Ueno Station’s new look in Tokyo Japan

Ueno Station

Ueno is a popular tourist destination, with a variety of places to stay, eat and shop.

It’s also one of the cultural centers of Tokyo, with some of the capital’s best museums and galleries to be found in Ueno Park. 

And Ueno Zoo is always busy with visitors coming to see its giant pandas. As a result, Ueno Station is one of Tokyo’s major railway stations and transportation hubs. 

But stations of the modern age aspire to be more than simply places to board trains, with a range of useful facilities and notable features that make them interesting places to visit in their own right.

Ueno Hirokoji Exit Vision, Poreia Plaza, Share Cycle Port, and Platform13 are four such features which opened at the Hirokoji Exit of Ueno Station in January 2024.

More than just an exit

Hirokoji Exit is one of the many ways in and out of Ueno Station, located on the south side, not far from the famous Ameyoko shopping street. Its recent redevelopment brings together digital art, 3D technology, and Ueno’s most famous residents.

Ueno Station

Ueno Hirokoji Exit Vision is part of JR East’s Beyond Stations program which aims to develop Ueno Station as an “immersive media space.” Above the exit you’ll find a new L-shaped billboard, measuring approximately 50 square meters, with a curved surface that can display 3D images. It features the famous pandas of Ueno Zoo and is the latest addition to Tokyo’s innovative 3D billboards already found in areas such as Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Harajuku and Shibuya.

The redevelopment also includes the area outside the exit. Poreia Plaza is a new event space of 140 square meters, marked by large letters spelling out U-E-N-O. It can be used for a variety of purposes, including entertainment events and food stalls. It’s also a great photo spot, with the station façade from 1932 and Ueno Hirokoji Exit Vision in the background.

Inside the station, Platform13 brings art closer to the people by projecting digital art images onto the platform wall which is 100 meters long. It includes works from the digital art category of the Geidai Art Plaza Award, in cooperation with Tokyo University of the Arts and other institutions.
Share Cycle Port is a bicycle sharing service with space for 44 bicycles, allowing easy access to the surrounding areas of Yanaka, Nezu, Sendagi, Asakusa, and Kuramae, as you continue your exploration of the capital. You’ll need to download the Hello Cycling app, which has an English language option.

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