Ueno Station is a major railway station in Tokyo's Taitō ward. It is the station used to reach the Ueno district and Ueno Park—which contains Tokyo National Museum, The National Museum of Western Art, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo University of the Arts and other famous cultural facilities. A major commuter hub, it is also the traditional terminus for long-distance trains from northern Japan, although with the extension of the Shinkansen lines to Tokyo Station this role has diminished in recent years. A similar extension of conventional lines extended Takasaki Line, Utsunomiya Line and Jōban Line services to Tokyo Station via the Ueno-Tokyo Line in March 2015, using existing little-used tracks and a new viaduct; the Ueno-Tokyo Line connects these lines with the Tōkaidō Main Line, allowing through services to Shinagawa, Yokohama, Odawara and Atami stations.

Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital city of Japan and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of over 14 million residents as of 2023. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and nearby six prefectures, is the most-populous metropolitan area in the world, with 40.8 million residents as of 2023.