A new plaza on the Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station was unveiled Thursday after years of construction, offering pedestrians a much improved promenade from the station to the Imperial Palace.
Before construction started in August 2014, the area outside the station was mainly occupied by roadways and had no sidewalks. Pedestrians visitors had to take a lengthy detour to get to Gyoko-dori, which leads to the Imperial Palace.
"The Tokyo Station area has finally become a landmark that represents Japan," JR stationmaster Kunihiko Koike told reporters on Thursday. "The plaza is in perfect harmony with the Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building, which was renovated in 2012."