Japanese people love trains.

They love trains so much that if you go to any given station on a holiday when the weather is nice, you’re almost guaranteed to see someone with a camera strap around their neck snapping up shots of the car as it arrives at the platform. There is even a whole series of coined terms in Japanese used to describe the various kinds of people who love trains, such as tori-tetsu, people who love to take pictures of trains, or ko-tetsu, children who love trains (the suffix tetsu means ‘iron’ and corresponds to railroad in this case).

Today we’d like to introduce one spot in Tokyo that is sure to blow the whistle of train-loving children and—being completely free—parents as well.

The place is the balcony on the Shimogoindenbashi bridge near Meguro station, which goes by the nickname of “Train Museum” among those in the know.

The balcony commands a view of 13 different tracks, where viewers can watch at total of 2500 trains go by in a single day.

The Train Museum seems to be popular with young children, who gaze wondrously beyond the confining balcony gates, out onto the seemingly-endless stretches of track as thousands of trains rush back and forth—the blood rushing through the veins of the great city of Tokyo—carrying its people…and their dreams.

Also, Ueno zoo is nearby and kids go nuts for animals.

The overpass can be reached by exiting the North gate of Meguro station.

The lines viewable from the balcony are: the JR Tohoku-Jōetsu Shinkansen, Yamanotesen Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Utsunomiya Line, Jōban Line and the Keisei Tateishi Line.

For those of you living far from Tokyo or overseas but want to see what 2500 trains a day looks like, check out the video below!

▼The life force of Tokyo (We recommend viewing at 2x speed)

▼A panoramic view

[ Read in Japanese ]