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Trip ideas  /  5 days in Tokyo  /  Tokyo Station
Tokyo Station, Tokyo, Kanto
Cultural building · Tokyo, Kanto

Tokyo Station

A station opened in 1914.A rumor about Amsterdam.7,925 evacuees.Domes recreated in 2012.

Photo: MaedaAkihiko, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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The plan

A station was planned in 1896 and begun in 1908

The Imperial Diet resolved in 1896 to build Central Station, directly in front of the gardens of the Imperial Palace. Wars delayed it, and construction began in 1908. Tatsuno Kingo designed the three-story building as a restrained celebration of Japan's costly victory in the Russo-Japanese War.

The opening

Tokyo Station opened on December 20, 1914, with four platforms

Tokyo Station opened on December 20, 1914. The old Shinbashi Station, which had served as the Tokyo-side terminus of the Tōkaidō Line since 1872, closed as a passenger station. The Tokyo Station Hotel opened in the Marunouchi-side building in 1915.

The rumor

Guidebooks say it copies Amsterdam, and the claim is disputed

Guidebooks often say the building was fashioned after Amsterdam Centraal station in the Netherlands. This is in dispute. Terunobu Fujimori, a scholar of Western architecture, also refutes the rumor.

The quake

The station took little damage in the 1923 earthquake

The Great Kantō Earthquake struck Tokyo on September 1, 1923, causing immense damage to the city. The station sustained little damage, and by September 3, 7,925 evacuees had taken shelter there.

7,925evacuees sheltering at the station by September 3

The domes

The domes were lost in 1945 and recreated in 2012

A firebombing raid on May 25, 1945 destroyed the rooftop domes and most of the third floor. The building was rebuilt by 1947 with two stories and simple angular roofs. A renovation completed in October 2012 recreated the two domes to their original design.

Day 2, evening

It comes after Imperial Palace East Gardens.

More stories from this trip idea

The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Tokyo Station, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.

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