Shimbashi

History

Shimbashi sits on the site of Japan's first railway, opened on 14 October 1872 between an earlier Shimbashi Station (later renamed Shiodome) and Yokohama. The present-day Shimbashi opened on 16 December 1909 as Karasumori Station on what is now the Yamanote Line. When Tokyo Station opened in 1914 and the Tōkaidō Main Line was rerouted, Karasumori was renamed Shimbashi and the original Shimbashi became Shiodome freight yard. Asia's first subway reached Shimbashi in 1934; the Tokyo Rapid Railway followed in 1939, with the two operators merging in 1941 to form today's Ginza Line. The Toei Asakusa Line arrived in 1968 and the elevated Yurikamome terminus opened in 1995. A reconstruction of the original station building opened in 2003.

History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-06-09.

Where the English and Japanese sources differ, this account follows the Japanese source.

Notes

When Tokyo Rapid Railway opened its 1939 subway platform at Shimbashi, the line was abandoned after only a few months of separate operation and merged into a through service; the original platform was kept as a siding and survives today, sitting about 15 centimetres higher than current Ginza Line cars.