Tag Archives: Tokyo station

Tokyo Station – Home of Different Shinkansen Fleets

I have posted a variety of pictures of the Tokaido Shinkansen system from my visits to Japan.  Tokyo Station is the end of the line for JR Central.  However, it isn’t the only Shinkansen service from this station.  JR East Shinkansen services also serve the station.  They head north out of the station while JRC heads south.  The lines are not connected so this is a terminus for both companies.  However, when you look down on the station, you can see both operators.  I took these pictures from our office window looking down on the station and you can see a variety of Shinkansen equipment on the JR East Platforms as well as a JRC train passing underneath.

Tokyo Station

I briefly saw Tokyo Station last time I was in Japan.  This time I wanted to take a better look.  While the station has been significantly redeveloped over the years, the west frontage that looks towards the Imperial Palace has retained the brick structure designed and built over 100 years ago (although some rebuilding was necessary over the years).  I think it is an interesting looking building and an interesting contrast with the high-rise developments around it or even the old buildings that can still be found in the city.

I got there in mid-morning and my brain was obviously not firing on all cylinders.  The front was in shade with the sun quite high in the sky and I thought for some reason I had left it too late.  I ended up taking a bunch of pictures of the building, none of which I was terribly happy with given the shadow on the front and the bright overall conditions.  I did shoot some of the details around the hallways and overhangs which were fine.

It was only later when I returned from the Palace grounds that I realized which way the building was facing and that the sun had now come around to the front of the station, not retreated.  Consequently, things were a lot more brightly illuminated.  Let’s not kid ourselves.  Midday sun is not the greatest thing for shooting but, for getting snapshots for the trip, this was a significant improvement.  With such a wide and low structure, a panorama was obviously going to be tried!