Yaesu


Yaesu is a district in Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, located north of Ginza, west of Nihonbashi and Kyōbashi, and adjacent to the east side of Tokyo Station. The Yaesu exit of this station, which faces Nihonbashi, is recent and primarily provides access to the Shinkansen platforms.

History

The area was named after the 17th century Dutch adventurer Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn, or simply Jan Joosten. For his services to Tokugawa Ieyasu he was granted a house in Edo in an area that came to be called "Yayosu Quay" after him — his name was pronounced yan yōsuten in Japanese — the Yaesu side of Tokyo Station is also named for him. Yaesu Avenue has a monument dedicated to Jan Joosten and his life after his arrival in Japan on De Liefde with his shipmate William Adams.
Ukiyo-e artist Andō Hiroshige was born in the Yayosu barracks in the Yaesu area in 1797.

Places in Yaesu