Tokyo metro map

Shinjuku is regularly cited by Guinness World Records as the busiest station in the world. Its maze holds more than two hundred exits, depending on how the accesses of the various operators and neighboring concourses are counted.

With five subway lines, Otemachi holds the record for the greatest number of lines serving a single underground station in Tokyo. Its corridors also allow a fully covered walk all the way to Tokyo Station.

At Akasaka-mitsuke, the Ginza and Marunouchi lines use stacked platforms organized by direction. This layout often allows travelers to switch from one line to the other simply by crossing the platform, a rarity much appreciated in Tokyo.

A famous confusion awaits visitors: the Seibu department store sits on the east side of the station, while Tobu occupies the west side. The company names thus seem placed opposite the directions they suggest.

The statue of Hachikō, in front of one of the exits, honors the dog that returned to wait for its late owner for nearly ten years. It has become one of the best-known meeting points in Tokyo.

The song "Aah Ueno Station," which became a symbol of the young workers who came up to Tokyo after the war, has its own monument inside the station. It recalls Ueno's role as the point of arrival from the north of the country.