Yamanote Line in the context of "Ueno–Tokyo Line"

35°40′13″N 139°42′10″E / 35.670162°N 139.70269°E / 35.670162; 139.70269

Harajuku Station (原宿駅, Harajuku-eki) is a railway station in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The station takes its name from the area on its eastern side, Harajuku. This station is served by the circular Yamanote Line. It is also adjacent to Meiji-Jingumae Station on the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda and Fukutoshin Lines, and is marked as an interchange on most route maps, although there is no physical connection between the two stations.

Chūō (中央区, Chūō-ku; Japanese pronunciation: [tɕɯː.oː, tɕɯː.oꜜː, tɕɯː.oꜜː.kɯ]) is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The ward refers to itself in English as Chūō City. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Kyōbashi and Nihonbashi wards following Tokyo City's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis.

Chūō-ku, as a combination of Kyōbashi and Nihonbashi, is the core of Shitamachi, the original downtown center of Edo-Tokyo. The name Chūō literally means "Central Ward," and it has historically been Tokyo’s main commercial center. However, since the end of World War II, Shinjuku and Shibuya in the west have risen to challenge that position. This is reflected in the fact that Chūō is located entirely outside the Yamanote Line loop, which is now regarded as the inner core of central Tokyo.

The Saikyō Line (Japanese: 埼京線, romanized: Saikyō-sen) is a Japanese railway line operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Ōsaki Station in Shinagawa, Tokyo, and Ōmiya Station in Saitama Prefecture. The line's name is a portmanteau of the two areas the line connects: Saitama (Japanese: 埼玉) and Tōkyō (Japanese: 東京).

At the northern end of the line, some trains continue beyond Ōmiya as far as Kawagoe on the Kawagoe Line; at the southern end of the line, many Saikyō Line trains continue onward beyond Ōsaki to either Shin-Kiba on the Rinkai Line (operated by Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit) or Ebina on the Sotetsu Main Line (via the Sōtetsu Shin-Yokohama Line). Moreover, despite the line’s name, some trains only go between Kanagawa and Shinjuku, without continuing to Saitama. Beside the link that connects the Saikyō and Rinkai lines is the JR East Tokyo General Rolling Stock Centre that stores the rolling stock for the Yamanote Line and other types of rolling stock; and the Hinkaku Line which links Saikyo Line to the Tokaido Freight Line and Sotetsu-JR Link Line.

Meiji-jingumae Station (明治神宮前駅, Meiji-Jingūmae-eki) is a subway station located in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It is a part of the Tokyo Metro subway network, and is served by the Chiyoda Line and the Fukutoshin Line.

Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line is immediately adjacent to Meiji-jingumae Station and is marked as an interchange on most route maps. Due to this proximity and to encourage use of the station by visitors, Tokyo Metro changed station signboards to read "Meiji-jingumae 'Harajuku' Station" (明治神宮前〈原宿〉駅) on 6 March 2010.