiya requested the name be changed to match the city's name. On 18 March 2007, in coordination with the opening of Sakura Shukugawa Station, the name was changed. However, in the case of Sannomiya Station, while the cost of changing all of the signage in the city would certainly be costly, it remains that there has been no request or demand for the name to be changed.
Golden Bell Plaza
Near the Central Ticket Gate, is a place with golden bells suspended from the ceiling. This area is called the Golden Bell Plaza. Similar to the Silver Bell Meeting Area at Tōkyō Station, the Golden Bell Plaza is intended to be a familiar place to everyone and a convenient place to meet. The bells were a donation from the Kōbe Central Lions Club.
References
↑"移動等円滑化取組報告書（鉄道駅）"(PDF) (in Japanese). JR West. 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
↑"近畿エリアの12路線 のべ300駅に「駅ナンバー」を導入します！"["Station numbers" will be introduced at a total of 300 stations on 12 lines in the Kinki area!]. westjr.co.jp (in Japanese). 20 July 2016. Archived from the original on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
↑"「駅ナンバー」一覧表"["Station number" list](PDF). westjr.co.jp (in Japanese). 20 July 2016. Archived from the original(PDF) on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
JR West 
