Unexpected Attractions — The Train Stations In Japan
Open Plaza — Osaka Station
When one goes traveling, whether overseas, to sunny resorts,
or has company to show them around town, it is often the first rated items on
TripAdvisor that we go to see; the big monuments and UNESCO World Heritage
sites that everyone knows about and has probably already seen images of on Google.
Yuki and I found two unusual attractions by virtue of having
a father who thought we would be interested in Structures, being civil
engineers. These weren’t world class attractions or historic landmarks, they
were train stations. Say Wha?
Upon our descent from Mt. Hiei, where we saw a temple
complex place, we got off at the train station for Heian Jingu but went in the
other direction. This time, we crossed a canal and had dinner at a vending
machine curry-on-rice place and then looked around at the shops. I would have
liked to explore the streets more but Yukis dad had other plans for us. We didn’t understand why we weren’t taking the same route back, as it was obviously the
fastest and simplest way. Giving up in frustration, we followed Yuki’s dad on
the Metro and we ended up at Kyoto Station.
Stairs and Escalators — Kyoto Station
These are the stairs and Escalators out of the covered plaza towards the roof-top terrace. At this time, the LEDs are showing a welcome message in several languages from around the world.
This 238,000 square meter building is 70 meters high at 15
floors and 470m long East to West. Not bad for a public transportation hub. It
was built in the mid 1990s also as a celebration of the 1,200th
anniversary of Kyoto as the Heian capital. It is also the second-largest
station and one of the largest buildings in the country. Apart from a train
station, it is also a mall, hotel, movie theater, department store, local
government offices, and of course, tourist attraction. (wiki).
The building isn’t entirely an enclosed space. Under a large
roof is a plaza that on one side has stairs and escalators up to a roof-top
garden. The stair risers have LED lights that play images and messages like a
giant TV to the other side where there is a restaurant. We took the escalators
up 9 floors to the garden which was a pretty space with lots of people enjoying
the late evening. There is a helicopter pad not to far away as well as views of
the surrounding city on three sides.
By going through a portion of the building, it is possible
to walk along a suspended walkway above the plaza. 15 floors up and looking
down on a train station that is now a meeting place, communal public area, and
city landmark is quite amazing. This viewing platform also looks towards Kyoto
Tower and at night it is possible to see the entire city light up. Even looking
down, there is a grid of waiting taxis 8 rows Wide and as many deep that
are moving as clients come.
Overhead walkway — Kyoto Station
This is the main part of the walkway on the North face of the building that looks out towards Kyoto tower. It was practically empty with just a few other people that seemed to know about it. Two bridges to the south side of the building under the covered plaza connect this walkway.
Kyoto Tower- from Kyoto Station
A great view from the viewing walkway.
We enjoyed seeing the city at night, as it is one of a few
tall buildings around. The ride down the escalators was as exciting as the ride
up, as we were able to watch the LED lights on the stairs from the other side.
Take a Moment — Kyoto Station
Two girls look out the windows from Kyoto station at the streets below.
A few days later, we would see Osaka station in its grandeur
as well which is also the busiest station in Western Japan serving 2.3 million passengers
a day and the third –busiest in the world. It also has a mall as well as a
freight station and overnight bus station.
Osaka Station Platforms — Osaka
Here the platforms are covered by glass and then a gigantic roof overhead. There are some 11 platforms in this station and everything runs smooth. The large roof overhead is part of recent renovation.
There are several concourses and
platforms with an enormous roof overhead which creates an enclosed space that
is outdoors. Of significance to us were escalators that had landings, a waterfall display that dropped water drops like pixels on a screen to tell the time and show patterns and another roof top terrace where we ate lunch and a community garden several stairs
above on the roof.
A landing on the escalator — Awesomeness.
What makes these places significant attractions and great
buildings is that they’re more than just a train station. Skytrain stations in
Vancouver, for example, are built in the cheapest and smallest way possible solely
to get people on and off the metro. They may be situated beside malls as well
as bus loops but they’re usually constructed separately and joined as an
afterthought. By contrast, Kyoto, Osaka,
and Tokyo stations are built with shopping malls in mind such that during transferring
between platforms, one often has to walk through or nearby the mall.
Additionally, there are plenty of food options to choose from and there are
public spaces to sit down and relax. We noticed that in Japan, people spend more
time just sitting around than in Vancouver, where the “relaxed west coast”
seems to be always in a rush to get somewhere.
I’d never considered that the roof of a train station would have a
terrace or public garden but I’ve also found them on top of malls in Japan.
Roof Top Community Garden — Osaka Station
Something I didn’t expect to find in a train station, this garden was about 3 levels of stairs above the roof-top terrace where we had lunch. Yukes and I went exploring and were happy to find this little gem.
If you’re ever passing through Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto on the Metro network, be sure to reserve some time to explore these train stations. It can be as little as half an hour to an hour but you’ll be sure to find a lot of interesting little things hidden away once you open your tunnel vision from needing to get from A to B.
