One of Tokyo’s greatest appeals is the city’s contradictions — how can a city be both so historic and traditional, and yet so contemporary? The type of accommodation you can find in Tokyo really reflects this, from historic, family-owned ryokans, to luxurious contemporary skyscrapers, quirkily elegant boutique hotels and chic business hotels. Then there’s Tokyo’s neighbourhoods to navigate. From the outside it can be difficult to see which district might suit your needs best (are you looking for somewhere historic, or quite contemporary?), because the differences between Tokyo’s addresses can be pretty big. Our guide will certainly help with this, but in the simplest terms, Shinjuku has the neon lights, Shibuya has nightlife, Asakusa is historic, as is Chiyoda City, Ginza is great for shopping, and Akihabara and Harajuku are known for manga and anime.
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Chiyoda City is the neighbourhood around Tokyo Station — convenient if you want to do a few trips out of Tokyo. The very centre of the district is historic Edo Castle. The neighbourhood stretches about one kilometre in all directions from there, encompassing the National Museum of Modern Art, Yasukuni Shrine, and Hibiya Park. As well as the headquarters of a number of Fortune 500 companies and the home of the Japanese Prime Minister. There are a couple of smart international hotels with outposts within Chiyoda City, but there are also a number of ryokans, and smaller hotels. Chiyoda City is a great place to do a spot of shopping too — don't miss the Marunouchi Building, which is a local landmark that has survived both the Kanto earthquake and the bombings during WW2. Chiyoda City encompasses several other neighbourhoods, including anime and manga centre, Akihabara.
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Akihabara is the neighbourhood around Akihabara Station, within the Chiyoda City area. It is sometimes called Akihabara Electric Town, which comes from the fact Akihabara was a major shopping centre for electronic goods post WW2. It’s still a good place to buy electronic goods, but these days is better known for video games, and anime and manga paraphernalia. Akihabara is also one of the places in Tokyo with ‘maid cafes’, cafes where the staff are something akin to cosplayers, dressed as maids and serving customers as if they were in a home, rather than a public cafe. As well as numerous small anime and manga shops, Akihabara is also known for its gaming halls and street food. On Sunday afternoons the main road, Chuo Dori, is closed to motorised traffic, however even on Sundays Akihabara can feel very frenetic, with lots of people in a very built-up environment, lots of bright colours and advertising featuring larger-than-life anime and manga characters. It’s a central neighbourhood, with great transport links, but there isn’t a huge range of hotels.
The Shinjuku neighbourhood is the Tokyo you have seen on the big screen, a place of bright, colourful lights, skyscrapers, and a kaleidoscopic array of restaurants, bars, clubs and traditional street food. It’s a major business and commercial centre by day, and a major entertainment district at night. Expect a constant tide of people, and expect it to be exciting, whatever time of day or night it is. Shinjuku has some of Tokyo’s biggest and best-known department stores, alongside lots and lots of unique shops. The neighbourhood has some sightseeing highlights too: the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Free Observatory, for example, from where you can see Mt. Fuji, Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden and a big replica of Godzilla’s head! Shinjuku’s Kabukicho district is the busiest for nightlife, but it’s also Tokyo’s red light district, which means hostess bars and love hotels. There are plenty of hotel options in Shinjuku, from the fantastically luxurious, all the way through to capsule hotels and budget options. If you’re looking for food there are lots of choices, but we recommend you check out Ovoid Yokocho, an alleyway lined with tiny yakitori counters - it looks like something straight out of an old film.
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Have you heard of Harajuku? It’s one of Tokyo’s centres of youth fashion and cosplay, and it’s in the Shibuya neighbourhood. Ebisu, known for its many bars and restaurants, is also within Shibuya, as is Omotesandō, an elegantly tree-lined main shopping street, which runs from the Meiji Shrine to Omotesandō Station. If none of these local highlights ring a bell with you, you might still have heard of the Shibuya Scramble Crossing... it’s the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing, with striped walkways across all lanes, and some diagonal crossings too. The neighbourhood has some more renowned cultural attractions too, including several theatrical museums, art museums and art schools, and a concert hall. It also boasts great shopping — and not just in Harajuku. Shibuya has some of Tokyo’s most exciting shopping streets and department stores. There are plenty of places to stay here, along with lots of places to eat, drink and be merry — especially if you enjoy karaoke.
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Ginza is another great neighbourhood for shopping, dining well, and having fun. It has a number of well known department stores and plenty of boutique and luxury shopping; indeed it’s considered one of the world’s great luxury shopping destinations — with many leading international fashion houses having their flagship Tokyo stores here. It’s also a popular place for kimono shopping. Ginza is where you can find Mitsukoshi — which is the department store to visit if you’re planning to visit just one of Tokyo’s department stores. You'll also find several kabuki theatres, art galleries; and numerous well known restaurants — the area is especially well known for sushi, and for French-style patisseries. Ginza is an expensive place to stay, but that buys you some pretty fantastic sights, and super elegant surrounds.
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High end by day, and lively by night, Roppongi is cosmopolitan 24/7, with an atmosphere of anticipation. What will you see at the National Art Centre (it’s the only art museum in Tokyo without a permanent collection, so you never know)? Will you buy that designer handbag? Who will you see at that Michelin starred restaurant? What will they serve in the nightclub and what music will they play? Roppongi is well positioned for seeing all of Tokyo’s highlights, but it has two major centres of its very own: Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown. Roppongi Hills is a skyscraper, so the top floors are dedicated to observation decks and the Mori Art Museum, then the very lowest floors are retail suites, restaurants and bars. Tokyo Midtown is topped by the Tokyo Ritz Carlton, the third floor is entirely occupied by the Suntory Museum of Art, and below those are a number of shopping floors and lots of restaurants. Some of Roppongi’s other daytime, arty highlights include the Galerie Perrotin and Kotaro Nukaga. When it comes to listing potential entertainment for your evenings, the list is long, with additions that vary from traditionally Japanese to very Western — the areas around Roppongi are dotted with embassies, and there’s a big local ex-pat community. There’s quite a lot of luxury accommodation in Roppongi, but pockets of more affordable options too, and it’s a great choice if you really want to experience the 24 hour buzz of Tokyo.
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Little Shiodome is sandwiched between Ginza and Tsukiji, close to Tokyo Bay and the Hamarikyu Gardens. It’s so small that it used to be a railway sidings and terminal, but an impressive set of skyscrapers and European-style buildings grew up here, giving the neighbourhood vertical space — quite a bit of which is used for hotel accommodation, as well as for businesses and restaurants. There are some big-name companies based in the skyscrapers of Shiodome, which keeps the quality of local restaurants and bars high. Shiodome also has its own parks, excellent shopping in the lower levels of its skyscrapers, and a station, so it's a convenient spot to use as a base for exploring the rest of Tokyo.
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Asakusa is centrally located in Tokyo, but it’s also one of the most historic parts of town. The focus of the neighbourhood is the Sensō-ji Buddhist Temple, which is situated at the end of a historic market shopping street called Nakamise — it’s a great place to pick up a snack or a relatively authentic souvenir; think plastic food models, traditional fans and masks, and kokeshi dolls. Asakusa also has several impressive gates, and its shrine, the Asakusa Shrine, has survived since the Edo period. If you like the idea of staying somewhere more historic and reflective, you should head towards Asakusa’s riverside park, Sumida Park. It runs along both sides of the river for several hundred metres and is a well known cherry blossom spot in season. There are lots of ryokan in Asakusa, but there are other accommodation options too, and it’s a great neighbourhood in which to seek out great value accommodation.
Yanaka is another very historic and traditional Tokyo neighbourhood, a place of temples, narrow lanes populated by artisans, and fantastic traditional Japanese restaurants. Yanaka was once known for its artists, writers and artisans, and to some degree it still is. A stroll through the neighbourhood will uncover shops and studios selling hand crafted pottery, textiles, wood carvings, prints and jewellery, for example. And while Asakusa was bombed and rebuilt, Yanaka managed to escape both the ravages of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, and the Allied fire bombing of WWII, so the architecture is genuinely historic. The cemetery is one of the main local attractions: it’s got an impressive list of inhabitants, including feudal leaders, artists and writers. In season the cherry blossoms are spectacular. Yanaka also has a number of small, private galleries, and plenty of little cafes, food stores and restaurants. There’s not a huge range of accommodation, but there are some ryokan, and other smaller properties. Yanaka is just a short stroll from Ueno Park, and Yanaka Cemetery is only 15minutes from the Tokyo National Museum, so you’re not far from the other highlights of Tokyo.
Pros: historic; peaceful; artisan shopping; traditional food and drink
Cons: slightly off central; very residential; limited major sights
Ideal For: history lovers; frequent visitors; living like a local; bohemians; arty types
Between Ginza and Tokyo Station, the Nihonbashi neighbourhood is a business district which grew up around the Nihonbashi bridge. The bridge in its current stone state was built in the Meiji period, but there’s a replica of the original wooden bridge in the Edo Museum, and a half-sized replica of the bridge at the International Terminal of Haneda Airport. Nihonbashi was, and still is, the centre of Japan's commerce — in fact this is where Japan’s very first department stores went up (and still stands!). Today the commercial offering in Nihonbashi features traditional, as well as contemporary pickings. Come here for kimonos, sweets, seaweed, and steel knives. Local landmarks include the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Currency Museum, and the Mitsui Memorial Museum — which is topped by the Mandarin Oriental hotel. Nihonbashi is on the water, so river cruise are a lovely way to explore the area.
