11 Tokyo／東京

Tokyo station is the largest railway station in Japan, which has 15 island platforms with 30 lines and is the central terminal station of nationwide Shinkansen (high-speed railway) network.  The station was built in 1914 and its Marunouchi building was restored to its original design in 2012.  Below is a photo of the Marunouchi building of Tokyo station.  It is illuminated every night and popular among tourists and Tokyo local people.  You can see happy couples and wedding photographers.

Marunouchi area, the west side of Tokyo station, was a gray business district until 2002 when the Marunouchi building was rebuilt into a 37-story office and commercial building.  Since then, Mitsubishi Estate, the landowner of Marunouchi area, has been redeveloping old buildings into high-rise office and commercial buildings.  Nowadays, Marunouchi area is widely known not only as a high-class business district where many headquarters of top companies and professional firms are located but also as a fine shopping district.

Compared to Marunouchi area, Yaesu area, the east side of Tokyo station, has an affable and friendly atmosphere.  Many small bars and restaurants are on alleys in this area.  But a huge redevelopment project is underway right in front of Tokyo station and the atmosphere might be changed in a couple of years.

Since 1604, the Nihonbashi Bridge has been the starting point of nationwide major roads.  In the Edo period (1603-1868), it was the starting point of the Five Major Roads (The Tokai-do and the Nakasen-do going to Kyoto, Nikko-kaido going to Nikko, the Oushu-kaido going to Shirakawa in Fukushima and the Koshu-kaido going to Suwa in Nagano), and even now it is the starting point of major national roads going to Osaka, Aomori, Sendai, Chiba, Yokohama, Niigata and Shiojiri.  The Nihonbashi bridge was first built in 1603 and is said to be rebuilt twenty times due to life spans and frequent great fires in the Edo period.  The current bridge (the first stone bridge) was completed in 1911 and the Expressway over the bridge was constructed in 1963.  It is ten-minute walk from Tokyo station to the Nihonbashi bridge.

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