Marunouchi 丸の内

The Marunouchi district of central Tokyo is located between Tokyo Station and the moat of the Imperial Palace. Many of Japan’s largest corporations, banks, insurance companies, and newspapers have their headquarters in this district or the adjacent districts of Otemachi and Yurakucho.

Tokyo Station – by no means the largest or busiest of Tokyo’s many rail stations, Tokyo Station is none-the-less the symbolic centerpiece of the national rail system, and is a major hub for at least a dozen commuter rail lines, as well as the terminus for the Shinkansen (the so-called “Bullet Train”). Tokyo Station was built in 1914, when the terminus of the main rail line from Yokohama was moved from Shimbashi into the center of the city. Tokyo Station directly faces (to the West) the Imperial Palace, and the station building was modeled on the main Amsterdam railway station.

Marunouchi.com – a website about the Marunouchi district maintained by Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd., the major property developer of the area. Indexes of offices, shops, restaurants, etc. The site includes detailed maps of Marunouchi and the adjacent business districts of Yurakucho (to the south) and Otemachi (to the north)

Marunouchi Building – (known in Japanese as Maru Biru); one of the new skyscraper complexes erected in Tokyo since 2000.

OAZO – a major new shopping and office complex which opened in Marunouchi in 2004. (The name itself involves multi-layered puns: Oazo means oasis in Esperanto. The two “O” can also stand for the Maru (meaning circle) in Marunouchi as well as the first letter of Otemachi. And, A and Z in between signifies the range of things one can find there.) OAZO website in Japanese

Tokyo International Forum – a major arts and convention center, south of Tokyo Station, which opened in 1997. The Tokyo International Forum was built on land previously occupied by the offices of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which were moved to Shinjuku on the western side of the city. One of the buildings demolished on this site was designed by the Japanese architect Tange Kenzo, who was commissioned to design the new Tokyo Metropolitan Government offices in Shinjuku. The Tokyo International Forum was designed by the American architect Rafael Viñoly. (A portfolio of photographs of the Tokyo International Forum can be found on the website of Rafael Viñoly Associates.)