Yamanote Line - Name

Name

"Yamanote" literally refers to inland, hillier districts or foothills (as distinct from areas close to the sea). In Tokyo "Yamanote" lies along the western side of the Yamanote Line loop. The word consists of the Japanese morphemes yama 'mountain', no genitive suffix, and te 'hand', thus "mountain's hand" (means Hillside).

Yamanote-sen is officially written in Japanese without the kana no (の、ノ?), which makes its pronunciation ambiguous in print. The characters 山手 may also be pronounced yamate, as in Yamate-dōri (Yamate Street), which runs parallel to the west side of the Yamanote Line. The Seishin-Yamate Line in Kobe and the Yamate area of Yokohama also use this pronunciation.

After World War II, SCAP ordered all train placards to be romanized, and the Yamanote Line was romanized as "YAMATE LINE." It was thus alternatively known as "Yamanote" and "Yamate" until 1971, when the Japanese National Railways changed the pronunciation back to "Yamanote." Some older people still refer to the line as the "Yamate Line".

In 1971, JNR changed all train line signage to specify the pronunciation of line names. This change is attributed to the opening of the Agatsuma Line, which could be incorrectly pronounced "Azuma" as the kana ga (が、ガ?) is omitted in its written name. As part of this change, JNR decided to adopt the Yamanote pronunciation, one reason being that there is a Yamate Station on the Negishi Line in nearby Yokohama.