Tokyo Station

Tōkyō Station 東京駅
Tokyo Station's Marunouchi side in June 2023
General information
Other names	Tokyo Central Station
Location	Chiyoda, Tokyo Japan
Operated by	JR East JR Central Tokyo Metro
Connections	Bus terminal
History
Opened	December 20, 1914; 109 years ago (1914-12-20) (JGR) March 20, 1956; 68 years ago (1956-03-20) (Tokyo Metro)
Location Tokyo Station Location within Special wards of Tokyo Show map of Special wards of Tokyo Tokyo Station Tokyo Station (Tokyo) Show map of Tokyo Tokyo Station Tokyo Station (Japan) Show map of Japan

Tōkyō Station (Japanese: 東京駅, pronounced [to̞ːkʲo̞ːe̞kʲi]) is a major railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is not far from the Ginza commercial district. Due to the large area covered by the station, it is divided into the Marunouchi (west) and Yaesu (east) sides in its directional signage.

The station opened in 1914 as an integrated terminus for the present-day Tōkaidō Line, Tōhoku Line, and later the Chūō Line, which previously had separate termini in Tokyo. Since then, it has served as the main terminus for inter-city trains departing Tokyo westwards. The station was badly damaged during the Bombing of Tokyo on 25 May 1945 but soon resumed service. The Tōkaidō Shinkansen, the world’s first dedicated high-speed rail system, opened between the station and Osaka in 1964. With the extension of northbound Shinkansen lines from Ueno in 1991, the station also became a gateway to northeast Japan.

Served by the high-speed rail lines of the Shinkansen network, Tōkyō Station is the main inter-city rail terminal in Tokyo. It is the busiest station in Japan in terms of scheduled trains, with more than 4,000 trains arriving and departing daily,^[1] and the fifth-busiest in eastern Japan in terms of passenger throughput;^[2] on average, more than 500,000 people use Tōkyō Station every day.^[1] The station is also served by many regional commuter lines of Japan Railways, as well as the Tokyo Metro network.

In 1889, a Tokyo municipal committee drew up plans for an elevated railway line connecting the Tōkaidō Main Line terminal at Shinbashi to the Nippon Railway (now Tōhoku Main Line) terminal at Ueno. The Imperial Diet resolved in 1896 to construct a new station on this line called Central Station (中央停車場, Chūō Teishajō), located directly in front of the gardens of the Imperial Palace.^[1]

Construction was delayed by the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War, but finally commenced in 1908. The three-story station building was designed by architect Tatsuno Kingo (who also designed Manseibashi Station and the nearby Bank of Japan building) as a restrained celebration of Japan's costly victory in the Russo-Japanese War. The building is often mentioned in guidebooks to be fashioned after Amsterdam Centraal station in the Netherlands.^[3] This is in dispute, as it has a similarity to a family of other railway station buildings built at the beginning of the twentieth century.^[4][5] Terunobu Fujimori, a scholar of Western architecture, also refutes the rumor, having studied Tatsuno's styles as well as the building itself.^[6]

Tokyo Station opened on December 20, 1914 with four platforms;^[1] two serving electric trains (current Yamanote/Keihin–Tōhoku Line platforms) and two serving non-electric trains (current Tōkaidō Line platforms). With the opening of Tokyo Station, the old Shinbashi Station, which had served as the Tokyo-side terminus of the Tōkaidō Line since 1872, was closed as a passenger station. After the final train departed from the old Shinbashi Station at 12:23 AM on the opening day, a special train transported staff and equipment to Tokyo Station. Using the transferred staff and equipment, the first train departed from Tokyo Station at 5:23 AM.^[7] The opening ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister, the Mayor of Tokyo, the Minister of Railways, and the war hero Mitsuomi Kamio, 1st Baron, who had defeated the Germans in the Siege of Tsingtao a month earlier. Kamio arrived at the station from Osaka by train.^[8]

The Tokyo Station Hotel opened in the Marunouchi-side building on November 2, 1915.^[9] The Chūō Main Line extension to the station was completed in 1919 and originally stopped at the platform now used by northbound Yamanote/Keihin–Tōhoku trains. During this early era, the station only had gates on the Marunouchi side, with the north side serving as an exit and the south side serving as an entrance. The central gate was exclusively for members of the Imperial Family.^[10] On November 4, 1921, Prime Minister Hara Takashi was stabbed to death by a 18-year-old right-wing railway switchman in front of the south wing as he arrived to board a train for Kyoto.^[11]

The Great Kantō Earthquake struck Tokyo on September 1, 1923, causing immense damage to the city. However, the station sustained little damage. By September 3, 7,925 evacuees had taken shelter at the station.^[12] The Yaesu side of the station opened in 1929. In October 1930, the superexpress Tsubame began service, connecting Tokyo Station and Kobe Station. The nickname superexpress was given because it reduced travel time between the two stations by over two hours. Although the Tōkaidō Line was electrified between Tokyo and Kōzu, Class C51 steam locomotives were used for the entire route to avoid engine changes.^[13] On November 14, 1930, Osachi Hamaguchi was shot by a member of the Aikokusha ultra-nationalist secret society. He survived the attack but died of his wounds in August the following year.^[14]

Much of the station was destroyed in a B-29 firebombing raid on May 25, 1945. The bombing destroyed the irooftop domes, as well as most of the third floor of the building and much of the interior. The brick walls and concrete floors mostly survived. Reconstruction of the building finished by 1947, but the restored building had only two stories instead of three, and simple angular roofs were built in place of the original domes.^[1] These postwar alterations were blamed for creating the mistaken impression that the building was based on the Centraal station in Amsterdam. Plans in the 1980s to demolish the building and replace it with a larger structure were derailed by a preservation movement.^[14]

The Yaesu side was also rebuilt after the war, but the new structure was damaged by fire in 1949, and this side of the building was then significantly upgraded with a contemporary exterior and a large Daimaru department store. The new Yaesu side facilities opened in 1953, including two new platforms for Tōkaidō Main Line services (now used by Shinkansen trains). Two more platforms opened in 1964 to accommodate the first Shinkansen services. The Yaesu side was partially rebuilt again in 1991 to accommodate the Shinkansen extension from Ueno.

A plan was finalized in 1971 to build a Narita Shinkansen high-speed line connecting Tokyo Station to Narita International Airport. The line was envisioned as extending underground from Tokyo to Shinjuku Station, and the plan was to build the platforms underneath Kajibashi-dori (to the south of Tokyo Station) to avoid the need to run the line under the Imperial Palace. Construction of the Narita Shinkansen was halted in 1983 due to difficulties acquiring the necessary land to build the line, but the area set aside for its platforms was eventually used for the Keiyō Line and Musashino Line terminals, which opened in 1990.^[15]

From July 1987, the station hosted a series of regular free public concerts referred to as "Tokyo Eki Kon" (Tokyo Station Concerts). These were first held as a celebration of the launch of Japan Railways Group as the privatized successor to the state-owned Japanese National Railways. Altogether 246 concerts were performed, but the event was discontinued when its popularity waned and the last concert took place in November 2000. The event returned in 2004 as the "Aka Renga (Red Brick) Concerts" but it was again suspended, after 19 concerts, when redevelopment of the station started in earnest. In 2012, as the reconstruction was nearing completion, there were calls for the concerts to resume.^[16]

The station facilities of the Marunouchi Line were inherited by Tokyo Metro after the privatization of the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (TRTA) in 2004.^[17]

The Tokyo Station complex has undergone extensive development, including major improvements to the Marunouchi (west) and Yaesu (east) sides of the station. The Marunouchi side underwent an extensive five-year renovation, completed in October 2012, in which the historic 98-year-old façade on this side of the station was restored to its pre-war condition. The restoration work included recreating the two domes according to their original design.^[18] The surrounding area was converted into a broad plaza (Marunouchi Central Plaza) extending into a walkway toward the Imperial Palace, with space for bus and taxi ranks. In contrast, the Yaesu side of the station is very urban in appearance. The North and South GranTokyo towers are connected to the terminal by the GranRoof, a new commercial facility with a large canopy representing a "sail of light" which covers the outdoor areas. The high-rise towers include multi-story shopping areas and the offices of a number of leading companies and universities.^[1] This part of the project was completed in 2013.

Station numbering was introduced to the JR East commuter platforms in 2016 with Tokyo being assigned station numbers JT01 for the Tokaido Line, JU01 for the Utsunomiya/Takasaki lines, JK26 for the Keihin-Tōhoku line, JY01 for the Yamanote line, JC01 for the Chūō line rapid service, JO19 for both the Sōbu line rapid service as well as the adjoining Yokosuka line, and JE01 for the Keiyō line.^[19][20] At the same time, JR East assigned a three-letter code to their major interchange station; Tokyo was assigned the three-letter code "TYO".

Trains on the following lines are available at Tōkyō Station:

• JR East
  • Tōhoku Shinkansen
  • Yamagata Shinkansen
  • Akita Shinkansen
  • Jōetsu Shinkansen
  • Hokuriku Shinkansen
  • Hokkaido Shinkansen
  • JT Tōkaidō Main Line
  • JU Ueno–Tokyo Line
  • JK Keihin–Tōhoku Line
  • JY Yamanote Line
  • Chūō Main Line (including JC Chūō Line (Rapid))
  • Sōbu Main Line (including JO Sōbu Line (Rapid), Limited Express Narita Express, Shiosai)
  • JO Yokosuka Line (including Limited Express Narita Express)
  • JE Keiyō Line
• JR Central
  • Tōkaidō Shinkansen (through services to/from San'yō Shinkansen operated by JR West)
• Tokyo Metro
  • M Marunouchi Line

The station is linked by underground passageways to the Ōtemachi underground (subway) station complex served by the Tōzai, Chiyoda, Hanzōmon, and Mita subway lines.

It is also possible to walk to the Nijūbashimae, Hibiya, Yūrakuchō, Ginza, and Higashi-ginza Stations completely underground (the last a distance of over 2 km (1.2 mi)), but these stations can usually be reached more quickly by train.

Tokyo Station is also a major intercity bus terminal, with regular midday service to several cities in the Kantō region and overnight service to the Kansai and Tōhoku regions. The furthest overnight bus service goes to Izumo-Taisha, over 800 km (500 mi) away.

The main station facade on the Marunouchi side is made primarily of bricks, and partly dates back to the station's opening in 1914. The main station consists of ten island platforms serving twenty tracks, raised above street level and running in a north–south direction. The main concourse runs east–west below the platforms.

The Shinkansen lines are on the Yaesu side of the station, along with a multi-storey Daimaru department store. The entrances nearest to the Shinkansen lines are named Yaesu, and those at the extreme east of the station are named Nihonbashi.

On the far west side is the Marunouchi entrances, which are closest to the two underground Sōbu/Yokosuka line platforms serving four tracks (five stories below ground level). The Narita Express to Narita International Airport (NRT) uses these platforms.

The two Keiyō Line platforms serving four tracks are four stories below ground some hundreds of meters to the south of the main station with moving walkways to serve connecting passengers.

The whole complex is linked by an extensive system of underground passageways that merge with surrounding commercial buildings and shopping centers.

• Tokyo Station
• 
  Tokyo station seen from the sky in 2021
• 
  Tokyo Station night view in 2020
• 
  Tokyo Station Marunouchi Station Square in 2019
• 
  Marunouchi North Exit ticket gate in 2021
• 
  Yaesu South Exit ticket gate in 2021
• 
  Concourse of JR East in 2021

TYOJT01JU01JK26JY01JC01JO19JE01 Tokyo Station 東京駅
JR East Shinkansen platform in 2021
General information
Operated by	JR East (Tōhoku Shinkansen and conventional lines) JR Central (Tōkaidō Shinkansen)
Line(s)	Tōkaidō Shinkansen Tōhoku Shinkansen JT Tōkaidō Line      Tōhoku Main Line JC Chūō Line JB JO Sōbu Main Line JE Keiyō Line
Platforms	11 island platforms
Tracks	22
Train operators	JR East JR Central
Connections	Bus terminal
Construction
Structure type	Elevated (Shinkansen and some conventional lines) At grade (some conventional lines) Underground (Sōbu and Keiyo lines)
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	JT01 (Tōkaidō Line) JC01 (Chūō Line) JO19 (Yokosuka Line/Sōbu Line (Rapid)) JE01 (Keiyo Line) JY01 (Yamanote Line) JU01 (Utsunomiya Line and Takasaki Line) JK26 (Keihin–Tōhoku Line)
History
Opened	20 December 1914; 109 years ago (1914-12-20)
Services
Preceding station JR East Following station Terminus Tōhoku Shinkansen Hayabusa Ueno towards Shin-Aomori Tōhoku Shinkansen Yamabiko Ueno towards Morioka Tōhoku Shinkansen Nasuno Ueno towards Kōriyama Yamagata Shinkansen Tsubasa Ueno towards Shinjō Akita Shinkansen Komachi Ueno towards Akita Jōetsu Shinkansen Toki Ueno towards Niigata Jōetsu Shinkansen Tanigawa Ueno towards Gala-Yuzawa Hokuriku Shinkansen Kagayaki Ueno towards Nagano Hokuriku Shinkansen Hakutaka Ueno towards Jōetsumyōkō Hokuriku Shinkansen Asama Ueno towards Nagano Preceding station JR Central Following station Shinagawa towards Shin-Ōsaka Tōkaidō Shinkansen Nozomi Hikari Kodama Terminus
Other services JY JK JC JT JU JJ JO JE Preceding station JR East Following station Yūrakuchō JY30 Next clockwise Yamanote Line Kanda KNDJY02 Next counter-clockwise Hamamatsuchō HMCJK23 towards Yokohama Keihin–Tōhoku Line Rapid Kanda KNDJK27 towards Ōmiya Yūrakuchō JK25 towards Yokohama Keihin–Tōhoku Line Local Terminus Azusa Shinjuku SJKJC05 towards Minami-Otari Kaiji (limited service) Shinjuku SJKJC05 towards Ryuo Hachioji Shinjuku SJKJC05 towards Hachiōji Ōme Shinjuku SJKJC05 towards Ōme Chūō Line Commuter Special Rapid Kanda One-way operation Chūō Line Chūō Special Rapid Kanda KNDJC02 towards Ōtsuki Chūō Line Ōme Special Rapid Kanda KNDJC02 towards Tachikawa Chūō Line Commuter Rapid Rapid Kanda KNDJC02 towards Ōtsuki Yokohama YHMJT05 towards Atami Sunrise Izumo and Sunrise Seto Terminus Shinagawa SGWJT03 towards Itō Saphir Odoriko Shinagawa SGWJT03 towards Itō or Atami Odoriko Shimbashi One-way operation Shōnan Shinagawa SGWJT03 towards Odawara Shimbashi SMBJT02 towards Atami Tōkaidō Line through to Utsunomiya Line and Takasaki Line Shimbashi (through-service from Tōkaidō Line) One-way operation Utsunomiya / Takasaki lines Rapid Rabbit & Urban Ueno UENJU02 towards Utsunomiya or Takasaki through to Tōkaidō Line Utsunomiya / Takasaki lines Local Ueno UENJU02 towards Kuroiso or Maebashi Shinagawa SGWJT03 Terminus Hitachi Ueno UENJJ01 towards Sendai Tokiwa Ueno UENJJ01 towards Takahagi Shimbashi SMBJT02 towards Shinagawa Jōban Line Special Rapid Ueno UENJJ01 towards Tsuchiura Jōban Line Rapid Ueno UENJJ01 towards Toride Jōban Line Local-Futsuu Ueno UENJJ01 towards Sendai Shinagawa SGWJO17 (limited service) towards Shinjuku or Ōfuna Narita Express Chiba JO28 (rush periods) towards Narita Airport Terminal 1 Terminus Shiosai Kinshichō JO22 towards Chōshi Shimbashi SMBJO18 towards Kurihama Yokosuka Line through to Sōbu Line through to Yokosuka Line Sōbu Line Rapid Shin-Nihombashi JO20 towards Chiba Terminus Sazanami Soga towards Kimitsu Wakashio Kaihimmakuhari JE13 (limited service) towards Awa-Kamogawa Keiyō Line Rapid Local Hatchōbori JE02 towards Soga Musashino Line Keiyō Line through-service Hatchōbori JE02 towards Fuchūhommachi

(listed in order from west to east)

• JR East Tokyo Station
• 
  Chūō Main Line platform in 2021
• 
  Yamanote and Keihin-Tōhoku Line platform in 2021
• 
  Tōkaidō Main Line platform in 2021
• 
  Tōhoku Shinkansen platform in 2021
• 
  Yokosuka and Sōbu Main Line platform in 2021
• 
  Keiyō Line platform in 2021

Originally, platforms 3 to 10 were numbered as platforms 1 to 8 and additional platforms were numbered sequentially from west to east through the opening of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964. Platforms 9 to 13 were used for the Tōkaidō Main Line and Yokosuka Line but were removed in 1988, and platforms 12 and 13 were then used for the new Tōhoku Shinkansen from 1991 to 1997. The current Chūō Main Line platform opened in 1995 as platforms 1 and 2, and other platforms were renumbered accordingly, leaving platforms 10 and 11 unused. The current platform numbering became effective in 1997 when one of the Tōkaidō Main Line platforms was repurposed for the Jōetsu Shinkansen as platforms 20 and 21. The existing Tōhoku Shinkansen platforms were simultaneously renumbered as 22 and 23.

• JR Central Tokyo Station
• 
  Yaesu North Exit ticket gate in 2021
• 
  Nihombashi Exit ticket gate in 2021
• 
  JR East Shinkansen transfer ticket gate in 2021
• 
  JR East Conventional line transfer ticket gate in 2021
• 
  Tōkaidō Shinkansen platform in 2021
• 
  Departure information board in 2021

M17 Tokyo Station 東京駅
Tokyo Metro station
Marunouchi Line platform in 2022
General information
Operated by	Tokyo Metro
Line(s)	M Marunouchi Line
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Bus terminal
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	M-17
History
Opened	20 March 1956; 68 years ago (1956-03-20)
Services
Preceding station Tokyo Metro Following station Ginza M16 towards Ogikubo or Hōnanchō Marunouchi Line Ōtemachi M18 towards Ikebukuro

• 
  Marunouchi Line ticket gate in 2022

There was a proposal to build a spur to Tokyo Station from the nearby Toei Asakusa Line, which would provide another connection to the subway network, and also possibly provide faster connections from the station to Tokyo's airports, Haneda and Narita.^[21] The plan has yet to be formally adopted as authorities were re-considering a similar plan as part of the infrastructure improvements for the 2020 Summer Olympics; the proposed line would cut travel time to Haneda from 30 minutes to 18 minutes, and to Narita from 55 minutes to 36 minutes, at a total cost of around 400 billion yen.^{[22][needs update]}

The Haneda Airport Access Line, which is scheduled to open in 2031, will enable trains running on the Tokaido Line via Tokyo Station to also run to Haneda Airport.

There are also plans to extend the Tsukuba Express from Akihabara to Tokyo. In September 2013, a number of municipalities along the Tsukuba Express line in Ibaraki Prefecture submitted a proposal to complete the extension at the same time as the new airport-to-airport line.^[23]

Tokyo Metro is also planning Tokyo as the terminus for their future line that could connect Odaiba.

In fiscal 2018, the JR East station was used by an average of 467,165 passengers daily (boarding passengers only), making it the third busiest station on the JR East network.^[24] Over the same fiscal year, the Tokyo Metro station was used by an average of 218,275 passengers daily (both exiting and entering passengers), making it the ninth-busiest Tokyo Metro station.^[25] The passenger figures (boarding passengers only) for the JR East (formerly JNR) station in previous years are as shown below.

• Marunouchi
• Yaesu
• Ginza

• Tokyo Midtown Yaesu Yaesu Central Tower
• Marunouchi Building
• Shin-Marunouchi Building
• JP Tower
• Tokyo International Forum
• Tokyo Imperial Palace
• Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo

• Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo

Other stations within walking distance of Tokyo station include the following.

• Ōtemachi Station (Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line, Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line, Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line, Toei Mita Line)
• Hatchōbori Station (Keiyō Line, Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line)
• Nihombashi Station (Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line, Toei Asakusa Line)
• Mitsukoshimae Station (Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line, Tokyo Metro Ginza Line)
• Shin-Nihombashi Station (Sōbu Line Rapid)
• Nijūbashimae Station ( Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line)
• Hibiya Station (Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line, Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line, Toei Mita Line)
• Yūrakuchō Station (Yamanote Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line)
• Ginza-itchōme Station (Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line)
• Kyōbashi Station (Tokyo Metro Ginza Line)
• Takarachō Station (Toei Asakusa Line)

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• Yaesu South Exit Highway Bus Terminal

Tokyo Station has "sister station" agreements with Amsterdam Centraal station in the Netherlands, Grand Central Terminal in New York, USA, Beijing railway station in China, Hsinchu Station in Taiwan,^[42] and Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof in Germany.^[43]

• List of East Japan Railway Company stations
• List of railway stations in Japan
• Transport in Greater Tokyo
• List of development projects in Tokyo
• Ramen Street – an area in Tokyo Station's underground mall specializing in ramen dishes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tokyo Station.

• JR East map of Tokyo Station
• Tokyo Station (JR East) (in Japanese)
• Tokyo Station (JR Central) (in Japanese)
• Tokyo Station (Tokyo Metro) (in Japanese)
• Guide Of Tokyo Train Station

35°40′51″N 139°46′01″E / 35.68083°N 139.76694°E / 35.68083; 139.76694