TOKYO, Nov. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Tokyo Station is a large terminal station where Shinkansen bullet trains and many train lines gather together. This December, that station will reach its 100th anniversary. In 2012, preservation and restoration work was completed on the Marunouchi Station Building, which is famous for its red-brick structure, and an even more faithful copy of how it looked when it first opened was reproduced. There are plenty of beautiful details that are worth seeing and convey the history, not only in the classical facade, but also in the interior design of the domes in both wings. A series of exclusive events to commemorate the 100th anniversary are planned, including illuminations and the appearance of a train with red-brick wrapping, so please be sure to try and check it out.
If you want to get even more of your fill of Tokyo Station's classic building feel, you should try a stay at The Tokyo Station HOTEL, which shares the same proud history as the station building. This hotel, which first opened for business a year after Tokyo Station did, has come to be loved by important people and cultured people from both home and abroad, and was reopened after renovations, at the same time as the preservation and restoration work on the station building was completed. The high ceilings and classical European guest rooms, that make the best use of the shape of the station building, produce a time of luxury.
Of course, Tokyo Station is also convenient as a gateway for visiting various places in Japan. At this time of year, how about heading to northeast Japan to enjoy the winter scenery? You can access it by Shinkansen from Tokyo Station, and experience a Japan that is different from Tokyo.
If you are an active person go to the GALA Yuzawa snow resort!
It only takes 77 minutes to travel from Tokyo Station to snow country, if you get on the (fastest) Joetsu Shinkansen. GALA Yuzawa is the only ski resort in Japan that has a direct connection with a Shinkansen train station. It's also fully supplied with rental gear, so there is no problem even if you go dressed in high heels and a skirt. It also has a slope for sledding on, so that even inexperienced or non-skiers can easily enjoy playing in the snow. GALA Yuzawa also boasts a plentiful food menu, from which you can fully enjoy lunch or desserts. Furthermore there is a hot spring facility where you can refresh your tired body! You can have all this fun and do it as a day trip from Tokyo, and it will make your trip in Japan even more fulfilling.
*GALA Yuzawa is scheduled to be open from December 20, 2014 through May 6, 2015 this winter.
If you want to explore and discover a new Japan, go to Sendai, the City of Trees.
There are even many travel repeaters who have come to Japan but have never visited the Tohoku region. It actually only takes about one and a half hours from Tokyo Station to arrive at Sendai, the main city of the Tohoku region, if you get on the Hayabusa Tohoku Shinkansen. After only a short time you can experience new delights. With specialties like beef tongue and sasa kamaboko (bamboo-leaf shaped fish cakes), a gourmet walking tour of Sendai is highly recommended. If you travel a little further afar on the local train lines it is possible to experience the simplicity and warmth that are characteristic of the Tohoku region's sights, with places like Matsushima, which is as beautiful as a Japanese painting with its calm sea dotted with islands, and the Akiu-onsen Hot Spring, which is said to have 1,500 years of history. Hotel Metropolitan Sendai is a one-minute walk away from Sendai Station, and if you stay here it is convenient to use Sendai as a base from which to travel around the tourist spots.
JR East will have an exhibit to introduce the delights of Tokyo Station, and railway trips that leave from Tokyo Station, at the Taipei International Travel Fair, which will be held in Taipei from November 7 (Friday) to November 10 (Monday), so please come by to experience the appeal of Japanese railway travel!
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