Ueno Station

Ueno Station 上野駅
Main building of the station
Location
Prefecture	Tokyo (See other stations in Tokyo)
Ward	Taitō
Neighborhood etc.	7 Ueno (JR Station) 3 Higashi-Ueno (Tokyo Metro)
History
Year opened	1883
Rail services
Line(s)	JR East Akita Shinkansen Nagano Shinkansen Jōetsu Shinkansen Tōhoku Shinkansen Yamagata Shinkansen Jōban Line Keihin-Tōhoku Line Takasaki Line Tōhoku Main Line Yamanote Line Tokyo Metro Ginza Line Hibiya Line

Main hall

One of the entrances of the station

Ueno Station (上野駅, ueno-eki^?) is a major railway station in Tokyo's Taitō ward. It is the station used to reach the Ueno district and Ueno Park -- which contains Tokyo National Museum, The National Museum of Western Art, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and other famous cultural facilities. A major commuter hub, it is also the traditional terminus for long-distance trains from the northern Japan, although with the extension of the Shinkansen lines to Tokyo Station this role has diminished in recent years. A similar extension of conventional lines will extend the Takasaki Line, Utsunomiya Line and Joban Line to Tokyo Station via the Tohoku Through Line on existing little-used tracks and a new viaduct.

Ueno Station should not be confused with the nearby Keisei-Ueno Station, the Tokyo terminus of the Keisei Main Line to Narita Airport Station.

History

Opening of current station building in 1932

The station opened on July 28, 1883. After the destruction of this first building in the fires caused by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, Japanese Government Railways constructed the current station buildings. In 1927, Tokyo Underground Railway (now Tokyo Metro) opened Japan's first subway line from here to Asakusa Station. Following World War II, the neighbourhood in front of Ueno Station was a major center of black market activity.

Station Building

Like most major stations in Japan, Ueno station contains and is surrounded by extensive shopping arcades. Ueno's includes a branch of the Hard Rock Cafe.

Platforms and tracks

The station has two main levels of tracks and a deep underground station for the Tohoku Shinkansen tracks. Through tracks 1 to 4 on two island platforms on the main level are used by Yamanote Line and Keihin Tohoku Line trains. Through tracks 5 to 9 on two island platforms and one side of a terminal platform, lead only to storage tracks near Akihabara Station for empty trains, but will in future continue on the Tohoku Through Line to Tokyo Station and beyond on the Tokaido Line. Tracks 10 to 12 terminate inside the building, and below these on a lower deck are further terminal tracks 13 to 18. Two subterranean island platforms serve Shinkansen tracks 19 to 22^[1].

Lines

This station is served by the following lines:

• Tokyo Metro
  • Ginza Line
  • Hibiya Line
• East Japan Railway Company
  • Akita Shinkansen
  • Nagano Shinkansen
  • Jōetsu Shinkansen
  • Tōhoku Shinkansen
  • Yamagata Shinkansen
  • Jōban Line
  • Keihin-Tōhoku Line
  • Takasaki Line
  • Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line)
  • Yamanote Line

Other:

• Because this station was the traditional point of arrival and departure for journeys to the northern Japan, it became the inspiration for many poems and song lyrics, including a famous tanka by Ishikawa Takuboku. There is a memorial plate about this poem in the station.

Adjacent stations

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ueno Station

• The Tokyo Virtual Tour: Ueno
• Ueno Station (Tokyo Metro) (Japanese)
• Ueno Station (JR East) (Japanese)
• JR East Ueno Station map
• Ueno Station Panorama

References

Coordinates: 35°42′48″N 139°46′36″E / 35.713434°N 139.776725°E / 35.713434; 139.776725.