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This article is about the geographical area called Yamanote. For the East Japan Railway Company
East Japan Railway Company

is the largest passenger railway company in the world and one of the seven Japan Railway companies. It is often known as ....
 (JR East) commuter line, see Yamanote Line
Yamanote Line

The of East Japan Railway Company is one of Tokyo's busiest and most important commuter rail lines. Running as a circle, it connects most of Tokyo's major stations and urban centres including the Yurakucho area, Shibuya, Tokyo, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro with all but two of its 29 stations connecting with other railway or underground lines....
.

The traditional name for the affluent, upper-class areas of Tokyo
Tokyo

, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshu. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the Tokyo City in the eastern part of the prefecture, and total over 8 million people....
 west of the Imperial Palace, especially Bunkyo
Bunkyo, Tokyo

is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. Situated in the middle of the ward area, Bunkyo is a residential and educational center. Beginning in the Meiji period, literati like Natsume Soseki, as well as scholars and politicians have lived there....
-ku and Shinjuku-ku.. The area's name, which in Japanese means an elevated ground or plateau comes from the fact that it lies on the slopes of the Musashino Plateau, a relief that from inner Honshu goes down towards the sea, ending after Edo Castle
Edo Castle

, also known as , is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ota Dokan. It is located in Chiyoda, Tokyo in Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province....
 and the Imperial Palace
Imperial Palace

Imperial Palace may refer to:Institutions*Kaiserpfalz in the Holy Roman EmpirePlaces:*Forbidden City, Beijing, China*Tokyo Imperial Palace , Tokyo, Japan...
.






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This article is about the geographical area called Yamanote. For the East Japan Railway Company
East Japan Railway Company

is the largest passenger railway company in the world and one of the seven Japan Railway companies. It is often known as ....
 (JR East) commuter line, see Yamanote Line
Yamanote Line

The of East Japan Railway Company is one of Tokyo's busiest and most important commuter rail lines. Running as a circle, it connects most of Tokyo's major stations and urban centres including the Yurakucho area, Shibuya, Tokyo, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro with all but two of its 29 stations connecting with other railway or underground lines....
.

The traditional name for the affluent, upper-class areas of Tokyo
Tokyo

, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshu. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the Tokyo City in the eastern part of the prefecture, and total over 8 million people....
 west of the Imperial Palace, especially Bunkyo
Bunkyo, Tokyo

is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. Situated in the middle of the ward area, Bunkyo is a residential and educational center. Beginning in the Meiji period, literati like Natsume Soseki, as well as scholars and politicians have lived there....
-ku and Shinjuku-ku.. The area's name, which in Japanese means an elevated ground or plateau comes from the fact that it lies on the slopes of the Musashino Plateau, a relief that from inner Honshu goes down towards the sea, ending after Edo Castle
Edo Castle

, also known as , is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ota Dokan. It is located in Chiyoda, Tokyo in Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province....
 and the Imperial Palace
Imperial Palace

Imperial Palace may refer to:Institutions*Kaiserpfalz in the Holy Roman EmpirePlaces:*Forbidden City, Beijing, China*Tokyo Imperial Palace , Tokyo, Japan...
. Both the Yamanote Line
Yamanote Line

The of East Japan Railway Company is one of Tokyo's busiest and most important commuter rail lines. Running as a circle, it connects most of Tokyo's major stations and urban centres including the Yurakucho area, Shibuya, Tokyo, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro with all but two of its 29 stations connecting with other railway or underground lines....
 and Yamate Dori (or Kampachi) take their name from the region because they cross it .

History of the term Yamanote

By their very nature, the two terms Shitamachi and Yamanote should be explained together. From the beginning of its existence, Tokyo (the former Edo
Edo

, literally: Headlands and bays-door, "estuary", ), also Romanization of Japanese as Yedo or Yeddo, is the Geographical renaming of the Capital of Japan Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868....
) has been culturally and economically divided in two parts: the plebeian , literally low town or low city located next to the Sumida River
Sumida River

The Sumida River is a river which flows through Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda River and Shakujii River rivers....
, and the aristocratic located on the hills of the Musashino Plateau. Although neither of the two was ever an official name, both stuck and are still in some use. Both words are used with the same meaning in other parts of the country too. The term Yamanote is also used for example in Hokkaido, Oita and Osaka. The term Yamanote has a connotation of classiness, whereas Shitamachi has one of liveliness and human warmth.

The Yamanote Today

Because the terms are centuries-old, their meaning and the physical they define have changed several times. In an interview with magazine Metropolis
Metropolis Magazine

Metropolis is a 80-page free weekly city guide and classified ads glossy magazine published by Crisscross Kabushiki Kaisha targeting English-speaking foreigners in Tokyo....
, noted translator and Shitamachi scholar Edward Seidensticker
Edward Seidensticker

Edward George Seidensticker was a noted scholar and translator of Japanese literature. He was particularly known for his English version of The Tale of Genji , which is counted among the preferred modern translations....
 claims that nowadays the dividing line between today's equivalents of Shitamachi and Yamanote goes from Ginza to Shinjuku, and he prefers to call the two "north" and "south" because the old names are not longer appropriate. He claims that a century ago Shitamachi's Ginza
Ginza

Ginza is a district of Chuo, Tokyo, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyobashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yurakucho and Uchisaiwaicho, and north of Shinbashi....
 and Nihonbashi
Nihonbashi

, or Nihombashi, is a business district of Chuo, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century....
 were the center of Tokyo insofar as shopping and entertainment were concerned. Today, those centers are in Shinjuku, Ikebukuro
Ikebukuro

, a part of Toshima, Tokyo ward, is a large commercial and entertainment district of Tokyo, Japan. It is the location of the Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station and several extremely large department stores....
, Shibuya
Shibuya, Tokyo

is one of the Special wards of Tokyo of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it had an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km?....
 and Shinagawa..