All Aboard! - Greetings from Tokyo Station (東京駅)

On this trip to Tokyo, I was determined to finally visit the uber famous, "Tokyo Station." This train station is an architectural gem and a hub of history. With regards to prestige, this train station is probably comparable to Grand Central Terminal in NYC, however, Tokyo Station is much bigger. Whilst the upstairs portion of the train station is buzzing with foot and train traffic, below the train station is an underground network of stores and food vendors, like you've never seen. In all honestly, Tokyo Station is like a city, in it's own right!

Map of the Tokyo Station complex and surrounding buildings

Before launching into everything, a quick history lesson. Construction began in 1908, and the train station opened on December 20, 1914. At it's inception, the train station had four platforms (compared to the modern approx. 24) and only a handful of train lines. 

In 1945, much of the station was destroyed in the firebombing of Tokyo by American B-29s, which shattered the impressive and beautiful rooftop domes. Fortunately, the station was rebuilt within the year, and the former domed roofs were replaced by angular ones. Also, the station was downgraded to two stories, versus the previous three stories. In 1953, two more platforms were built, to accommodate the Tokaido Main Line. Later in 1964, two more platforms opened to accommodate the new Shinkansen lines. 

Tokyo Station, circa December 1914

(image taken from Wikipedia)

Tokyo Station, circa 2014

Over the past several years, Tokyo Station has undergone major renovations, which were completed in 2013, just in time for the station's 100 year old anniversary!

Model of the newly renovated train station

Now, back to my adventures!

cute Tokyo Station mailbox 

On arrival at the train station, my mother and I were a little bit overwhelmed. The train station is HUGE and there is so much to see and experience! We walked around the train station for a bit, eventually wandering into one of the countless numbers of shopping areas.

Along the way, mom and I visited a small liquor store that sold special "Tokyo Station" champagne, several adorable cookie vendors, and a VERY cute chocolatier!

Probably the best part of exploring Tokyo Station, and in fact anywhere in Japan, was the food stalls! The Japanese certainly like their food and the variety available to purchase is staggering! Fresh foods to fried foods to preserved foods. Bento boxes to tempura to sushi. Japanese to Chinese to American cuisine. Cheesecake to cookies to traditional Japanese sweets. The selection is a little overwhelming at times! Whenever I come to Japan, browsing the food court is always my favorite activity. I often feel overstimulated since there is so much to see and I always leave very full because I take full advantage of all of those delicious samples!

Mom and I could have easily spent days wandering this shopping area, but we had to remind ourselves that this was just one of dozens of shopping areas located in the Tokyo Station complex. Though it pained us, we made our way towards the exit, on a mission to find a nice spot for lunch.

Top Left: Exiting Tokyo Station's subway area

Top Right: The ceiling of the main dome. It's so gorgeous!

Bottom Right: Police box

Bottom Left: The front of Tokyo Station

Mom and I made our way across the street and visited the department store "Kitte"(pronounced like kit-eh). Although we are not 100% sure why the building is called this, mom and I both hypothesize that it is named this because of the post office located on the ground floor and the word for "stamp" in Japanese is "kitte."

The Kitte Building is ultra modern and very nice department store. It's like stepping into the future! Lots of glistening lights and glass. Very cool. The main atrium is very open, allowing you to see everything Kitte has to offer.

After much deliberation, I somehow convinced my mother to try a "gyu-tan" restaurant. Gyu-tan (牛タン), literally translated means beef tongue. "Gyu" (牛) means beef and "tan" (タン) means tongue. This may be an acquired taste, but I absolutely love it and was excited at the prospect of our lunch. For lunch, my mother ordered the grilled gyu-tan that came with both gyu-tan marinade with miso and simply seasoned with salt. I opted for the gyu-tan curry. My mom's gyu-tan was a bit chewy, which I like, jam packed with flavor. My curry was also beautifully seasoned and packed the perfect amount of heat, but what made this dish so memorable was the butter softness of the gyu-tan. Both dishes were absolutely phenomenal!

As we left the restaurant, I was amused to see this novelty item: Gyu-tan rice burger. This delight consists of a breaded and fried gyu-tan cutlet that is sandwiched between two grilled rice patties. I'm actually a bit intrigued and would like to try this!

After lunch, we did a bit more wandering, seeing what the nearby shops in Kitte had to offer. The amount of stores we found was mind blowing! 

We came across a selection of Japanese food vendors (bento, sushi, pickles, etc…), chocolates, breads, cakes, cookies…the list goes on!

Left: A selection of "inari sushi" (sushi wrapped in sweeter deep fried tofu skin)

Top: Special chocolate filled with sho-chu (Japanese traditional alcohol) from different regions of Japan 

Middle: One of many bakeries

Bottom: A selection of scones  

More delicious noshes

The highlight of the day was without a doubt visiting the "Amano Foods" store. This is a store that sells these tiny little packages of dehydrated soup. Some of you may be thinking, "why on earth would this be a highlight?" Well, I'll tell you. These little soups are probably some of the most delicious soups I have ever tasted. Some are even better than soup I've tasted, that's made from scratch! I don't know how the Japanese do it, but these little soups are so yummy! They come is a wide variety: miso soup, beef stew, corn soup, pork soup, etc… We even saw a cheese risotto and a udon base soup (you just add noodles). Browsing through the selection, I felt like I died and went to instant soup heaven! Since these are somewhat difficult to come by in the states, mom and I STOCKED UP! 

Overall, I'd say my first visit to Tokyo station was a major success. I got to see the station, got to explore the many shops, enjoy a delicious lunch, and indulge in some major retail therapy! Can't wait to go back and explore Tokyo Station a bit more.