Shinagawa Station Tokyo 品川駅
Shinagawa Station: read a guide to Shinagawa Station and its surroundings in southern Tokyo, Japan.
Shinagawa Station is in the south of central Tokyo in Minato ward, just north of Shinagawa ward after which the station is named. Shinagawa Station is the first major rail station on the Tokaido Shinkansen south of Tokyo Station.
Shinagawa Station Connections
Shinagawa Station is one of Tokyo's major rail hubs. Shinagawa serves the following lines:
- the JR Yamanote Line
- the Tokaido Shinkansen
- the Keikyu Main Line to Kawasaki, Yokohama (17 minutes) and Uraga
- the Keikyu Airport Line to Haneda Airport (14 minutes)
- the Keihin Tohoku Line to Ueno Station and Omiya (47 minutes)
- the Yokosuka Line with trains eastwards to Chiba prefecture with Narita Airport, including the Narita Express rapid service (67 minutes), and trains south to Kamakura and Yokosuka.
Shinagawa Station Environs
Shinagawa Station and its surroundings have been developed over the last decade. The station concourse is sleek and modern and contains a number of upmarket stores including the Atre department store. The east and west sides of the station are quite different
Konan Exit of Shinagawa Station
Exiting the Konan exit, on the east side, has the massive Shinagawa Commons skyscraper complex, and, across from it, Shinagawa Intercity. About one kilometer away is the waterfront of Tokyo Harbor, Shio-no Park, Konan Park and the Takahamaungazoi Green Space as well as Tokyo University of Marine Sciences & Technology.
In the Edo Period of Japanese history, Shinagawa was the first post town on the Tokaido Highway between Nihonbashi in Edo and Kyoto. Not that much remains from this time as the area became absorbed into Tokyo city though the area around Ebara Shrine and the Former Tokaido Street running south from Kita Shinagawa Station (walkable - if you have time - from the Konan exit) are evocative of times gone by.
Read a full guide to the Konan side of Shinagawa Station
Takanawa Exit of Shinagawa Station
The west side of Shinagawa Station offers more in the way of entertainment, with many more hotels than the east side, and numerous dining and other entertainment opportunities. The Singapore Seafood Republic is one of the area's most famous culinary offerings.
The Hara Museum of Contemporary Art (Hara Bijutsukan) somewhat south of the station's west exit was once a private mansion done in art deco style and has a lovely garden. The eclectic art collection includes works by Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Maruyama Okyo and Yayoi Kusama. The Hara Museum is close to the Myanmar Embassy, one of nine Tokyo embassies in Shinagawa ward.
Read a full guide to the Takanawa side of Shinagawa Station
Shinagawa Station Hotels
Altogether there are over 6,000 hotel rooms in the Shinagawa area, the most of any ward in Tokyo.
The Shinagawa Station area is also home to several excellent hotels, most notably the huge Prince Hotel, and the 900+ room Hotel Pacific Tokyo both accessible from the Takanawa exit of the station. Other of the many hotels in Shinagawa are the Takanawa Tobu Hotel, The Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo, the 4-star Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa and the budget Toyoko Inn Shinagawa Eki Takanawa-guchi Hotel.
On the Konan side of Shinagawa Station the lavish 5-star Strings By Intercontinental is recommended. Near Meiji Gakuin University and Tokai University the 4-star Sheraton Miyako Hotel Tokyo has impressive facilities and is popular with visiting academics.