Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

Tokyo

　　Tokyo's city hall – a landmark building designed by Tange Kenzō – has observatories (202m) atop both the south and north towers of Building 1 (the views are virtually the same). On a clear day (morning is best), you may catch a glimpse of Mt Fuji beyond the urban sprawl...

Tokyo Midtown

Tokyo

　　This sleek complex, where escalators ascend alongside waterfalls of rock and glass, brims with sophisticated shops. Most notable is the selection of homewares and lifestyle boutiques, including The Cover Nippon and Wise-Wise, which carry works by Japanese designers and artisans, on the 3rd floor of the Galleria section. 　　The Suntory...

Roppongi Hills

Tokyo

　　Roppongi Hills sets the standard for 21st-century real-estate developments in Tokyo. The centrepiece of the office, shopping, dining and entertainment complex is the 54-storey Mori Tower, home to the Mori Art Museum and theTokyo City View observatory. Scattered around are several public artworks, such as Louise Bourgeois’ giant, spiny Maman...

Mag's Park

Tokyo

　　The rooftop of the Magnet by Shibuya 109 department store has the best views over Shibuya's famous scramble crossing. It's screened with plexiglass, so you can get good photos without having to worry about losing anything over the edge. To enter, look for the doors at the back of the...

Godzilla Head

Tokyo

　　Godzilla, a portmanteau of the Japanese words for gorilla (gorira) and whale (kujira), is king of the kaijū (strange beasts) that ruled Japanese popular cinema for decades. This giant statue of him looking to take a bit out of a skyscraper is a (relatively new) Shinjuku landmark. Every so often...

Yanaka-reien

Tokyo

　　One of Tokyo’s largest graveyards, Yanaka-reien is the final resting place of more than 7000 souls, many of whom were quite well known in their day. It’s also where you’ll find the tomb of Yoshinobu Tokugawa (徳川慶喜の墓), the last shogun. Come spring it is also a popular cherry-blossom-viewing spot. ...

National Diet

Tokyo

　　Free one-hour tours of parts of Japan's parliament building and grounds are available when the Diet is not in session (ring the day before to confirm). The tours take in the public gallery, the emperor’s room (from where he addresses the Diet at the start of each session) and the...

Advertising Museum Tokyo

Tokyo

　　If you see advertising as art, this museum is a spectacle. Run by Dentsu, Japan’s largest advertising agency, this fine collection runs from woodblock-printed handbills from the Edo period via sumptuous art nouveau and art deco Meiji- and Taishō-era works to the best of today. There's English signage throughout, and...

Arashio Stable

Tokyo

　　Sumo wrestlers live and practice in a heya (somewhat weirdly translated as 'stable'). Only some allow visitors to watch keiko (practice) and then admission is usually limited to official fan club members. Arashio-beya is unusually open: anyone can watch through the street side window – which offers an incredible close-up...

Myth of Tomorrow

Tokyo

　　Okamoto Tarō's mural, Myth of Tomorrow (1967), was commissioned by a Mexican luxury hotel but went missing two years later. It finally turned up in 2003 and, in 2008, the haunting 30m-long work, which depicts the atomic bomb exploding over Hiroshima, was installed inside Shibuya Station. It's on the 2nd...

Yasukuni-jinja

Tokyo

　　Literally ‘For the Peace of the Country Shrine’, Yasukuni is the memorial shrine to Japan’s war dead, around 2.5 million souls. First built in 1869, it is a peaceful and green place but also incredibly controversial: in 1979, 14 class-A war criminals, including WWII general Hideki Tōjō, were enshrined here....

National Art Center Tokyo

Tokyo

　　Designed by Kurokawa Kishō, this architectural beauty has no permanent collection, but boasts the country’s largest exhibition space for visiting shows, which have included Renoir and Modigliani. A visit here is recommended to admire the building's awesome undulating glass facade, its cafes atop giant inverted cones and the great gift...

Happō-en

Tokyo

　　Three centuries ago this garden, with strolling paths around a large pond (home to many carp), was the backyard of a vassal to the shogun. Today its the grounds of a swank banquet hall, but usually anyone can enter (some areas are occasionally roped off for weddings). Pick up the...

Statue of Liberty

Tokyo

　　A very popular photo-op, with the Rainbow Bridge in the background, is this 11m-tall replica of Lady Liberty, a fixture on Odaiba's waterfront since 1998. 　　France's original replica from 1889 was moved from Île aux Cygnes in Paris to Odaiba to celebrate Franco-Japanese ties. But the statue was so popular...

Inokashira-kōen

Tokyo

　　One of Tokyo's best parks, Inokashira-kōen has a big pond in the middle flanked by woodsy strolling paths. A highlight is Inokashira Benzaiten, a shrine to one of Japan's eight lucky gods. (Benzaiten is actually the octet's sole goddess; she's also the Japanese incarnation of the Hindi goddess Sarasvati and...

Hotel New Ōtani Japanese Garden

Tokyo

　　Nonguests are welcome to visit Hotel New Ōtani's beautiful 400-year-old Japanese garden, which once belonged to a Tokugawa regent. Including vermilion arched bridges, koi (carp) ponds and a waterfall, it is one of Tokyo's most enchanting outdoor spaces. Return in the evening to see the garden illuminated with LED lights....

Beer Museum Yebisu

Tokyo

　　Photos, vintage bottles and posters document the rise of Yebisu, and beer in general, in Japan at this small museum located where the actual Yebisu brewery stood from the late 19th century until 1988. At the ‘tasting salon’ you can sample four kinds of Yebisu beer (¥400 each or three...

Yoyogi-kōen

Tokyo

　　If it’s a sunny and warm weekend afternoon, you can count on there being a crowd lazing around the large grassy expanse that is Yoyogi-kōen. You'll usually find revellers and noisemakers of all stripes, from hula-hoopers to African drum circles to retro greasers dancing around a boom box. It’s an...

Rikugi-en

Tokyo

　　Considered by many to be Tokyo's most elegant garden, Rikugi-en was originally completed in 1702, at the behest of a feudal lord. It is definitely the most highbrow, designed to evoke scenes from classical literature and mythology. But no context is necessary to appreciate the wooded walkways, stone bridges, central...

Edo-Tokyo Museum

Tokyo

　　Edo-Tokyo Museum is closed for renovations until the end of 2025, although you can still visit the museum virtually. 　　Tokyo's history museum documents the city's transformation from tidal flatlands to feudal capital to modern metropolis via detailed scale recreations of townscapes, villas, and tenement homes, plus artefacts such as ukiyo-e...

Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku

Tokyo

　　The entrance to this castle-like structure by Nakamura Hiroshi is a dizzying hall of mirrors (which makes for a great photo); there’s a roof garden on top. ...

Omote-sandō

Tokyo

　　This broad, tree-lined boulevard is lined with boutiques from the top European fashion houses. More interesting are the buildings themselves, designed by some of the biggest names in Japanese architecture. There's no better (or more convenient) place to gain an overview of Japan's current sense of design. Highlights include the...

Ryōgoku Kokugikan

Tokyo

　　If you’re in town when a tournament is on, don't miss the chance to catch the big boys of Japanese wrestling in action at the country's largest sumo stadium. The main spectacle starts 3.40pm when the makuuchi (top division) wrestlers parade into the ring. Advanced tickets must be purchased through...

Tsukiji Market

Tokyo

　　Tokyo's main wholesale market may have moved to Toyosu, but there are many reasons to visit its old home. The tightly packed rows of vendors (which once formed the Outer Market) hawk market and culinary-related goods, such as dried fish, seaweed, kitchen knives, rubber boots and crockery. It's also a...

Kabukiza

Tokyo

　　The flamboyant facade of this venerable theatre is fitting for the extravagant dramatic flourishes that are integral to the traditional performing art of kabuki. Check the website for performance details and to book tickets; you'll also find an explanation about cheaper one-act, day seats. 　　A full kabuki performance comprises three...

Toyosu Market

Tokyo

　　In 2018, Tokyo's central wholesale market moved from its iconic Tsukiji location to this new facility in Toyosu, a structure clearly dreamed up by bureaucrats. The early-morning tuna auction and other parts of the market can be viewed by the public from glass-walled viewing platforms; entry to the market floor...

Meiji-jingū

Tokyo

　　Tokyo’s grandest Shintō shrine is dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken, whose reign (1868–1912) coincided with Japan's transformation from isolationist, feudal state to modern nation. Constructed in 1920, the shrine was destroyed in WWII air raids and rebuilt in 1958; however, unlike so many of Japan’s postwar reconstructions,...

Sensō-ji

Tokyo

　　Tokyo’s most visited temple enshrines a golden image of Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy), which, according to legend, was miraculously pulled out of the nearby Sumida-gawa by two fishermen in AD 628. The image has remained on the spot ever since but is never on public display. The present...

Imperial Palace

Tokyo

　　The Imperial Palace occupies the site of the original Edo-jō, the Tokugawa shogunate's castle. In its heyday this was the largest fortress in the world, though little remains today apart from the moat and stone walls. Most of the 3.4-sq-km complex is off limits, as this is the emperor's home,...

Shibuya Crossing

Tokyo

　　Rumoured to be the busiest intersection in the world (and definitely in Japan), Shibuya Crossing is like a giant beating heart, sending people in all directions with every pulsing light change. Nowhere else says ‘Welcome to Tokyo’ better than this. Hundreds of people – and at peak times upwards of...

teamLab Borderless

Tokyo

　　This exhibition has closed. Please see teamLab's website for information about future installations. 　　Digital-art collective teamLab has created 60 artworks for this museum, open in 2018, that tests the border between art and the viewer: many are interactive. Not sure how? That's the point – go up to the artworks,...

Golden Gai

Tokyo

　　Golden Gai – a Shinjuku institution for over half a century – is a collection of tiny bars, often literally no bigger than a closet and seating maybe a dozen. Each is as unique and eccentric as the ‘master’ or ‘mama’ who runs it. In a sense, Golden Gai, which...

Ghibli Museum

Tokyo

　　This museum is the heart of the Studio Ghibli world, a beloved (even 'adored') film studio responsible for classic, critically-acclaimed animated titles like Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, Ponyo and Princess Mononoke, among countless others. Unlike Disney World, this is a museum, not a theme park, but the levels of...

Tokyo National Museum

Tokyo

　　If you visit only one museum in Tokyo, make it the Tokyo National Museum. Here you'll find the world's largest collection of Japanese art, including ancient pottery, Buddhist sculptures, samurai swords, colourful ukiyo-e (woodblock prints), gorgeous kimonos and much, much more. 　　Touring the museumVisitors with only a couple of hours...