39th Anniversary Exhibition
History of EKIBEN
December 8th , 2015 - March 21st , 2016
The need to provide meals as a service to passengers arose in the 1870/80s when railroads first started to spread out around Japan. This led to the creation of operators selling eki-ben (boxed lunches bought at a station) in stations that were opening up across the nation. When the vast majority of private railways were nationalized due to the promulgation of the Railway Nationalization Act in 1906, there was an increase in the number of stations selling eki-ben (e.g. at transfer stations where many people got on/off and stations in sight-seeing areas).
This year celebrates the 130th anniversary since the birth of eki-ben. Nowadays, it has become easy to obtain eki-ben across Japan in large stations and department stores. However, the fun of railway travel is still, as ever, eating an eki-ben that uses local ingredients while staring out at the views from the train window. The patterns on the wrapping paper that eki-ben are served in are designed according to the age, region and shop. This further increases the excitement of traveling.
We will showcase the history and charms of “eki-ben” and “tea” in this special exhibition with displays of the containers and wrapping paper of eki-ben, the containers of tea, and more.
| Name | Old Shimbashi Station: Railway History Exhibition Hall | |
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| Address | 1-5-3 Higashi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0021 |  |
| Access | 5 minutes on foot from the “Ginza Exit” of JR Shimbashi Station 3 minutes on foot from the “ticket gates in the direction of Shimbashi Station” at Shiodome Station on the Toei Oedo Line 3 minutes on foot from “Exit No. 2” of Shimbashi Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line 3 minutes on foot from the “ticket gates in the direction of JR Shimbashi Station/Shiodome” at Shimbashi Station on the Toei Asakusa Line 3 minutes on foot from the ticket gates of Shimbashi Station on New Transit Yurikamome |
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| Opening Hours | 10:00 to 17:00 (Last admission 15 minutes before closing) | |
| Closed Days/th> | Mondays (However, if this is a public holiday, we are open on this day and the following Tuesday we will be closed) | |
| Admission Fee | Free | |
