도쿄역과 마루노우치, 도쿄

Tokyo Station and Marunouchi together form the civic and corporate heart of the Japanese capital, occupying the area directly east of the Imperial Palace in Chiyoda Ward. 

This is where the organizational logic of Tokyo is most visible — the national rail network, the shinkansen system, the headquarters of Japan's largest corporations, and the symbolic center of the city all concentrated within a few hundred meters of each other.

Tokyo Station itself is one of the most architecturally significant buildings in Japan. The red-brick western facade facing Marunouchi, designed by Kingo Tatsuno and completed in 1914, was meticulously restored to its original appearance in 2012 after wartime damage had left it incomplete for decades. Seeing the restored facade illuminated at night is one of those Tokyo experiences that tends to surprise visitors who were not expecting to find beauty in a train station.

Marunouchi (丸の内), meaning "within the circle," refers to the area inside the old moat that once defined the outer boundaries of Edo Castle. Today it is the address of choice for Japan's most significant financial institutions, trading companies, and corporate headquarters, laid out along broad European-influenced boulevards that were developed by Mitsubishi in the Meiji era and have been under continuous refinement ever since.

How to Get to Tokyo Station and Marunouchi

Tokyo Station is served by virtually every major JR line in Japan, including the Yamanote Line, Keihin-Tohoku Line, Chuo Line, Sobu Line, Tokaido Line, and all Shinkansen lines. The Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line has its own Tokyo Station stop within the complex.