Tokyo Station
Fabrice Requin
Hello and welcome to my blog. This blog is considered my haven when everything...
Visits to Tokyo Eki might not have been all that impressive in the last 5 years, though, as it’s being undergoing a massive facelift to return it to the form it was when it was first built in 1914. however saying that, The scaffolding has finally come off last October 2012 and it is a treasure.
The station is big (literally), with the Narita Express, Shinkansen, JR and private rail lines, plus the Tokyo Metro passing through, most visitors end up transiting at Tokyo Station at some point during their trip. You can find it a bit daunting as it is a city under a city. There are multiple levels and it is easy to get lost as most signs are not in English and I didn’t find an information counter or people who spoke English but they are still very willing to help you. One of my biggest tips will be that you absolutely HAVE to remember which entrance you are coming in from as there are several on the Yaesu side and several on the Marounichi side and these sides are quite far apart. I would recommend you make a mental note of what’s around the entrance so you can easily find it again although signs for the various exits are clearly indicated throughout the station. It can take a while to figure out how to navigate but it will come to you quickly.
If you have big luggage’s I recommend to go BAGGAGE STORAGE in Marunouchi North Gate. They keep 500 yen per each and doesn’t matter the size, very practical short-term visitors and those with big luggage’s that might not fit in the coin lockers. 
The domes, at the northern and southern ends of the building, were restored to their original 1914 design.
Front shot of the refurbished old Marunouchi station building entrance. Work included expanding the station’s hotel, adding a new department store annex, and replacing 10,000 pine stakes used to secure foundations against earthquakes. 
On the inside, they are painted egg-yolk yellow with reliefs of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. Other work in the main station included the addition of dozens of shops and restaurants, as well as new ticket and tourist information counters. Passengers also have the benefit of free Wi-Fi access. 
The refurbished rooftop dome where the symmetry is so beautiful. Its oldness among all these modern buildings lends a certain weight to it.
There is not much left of Tokyo from this building’s era so It was interesting to see so many native Japanese coming to photo and sketch the station. The logistics of moving people at this place is amazing. Very efficient . It takes a while to figure out how to locate the right information to navigate but it will come to you quickly.
A bones-deep facelift for the redbrick wonder catapults it to the top rank of must-see attractions in Tokyo and to help do so, JR East lights up the station’s exterior at night to help attract tourists.
Tokyo Station (東京駅) is a railway station in the Marunouchi business district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, near the Imperial Palace grounds and the Ginza commercial district.
It is the main intercity rail terminal in Tokyo, the busiest station in Japan in terms of number of trains per day (over 3,000), and the fifth-busiest in Eastern Japan in terms of passenger throughput. It is the starting point and terminus for most of Japan’s Shinkansen high-speed rail lines, and is served by many local and regional commuter lines of Japan Railways, as well as the Tokyo Metro network.
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Fabrice is a blogger, full time university student, web enthusiast and founder of Fateful Encounters.. This blog is his final haven when everything seems nuisances; urging him to assess and to share his thoughts and his own findings to the world, or at least to his fellow neighbors in the blog sphere.
I don’t know, that really doesn’t look Japanese at all. It looks great, no doubt, it just isn’t anything like I would’ve expected it to be. I didn’t know that early 19th century Japan looked a bit like this. Great pictures.
It was often rumored to be fashioned after Amsterdam’s main station, although there is little evidence to support the opinion, but it does really have that western feel to it.
Are you sure that this thing really stands in Japan? XD
Well, it’s back from the westernisation times, but still feels kind of weird.
Ah anyway it’s a beautiful building ^^
Kinda especially if you arrive in Tokyo from the station and first thing you see coming out is that beautiful old faashioned station surrounded by skyscrapers. Plus its main entrance faces straight towards the imperial palace! :)
I really like Japan’s building from this era (Meiji and Taishou Period, the same period as Rorouni Kenshin).
It has got influence from western architecture but I feel somehow unique and very in style.
This building indeed is very beautiful and suit to be gate for welcome people to Tokyo!
Wow, I didn’t know Tokyo had a station like that otherwise I would’ve gone to visit.