Shizuoka Station
Shizuoka station first opened on February 1, 1889, when the section of the Tōkaidō Main Line connecting Shizuoka with Kōzu was completed. A grand opening ceremony had been planned, but on this day a huge fire destroyed over 1,000 buildings in downtown Shizuoka. Railroad Minister Inoue Masaru cancelled his planned visit, and later the same day, the town around Gotemba Station, also in Shizuoka Prefecture, burned down. The initial Shizuoka Station building was rebuilt in 1907 and again in 1935. The Tōkaidō Shinkansen platforms were opened in 1964. In 1967, freight operations were relocated from Shizuoka Station to Higashi-Shizuoka Station (the present-day Shizuoka Freight Terminal). The station underwent a massive rebuilding program from the late 1970s, with the Tōkaidō Main Line tracks elevated in 1979 to the same level as the Tōkaidō Shinkansen tracks, and the Parche shopping centre/new station building completed in 1981. From 2006 to 2008, major renovations took place inside and around the station, including the underground walkways to and from the station, and the Asty shopping and dining complexes adjoined to the station.