For the first time in 70 years, Mejiro Station is finally getting a facelift.

While most of the other 28 stations on the JR Yamanote Line have undergone some type of renovation over the past 40 years or so, Mejiro has stubbornly remained in its wooden structure -- surviving both the Great Kanto Earthquake and the American bombing during World War II.

Despite being just a 15-minute walk from the shopping and entertainment hub of Ikebukuro, Mejiro Station -- at 115, one of the oldest stations on the line -- kept its modest single entrance and platform until the remodeling project began in 1996.