Shimbashi

Shimbashi Station is located in Minato Ward of Tokyo directly south of Tokyo Station. Shimbashi Station is a very busy station as it is a major interchange point of the area. It serves the JR Keihin-Tohoku, Tokaido Main, Yamanote, and Yokosuka Lines; Tokyo Metro Ginza Line; Toei Asakusa Line; and the Yurakamome Line.

The station has three surface platforms, which serve the Tokaido, Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines. An underground platform serves the Yokosuka Line. Also underground are two stations with two platforms each that serve the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line and the Toei Asakusa Line. The Yurakamome terminus is on an elevated surface next to the JR station.

The present day Shimbashi Station was opened in 1909 as Karasumori Station, and in 1914 was renamed Shimbashi. The original Shimbashi Station, which was opened in 1872, was located to the east of the present day Shimbashi Station. It was from here that the first train in Japan made its first run from Tokyo to Yokohama in 1872. This was also the original terminus of Japan's first stretch of railway and one of Japan’s oldest stations. In 1914, the original Shimbashi Station was demolished to make way for the new Shimbashi on another location, and a goods yard, Shiodome Station, was made on this site.

To commemorate the historical significance of the station, a 1945 steam locomotive has been placed in the square in front of Shimbashi Station.

Shimbashi

Shimbashi (also spelt Shinbashi), located in Minato Ward of Tokyo, is a bustling business district just south of Ginza. It is home to several business headquarters, among them All Nippon Airways, Nippon Television, Fujitsu, and Matsushita Electric Works.

As with most stations of Tokyo, Shimbashi Station, too, divides the area into an east and a west section. On the east side of the station is one of the newest quarters of the city, Shiodome with its tall, shiny buildings and fancy restaurants. On the west side is the middle-class area with its narrow winding alleys and the New Shimbashi Building as the only prominent building.

The New Shimbashi Building is situated across a narrow street from the elevated tracks of Shimbashi Station. Architecturally unremarkable, the building has a 4-story high base covered with a white concrete lattice. This base is a shopping area filled with all sorts of shops selling everything from cheap suits to second-hand videos. Other shops include haircut and massage parlors, business-card printers and banking and loan offices. Above the base is an oblong black steel tower that contains offices and apartments.

In front of the building is a small plaza that is always bustling with office workers from nearby offices. All around are a maze of narrow streets and alleys which haven’t changed in years. These alleys are lined on both sides with small shops that sell more or less the same range of goods as found in the New Shimbashi Building.

Hamarikyu Garden

Hamarikyu Garden is a beautiful public park located about 10 minutes walk from Shimbashi Station. It is one of the two surviving feudal era Japanese gardens in Tokyo today. The site was originally the mansion of a feudal lord, Tsunashige Matsudaira, who built it in 1654. It was his son Ienobu Matsudaira who built the garden, and when Ienobu was named to the 6th Tokugawa Shogun, he turned the place into a villa for the Shogun family. After the Meiji Restoration, it became a palace for the Imperial family. In 1945, the site was handed over to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and since then has been a public park.

Hamarikyu Garden, located on the Sumida River, is completely surrounded by Shioiri Pond, a sea water moat filled by Tokyo Bay. Entry is only through Nanmon Bridge, or by boat from Asakusa. At the entrance there is a 300 year old pine tree said to have been planted by Ienobu himself. The garden, covering an area of 250,165 square meters, is roughly divided into two parts – the south garden, or the original Edo garden; and the north garden, which was developed during the Meiji period. Both the gardens are beautifully landscaped with a variety of trees, shrubs and flowers. Within the garden there are different sections – the peony field with over 60 varieties of peony, the plum tree grove, and duck hunting ponds surrounded by densely forested areas, and so on - each with a beauty and charm of its own. In the middle of the main pond there is a teahouse that serves green tea with Japanese sweets.

Hamarikyu Garden still holds an Edo charm, and its atmosphere of peace and tranquility has made it a popular place of recreation and relaxation for the citizens of Tokyo.