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This article is about the geographical area called Yamanote. For the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) commuter line, see Yamanote Line.

The traditional name for the affluent, upper-class areas of Tokyo west of the Imperial Palace, especially Bunkyō-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 and the Imperial Palace. Both the Yamanote Line and Yamate Dōri (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) has been culturally and economically divided in two parts: the plebeian Shitamachi (Japanese: 下町 (したまち), Shita machi), literally low town or low city located next to the Sumida River, and the aristocratic Yamanote (Japanese: 山の手 (やまのて), Yama no te) 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, noted translator and Shitamachi scholar Edward Seidensticker 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 and Nihonbashi were the center of Tokyo insofar as shopping and entertainment were concerned. Today, those centers are in Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Shibuya and Shinagawa..

References

1. ^ Kōjien Japanese dictionary
2. ^ 山の手, Japanese Misplaced Pages
3. 武蔵野台地, Japanese Misplaced Pages
4. Edward Seidensticker: Low City, High City: Tokyo from Edo to the Earthquake: how the shogun's ancient capital became a great modern city, 1867-1923
5. Tokyo Feature Story: Edward Seidensticker, Metropolis Magazine

• Geography of Tokyo