駅

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 駅まで歩いて十分です。▶ —
   It's 10 minutes on foot to the station.
2. 東京駅で会いましょう。▶ —
   Let's meet at Tokyo Station.

Collocations

Mnemonic

えき — 駅, Sino-Japanese. Sister to the Korean reading yeok. The kanji 駅 (originally 驛) named the old East Asian post station — a place where horses rested and travellers changed mounts. In the railway age the character stayed put while the contents changed: horses gone, trains in. The word now means 'railway station'. A Japanese 駅 is not just a station. It is a city centre, a meeting point, a shopping and dining hub. Saying "let's meet at 東京駅" isn't enough — you usually specify the exit: 東京駅八重洲口 Yaesu-guchi. 駅前 ekimae (in front of the station) is itself a noun, naming a whole zone of Japanese urban life. The Korean reading yeok is sister to the onyomi えき, and you meet the character again in Mandarin Roots, as 驛.

Quick check

1. "I meet a friend at the station" — correct particle?

   • 駅で友達に会います (correct, ~で venue + ~に person)
   • 駅に友達に (~に twice, awkward)
   • 駅を友達と (wrong particles)
   • 駅から (= "from station", different)