“K Computer Mae” on the Port Liner will change its station name in June 2021

Kobe New Transit announced that they will change the station name of “K Computer Mae Station (Kobe Animal Kingdom)” (P08: 京コンピュータ前, Hyogo) on the Port Island Line (Port Liner, ポートライナー) in June 2021.

The future station name is “Keisan Kagaku Center Station (Kobe Animal Kingdom, ‘Fugaku’ Mae)” (計算科学センター). The RIKEN Center for Computational Science is located near the station, and research institutes in the field of computational science are gathering around it.

The station, which opened as “Port Island Minami Station,” (ポートアイランド南) was renamed to the current station name on July 1, 2011, in honor of the center’s supercomputer “K (京) computer,” which has become the world’s top in processing performance. The K has finished its role and was shut down in August 2019, and the trial operation of the successor “Fugaku” (富岳) is now underway.

“Fugaku” will be a new landmark, but in consideration of the cost of changing the station name in the future, it was adopted as a sub-station name instead of the official name.

Another sub-station name, “Kobe Animal Kingdom,” (神戸どうぶつ王国) is adjacent to the station and is an animal and botanical garden where people can enjoy interacting with many animals and feeding. Many rare animals and birds such as capybaras, Sumatran tigers, pygmy hippopotamus, and shoebill are bred there.