About the Tohoku Region
The Tohoku region occupies northern Honshu and covers six prefectures: Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata and Fukushima.
It faces both the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, and includes mountains, farmland, heavy-snow areas and large cities. Sendai is the most populous city in Tohoku.
The Tohoku Shinkansen links the region with Tokyo, while conventional lines and subways handle everyday travel within it. So which stations in Tohoku see the most passengers? You can also look up the rank of a station you know.
This page draws on the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), National Land Numerical Information (Station Passenger Data) (国土数値情報（駅別乗降客数）) to present the Tohoku rankings for 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024.
TOP50 Stations in the Tohoku Region by Daily Passenger Entries and Exits
Select Tohoku on the map of Japan to display the TOP50 for the whole region.
For prefectural rankings, choose the button for Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata or Fukushima. You can also pick any of the four years.
Stations that share a name but differ in railway operator or line are listed as separate entries.
What the Ranking Shows
Sendai (仙台) on the East Japan Railway Company (JR East, 東日本旅客鉄道) Tohoku Main Line (東北線) had the most daily passenger entries and exits in Tohoku in all four years.
The daily figures were 182,556 in 2019, 135,252 in 2021, 158,150 in 2023 and 185,838 in 2024. After falling in 2021, they rose in 2023 and 2024, and the 2024 figure is higher than that of 2019.
Among the 56 stations that were in the Tohoku TOP50 in 2019 or 2024 and have figures for both years, Tsukinoki recorded the largest rise in rank (槻木) on the JR East Tohoku Main Line, which went from 76th to 45th, up 31 places. Its daily passenger entries and exits were 5,686 in 2019 and 6,200 in 2024.
Your own country may also have towns far from the big cities, or regions with heavy snowfall. Compare their railways with Tohoku’s as you explore the ranking.
Tohoku's Stations on a Map
Use the station passenger map to locate any station that catches your eye in the ranking.
See how the distribution of stations differs between the Pacific side and the Sea of Japan side.
Explore Japan and the Other Regions
The national edition lets you search for a station by name to find its national rank. Compare the other regional articles to see how the leading stations and the scale of passenger numbers differ.
- Japan Station Ranking by Daily Passenger Entries and Exits
- Hokkaido Station Ranking by Daily Passenger Entries and Exits
- Kanto Region Station Ranking by Daily Passenger Entries and Exits
Methodology and Notes
Each row in the ranking is a combination of station name, railway operator and line. Stations with the same name are not combined when the operator or line differs.
Ranks are calculated only for stations that have a positive passenger count recorded in the given year. The number of eligible Tohoku stations was 529 in 2019, 372 in 2021, 373 in 2023 and 359 in 2024.
The 2023 data includes 163 stations recorded as 0 passengers. These are excluded from the ranking. Because the number of eligible stations varies by year, keep this in mind when comparing ranks across years.
Stations with identical passenger counts share the same rank, and the next rank is skipped.
Source
Visible World by Data processed the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), National Land Numerical Information (Station Passenger Data) (国土数値情報（駅別乗降客数）) for use in these rankings.
The figures shown are based on the data published for each year. For current train operations and station status, please check the information provided by each railway operator.
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