Talking about Harajuku Station's new look

This week's featured article

For more than 90 years, the European-style Harajuku Station building has been part of the Tokyo urban landscape — bearing witness to the Great Tokyo Air Raid during World War II, the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the district's rise as a mecca of Japanese youth culture.

Despite calls to retain the historic Shibuya Ward landmark, East Japan Railway announced last month that it will build a new station building in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the extra visitors expected ahead of the event.

JR East said it will build the new station adjacent to the current building with no plans yet on what it will do with the existing station structure.

The current structure, built in 1924, a year after the Great Kanto Earthquake, is believed to be the oldest wooden station building in Tokyo.

The station complex also has a platform specially built for the Imperial family. Constructed in 1925 and located a few hundred meters north of the regular platform, the nondescript structure gets little notice by people on passing trains.

The station is located next to Meiji Shrine, one of the biggest shrines in Japan, and has long handled heavy visitor traffic to the site.

On the first three days of the New Year, Meiji Shrine sees some 3 million visitors, and it has an extra platform directly connected to the shrine to handle the crowds. The extra platform is only used between Dec. 31 and Jan. 4.

An image provided by JR East shows a modern double-story, glazed-wall structure, with an entrance slightly west of the current building and closer to the shrine.

On an average day, about 70,000 people use the station, about 10 percent of the traffic at nearby JR Shinjuku Station.

JR East has long considered refurbishing the small, easily crowded station, but doing so posed problems because the structure straddles several live tracks. However, an official of Shibuya Ward said they had received calls from people wanting the current station building to be preserved.

First published in The Japan Times on July 13.

Warm up

One-minute chat about stations.

Game

Collect words related to trains, e.g., bridge, ticket, rail.

New words

1) witness: a person who has seen some event; e.g., "She was a witness to the car accident."

2) adjacent: next to, close; e.g., "The new restaurant is adjacent to the old post office."

3) preserve: maintain, to keep in existence; e.g., "Let's preserve the beauty of the ocean and fight pollution."

Guess the headline

Crowds outgrow h_ _ _ _ _ _ _ Harajuku S_ _ _ _ _ _

Questions

1) What is the announcement made by JR east?

2) When was the current Harajuku Station built?

3) Approximately how many people are using Harajuku Station?

Let's discuss the article

1) What is your impression of Harajuku Station?

2) Do you agree with the construction of a new station?

3) What kind of city development do you think is needed ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?

Reference

関東大震災の翌年に建てられたという原宿駅は、原宿がすっかり町の様相を変え

ポップカルチャーの中心地となった今までずっと多くの人々の往来を見てきました。しかし、そのランドマークもついにその姿を変えることになりそうです。

建造物が永久にその姿をとどめておくことは大変なことであり、商業施設であればいつか建て替えの時が来るものですが、そこにたくさんの思い出を持つ人々にとっては一日でも長くそのままでいてほしいという願いも当然ではあります。

2020年に向かって、東京の街は急速に様変わりするのでしょうか。

朝英語の会に参加し、皆さんで話し合ってみましょう。