The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Imperial Palace grounds.

Due to the large area covered by the station, it is divided into the Marunouchi (west) and Yaesu (east) sides in its directional signage.

[1] The station is also served by many regional commuter lines of Japan Railways, as well as the Tokyo Metro network.

[4][5] Terunobu Fujimori, a scholar of Western architecture, also refutes the rumor, having studied Tatsuno's styles as well as the building itself.

[9] The Chūō Main Line extension to the station was completed in 1919 and originally stopped at the platform now used by northbound Yamanote/Keihin–Tōhoku trains.

[10] On November 4, 1921, Prime Minister Hara Takashi was stabbed to death by a 18-year-old right-wing railway switchman in front of the south wing as he arrived to board a train for Kyoto.

Although the Tōkaidō Line was electrified between Tokyo and Kōzu, Class C51 steam locomotives were used for the entire route to avoid engine changes.

For instance, the Yamanote and Keihin Tohoku line services operated at intervals of just one minute and forty seconds.

As a result, it was decided to relocate the railway yard to Shinagawa, while the freight terminus there would be moved to Shintsurumi to make room.

[1] Those involved in the reconstruction work stated that the added structures were intended to be makeshift, so they did not mind covering all the ornaments on the platform-side walls of the building with a thick layer of mortar.

These postwar alterations were blamed for creating the mistaken impression that the building was based on the Centraal station in Amsterdam.

Meanwhile, the Yankee Limited, a north-bound train for Allied forces, started in 1946 and transitioned to public use post-1952, later renamed Towada in 1954.

The Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines were separated as a solution to overcrowding, when additional tracks between Tokyo and Tamachi completed on 19 November 1956.

Electrification of the Tokaido Line was completed in 1956, and through trains to Osaka such as the Tsubame and Hato began to be hauled by EF58 electric locomotives for the entire length of the route.

Steam locomotives ceased operations to Tokyo Station in 1961, when the Joban Line's electrification reached Katsuta.

To accommodate this new line, underground platforms were built under the Tokyo International Forum, which is 350 metres south of the station's main building.

[19] In June 1991, the northbound Shinkansen lines, which had initially terminated at Ōmiya in 1982 and were later extended to Ueno in 1985, reached Tokyo Station.

To create space, all conventional train lines at Tokyo Station were shifted closer to the Marunouchi building by two tracks.

The station facilities of the Marunouchi Line were inherited by Tokyo Metro after the privatization of the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (TRTA) in 2004.

The North and South GranTokyo towers are connected to the terminal by the GranRoof, a new commercial facility with a large canopy representing a "sail of light" which covers the outdoor areas.

The high-rise towers include multi-story shopping areas and the offices of a number of leading companies and universities.

The main station consists of ten island platforms serving twenty tracks, raised above street level and running in a north–south direction.

On the far west side is the Marunouchi entrances, which are closest to the two underground Sōbu/Yokosuka line platforms serving four tracks (five stories below ground level).

The whole complex is linked by an extensive system of underground passageways that merge with surrounding commercial buildings and shopping centers.

Stations served only by the Chiyoda Line through service local trains between Kita-Senju and Abiko are omitted.