Around Omotesando Station: before it was Omotesando

Omotesando Was Built as an Approach to Meiji Jingu

One of Tokyo's leading fashion streets was originally built for shrine visitors. Minato City explains that Omotesando was constructed for the enshrinement ceremony at Meiji Jingu on November 1, 1920. Its name means the main approach to the shrine. The road extends from around today's Omotesando Station toward the shrine grounds. The station's history is different from the street's. According to Tokyo Metro, it opened in November 1938 as Aoyama-rokuchome Station. In November 1939, it was renamed Jingumae Station. When the Chiyoda Line opened Meiji-jingumae Station closer to the shrine in 1972, the older station adopted the name Omotesando instead. In 1976, its platform was relocated approximately 180 meters toward Asakusa. These changes explain why Omotesando Station is not immediately beside the shrine entrance. What is now known internationally for architecture, fashion, and shopping began as a ceremonial route leading worshippers toward Meiji Jingu.

→ Walk along the tree-lined Omotesando avenue from Omotesando Station toward Meiji Jingu and observe the direction of the original shrine approach.

Sources (in Japanese): 港区・地名の歴史（赤坂地区）表参道, 東京メトロ・銀座線幻の駅をライトアップします

Was Omotesando built as a ceremonial road to Meiji Jingu Shrine?

Omotesando was not originally a fashion street. It was constructed for the opening ceremonies of Meiji Jingu Shrine on November 1, 1920. Before the shrine and its approach road were developed, the surrounding area included older settlements and remaining agricultural fields. The nearby Aoyama district takes its name, according to Minato City's historical account, from the Aoyama family, whose ancestor Tadanari received land from Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1590.

In 1927, the Dojunkai Aoyama Apartments were completed as part of the housing reconstruction movement following the Great Kanto Earthquake. The Aoyama area suffered severe damage during the air raids of May 1945.

After the war, the nearby American military housing complex Washington Heights helped bring foreign-oriented businesses and new cultural influences into the surrounding neighborhoods. The former apartment site was redeveloped into Omotesando Hills, which opened in February 2006. Architect Tadao Ando designed the complex to respect the avenue's distinctive slope and zelkova trees, while preserving part of the historic apartment building as Dojunkan.

→ Follow the zelkova-lined avenue toward Meiji Jingu and examine Dojunkan at Omotesando Hills, where part of the former apartment architecture survives.

Sources (in Japanese): 港区・地名の歴史（赤坂地区）・表参道と北青山, 明治神宮歴史データベース・1920年11月1日, 表参道ヒルズ公式・開発経緯, 表参道ヒルズ公式・施設と同潤会青山アパートの歴史, 港区・MYタウン赤坂青山第58号・1945年の青山空襲, 森ビル・表参道原宿エリアの街の変遷