Tweet of the Week #73: New Yamanote Line Station Takanawa Gateway Opens

Woohoo! Takanawa Gateway Station, the latest addition to the Yamanote Line, was unveiled last Saturday with great success despite the doom and gloom hanging over our heads. On this historic day, people weren’t waiting in line for masks or toilet paper, but for a chance to walk through the new station gates.

A station with a name

When JR East announced the construction of a brand new 駅（えき） (station) for Tokyo’s circular line back in June 2014, little did they know that their naming campaign would end with outrage and a petition.

The drama all started with the campaign to have citizens participate in the process by submitting name ideas online or by mail during June 2018. From serious tetsudo otaku (train nerds) to kids and foreigners, everyone could participate, so of course, they were overwhelmed with suggestions. Among the proposals, Olympics 2020 Station (オリンピック2020駅) sounded like a good idea considering its opening year.

Submissions were followed by a voting period for three favorites: “Takanawa,” “Shibaura,” and “Shibahama”.

“Takanawa” won first place with 8,398 votes, but the public was baffled by JR East’s decision to go with “Takanawa Gateway,” another submission that originally only earned 36 votes and placed 130th on the list. JR East justified its decision by stating that the area is the “gateway to Edo” and a future international hub.

It’s speculated that this was a business decision—a redevelopment project called “Global Gateway Shinagawa” is nearby—but the public didn’t appreciate the bait and switch. Plus, this is the only station on the Yamanote Line written in katakana, which creates issues for commuter passes because it’s one character too long for the system.

高輪ゲートウェイ
だと定期買えなくて
高輪ゲートウェ
で買えるの草 pic.twitter.com/uf5BGG6U4b

— ありえい (@Ariei2000) March 14, 2020

高輪（たかなわ）ゲートウェイ だと定期（ていき）買（か）えなくて 高輪ゲートウェ で買えるの草 （くさ）= If you write Takanawa Gateway (高輪ゲートウェイ), you can’t buy the commuter pass, but if you write Takanawa Gatewa (高輪ゲートウェ) you can. WTF?

150 minute queue?!

Despite the current coronavirus scare, the opening of the station on Saturday, March 14th, drew quite the crowd. People lined up to purchase tickets with the opening date as souvenirs.

高輪ゲートウェイ駅の券売機は現在150分待ちです。今日日付の切符が欲しいわけでは無い人くて、Suicaの無い人は品川まで歩いた方が早いってアナウンスwwww pic.twitter.com/pUsXdT96Me

— フィッター@シャニ2nd両日現地 (@fitter4911) March 14, 2020

高輪ゲートウェイ駅の券売機（けんばいき）は現在（げんざい）150分（ひゃくごじゅっぷん）待（ま）ちです。今日（きょう）日付（ひづけ）の切符（きっぷ）が欲（ほ）しいわけでは無（な）い人（ひと）くて、Suicaの無い人は品川（しながわ）まで歩（ある）いた方（ほう）が早（はや）いってアナウンスwwww = The waiting time to buy tickets at Takanawa Gateway is 150 minutes. Announcements are suggesting for people that don’t want a ticket with today’s date and don’t have a SUICA card, it would be faster to just walk to Shinagawa Station loooool

However, the fame and glory was short-lived as the new station was desolate the very next day!

高輪ゲートウェイ駅開業2日目でガラガラゲートウェイで草 pic.twitter.com/8aKkvqZ7zH

— かいりん 乃木は日向にあたためられたい (@kairin_asuka) March 14, 2020

高輪ゲートウェイ駅開業（かいぎょう）2日目（ふつかめ）でガラガラゲートウェイで草 = Takanawa Gateway Station is a totally vacant gateway on its second day lol

If you’re not in for a souvenir ticket, better walk!

The JLPT N3 grammar phrase わけでない is relatively easy to use, but has several nuances. わけ (訳（わけ）) means “reason,” “excuse,” or an opinion based on what you’ve heard. So literally, わけでない means “it isn’t the reason/case (why…)” and can be translated as, “it isn’t always true that…,” “not because of that…,” “not like that…,” “doesn’t mean that/to,” or “not necessarily…”

The phrase is used with verbs, adjectives, and nouns.

• Verb casual form + わけではない
• い adjective + わけではない
• な adjective + なわけではない
• Noun + (だ)というわけではない (Note that with a noun, you need to use という)

切符が欲しいわけでは無い人 = people that don’t (necessarily) want a ticket/don’t mean to buy a ticket

エビが食（た）べられないわけではないがあまり好（す）きではない = it’s not that I can’t eat shrimp, but I don’t really like it much.

教師（きょうし）はなんでも知（し）っているわけではない = Teachers don’t know everything (= it isn’t because they are teachers that…)

遠（とお）いわけじゃない = it’s not like it’s far!

Vocabulary

高輪ゲートウェイ駅の券売機（けんばいき）は現在（げんざい）150分（ひゃくごじゅっぷん）待（ま）ちです。今日（きょう）日付（ひづけ）の切符（きっぷ）が欲（ほ）しいわけでは無（な）い人（ひと）くて、Suicaの無い人は品川（しながわ）まで歩（ある）いた方（ほう）が早（はや）いってアナウンスwwww ）

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