is a major railway station in
Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

's Taitō

Taito, Tokyo

is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. In English, it calls itself Taito City.As of April 1, 2011, the ward has an estimated population of 168,909, with 94,908 households, and a population density of 16,745.86 persons per km². The total area is 10.08 km².-History:The ward was founded...

 ward. It is the station used to reach the Ueno

Ueno, Tokyo

is a district in Tokyo's Taitō Ward, best known as the home of Ueno Station and Ueno Park. Ueno is also home to some of Tokyo's finest cultural sites, including the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, and the National Science Museum, as well as a major public concert hall...

 district and Ueno Park

Ueno Park

is a spacious public park located in the Ueno section of Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It occupies the site of the former Kan'ei-ji, a temple closely associated with the Tokugawa shoguns, who had built the temple to guard Edo Castle against the north-east, then considered an unlucky direction...

 -- which contains Tokyo National Museum

Tokyo National Museum

Established 1872, the , or TNM, is the oldest and largest museum in Japan. The museum collects, houses, and preserves a comprehensive collection of art works and archaeological objects of Asia, focusing on Japan. The museum holds over 110,000 objects, which includes 87 Japanese National Treasure...

, The National Museum of Western Art

The National Museum of Western Art

The is the premier public art gallery in Japan specializing in art from the Western tradition.The Museum is located in the museum and zoo complex in Ueno Park in Taito, central Tokyo. This popular Tokyo museum is also known by the English acronym NMWA .-NMWA history:The NMWA was established on...

, Ueno Zoo

Ueno Zoo

The is a zoo, managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and located in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is Japan's oldest zoo, opening on March 20, 1882. It is a five-minute walk from the Park Exit of Ueno Station, with convenient access from Tokyo's public-transportation network...

, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music

Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music

or is one of the oldest and most prestigious art schools in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju, Adachi, Tokyo...

 and other famous cultural facilities. A major commuter hub, it is also the traditional terminus for long-distance trains from the northern Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, although with the extension of the Shinkansen

Shinkansen

The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...

 lines to Tokyo Station

Tokyo Station

is a train station located in the Marunouchi business district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, near the Imperial Palace grounds and the Ginza commercial district....

 this role has diminished in recent years. A similar extension of conventional lines will extend the Takasaki Line

Takasaki Line

The is a Japanese railway line which runs between Ōmiya Station in Saitama, Saitama Prefecture and Takasaki Station in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture. It is owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company ....

, Utsunomiya Line

Utsunomiya Line

The is the name given to a 159.9 kilometre section of the Tōhoku Main Line between Ueno Station in Tokyo and Kuroiso Station in Nasushiobara, Tochigi, Japan...

 and Joban Line

Joban Line

The is a railway line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company . It begins at Nippori Station in Taitō, Tokyo and follows the Pacific coasts of Chiba, Ibaraki, and Fukushima Prefectures before the line officially ends at Iwanuma Station in Iwanuma, Miyagi...

 to Tokyo Station

Tokyo Station

is a train station located in the Marunouchi business district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, near the Imperial Palace grounds and the Ginza commercial district....

 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

Narita Airport Station

is an underground train station located beneath Terminal 1 of Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The station is shared between East Japan Railway Company and Keisei Electric Railway.-Station layout:...

.

History

The station opened on July 28, 1883. After the destruction of this first building in the fires caused by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake

1923 Great Kanto earthquake

The struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū at 11:58:44 am JST on September 1, 1923. Varied accounts hold that the duration of the earthquake was between 4 and 10 minutes...

, Japanese Government Railways

Japanese Government Railways

The Japanese Government Railways was the national railway system directly operated by the central government of Japan until 1949. It is a predecessor of Japanese National Railways and the Japan Railways Group.- Name :...

 constructed the current station buildings. In 1927, Tokyo Underground Railway (now Tokyo Metro) opened Japan's first subway line from here to Asakusa Station

Asakusa Station

is a railway station in the Asakusa district of Taito, Tokyo, Japan.-Lines:* Tobu Isesaki Line* Toei Asakusa Line '* Tokyo Metro Ginza Line 'The Tsukuba Express Asakusa Station is located about 600 m to the west.-Tobu Railway:...

. Following World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, 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

Hard Rock Cafe

Hard Rock Cafe is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Americans Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2006, Hard Rock was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and...

.

Platforms and tracks

The station has two main levels of tracks and a deep underground station for the Tōhoku Shinkansen

Tohoku Shinkansen

The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture for a total length of 674 km, Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island Honshu. It has two spur lines, Yamagata...

 tracks. Through tracks 1 to 4 on two island platform

Island platform

An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange...

s on the main level are used by Yamanote Line

Yamanote Line

The is commuter rail loop line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company . It is one of Tokyo's busiest and most important lines, connecting most of Tokyo's major stations and urban centres, including the Yūrakuchō/Ginza area, Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Ikebukuro, with all but two of its...

 and Keihin-Tōhoku Line

Keihin-Tohoku Line

The , is a railway line in Japan which connects the cities of Saitama, Kawaguchi, Tokyo, Kawasaki, and Yokohama. It is part of the East Japan Railway Company network. The line's name is derived from the characters for , and the...

 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

Akihabara Station

is a railway station locatedin Tokyo's Chiyoda ward. It is at the center of the famous Akihabara shopping district specializing in electronic goods.-Lines:JR East:* Keihin-Tōhoku Line* Yamanote Line* Chūō-Sōbu LineTokyo Metro:...

 for empty trains, but will in future continue on the Tōhoku Jūkan Line

Tōhoku Jūkan Line

The , also known as Tōhoku Through Line, is a construction project of East Japan Railway Company to build a railway linking Ueno Station and Tokyo Station in order to extend the services of the Utsunomiya Line, the Takasaki Line, and the Jōban Line to Tokyo Station. The project began on 30 May 2008...

 to Tokyo Station

Tokyo Station

is a train station located in the Marunouchi business district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, near the Imperial Palace grounds and the Ginza commercial district....

 and beyond on the Tōkaidō Main Line

Tokaido Main Line

The is the busiest trunk line of the Japan Railways Group , connecting Tōkyō and Kōbe stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities...

. 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.

Lines

This station is served by the following lines:

• Tokyo Metro
  Tokyo Metro
  is one of two rapid transit systems making up the Tokyo subway system, the other being Toei. It is the most used subway system in the world in terms of annual passenger rides.-Organization:...
  
  
  • Ginza Line
    Tokyo Metro Ginza Line
    The is a subway line located in Tokyo, Japan. It is part of the of Tokyo Metro network. The official name is . It is 14.3 km long and serves the wards of Shibuya, Minato, Chūō, Chiyoda, and Taitō....
    
    
  • Hibiya Line
    Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line
    The is a metro line owned and operated by Tokyo Metro located in Tokyo, Japan. The line was named after the district of Hibiya, under which it passes.-Overview:The Hibiya Line runs between in Meguro and in Adachi...
    
    
• East Japan Railway Company
  East Japan Railway Company
  is the largest passenger railway company in the world and one of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo....
  
  
  • Akita Shinkansen
    Akita Shinkansen
    The is a Mini-shinkansen high-speed rail line in Japan. Serving the Kantō and Tōhoku Regions of the country, it links Tokyo and Akita in Akita prefecture with direct service. From Tokyo to Morioka in Iwate prefecture, it operates on the Tōhoku Shinkansen tracks. From there to Ōmagari, it uses the...
    
    
  • Nagano Shinkansen
    Nagano Shinkansen
    The is a Shinkansen high-speed rail line operated by East Japan Railway Company between Takasaki and Nagano in Japan. It opened on 1 October 1997, connecting Tokyo and Nagano in time for the 1998 Winter Olympics held in Nagano...
    
    
  • Jōetsu Shinkansen
    Joetsu Shinkansen
    The is a high-speed railway line connecting Tokyo and Niigata, Japan, via the Tōhoku Shinkansen, operated by the East Japan Railway Company .-History:The program was initiated in 1971 by Niigata-born prime minister Tanaka Kakuei...
    
    
  • Tōhoku Shinkansen
    Tohoku Shinkansen
    The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture for a total length of 674 km, Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island Honshu. It has two spur lines, Yamagata...
    
    
  • Yamagata Shinkansen
    Yamagata Shinkansen
    The is a Mini-shinkansen route in Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company . It provides service between Tokyo and Shinjō in Yamagata Prefecture over the tracks of the Tōhoku Shinkansen and the Ōu Main Line....
    
    
  • Jōban Line
    Joban Line
    The is a railway line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company . It begins at Nippori Station in Taitō, Tokyo and follows the Pacific coasts of Chiba, Ibaraki, and Fukushima Prefectures before the line officially ends at Iwanuma Station in Iwanuma, Miyagi...
    
    
  • Keihin-Tōhoku Line
    Keihin-Tohoku Line
    The , is a railway line in Japan which connects the cities of Saitama, Kawaguchi, Tokyo, Kawasaki, and Yokohama. It is part of the East Japan Railway Company network. The line's name is derived from the characters for , and the...
    
    
  • Takasaki Line
    Takasaki Line
    The is a Japanese railway line which runs between Ōmiya Station in Saitama, Saitama Prefecture and Takasaki Station in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture. It is owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company ....
    
    
  • Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line
    Utsunomiya Line
    The is the name given to a 159.9 kilometre section of the Tōhoku Main Line between Ueno Station in Tokyo and Kuroiso Station in Nasushiobara, Tochigi, Japan...
    
    )
  • Yamanote Line
    Yamanote Line
    The is commuter rail loop line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company . It is one of Tokyo's busiest and most important lines, connecting most of Tokyo's major stations and urban centres, including the Yūrakuchō/Ginza area, Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Ikebukuro, with all but two of its...
    
    

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
  Ishikawa Takuboku
  was a Japanese poet. He died of tuberculosis. Well known as both a tanka and 'modern-style' or 'free-style' poet, he began as a member of the Myōjō group of naturalist poets but later joined the "socialistic" group of Japanese poets and renounced naturalism.-Major works:His major works were two...
  
  . There is a memorial plate about this poem in the station.

Adjacent stations

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!colspan=5|East Japan Railway Company (JR East)
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!colspan=5|Tokyo Metro
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External links

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

.