Roppongi
(六本木) In the day time, Roppongi has the feature of a sophisticated urban area, with various highlights such as art museums, good quality shops and restaurants, and entertainment spots. And in the night time, the town turns into the red-light street, one of the best places in Tokyo to enjoy night hours in bars, restaurants, clubs, and so on. Shiba Park quarter where Tokyo Tower located also has a historical temple, Zojo-ji. If you have time and interest, then it’s worth visiting.
Roppongi Hills
六本木ヒルズ Dating from 628, Senso-ji Temple is the oldest and the representative temple in Tokyo. Proud of splendid architectures constructed postwar, because original ones are gone during the war. The huge Japanese lantern and gate, called Kaminari-mon are the famous place to take a memorial photo in Asakusa. Once you go through Kaminari-mon, you will enter a traditional and lively shopping street, Nakamise street, which stretches to the main temple building and is full of total 89 Japanese snacks/sweets stores. 30 million visitors visit this temple per year, you will be surprised at the crowds in Nakamise street on holidays and weekends.
Mori Art Museum
森美術館 Located on the observatory floor of the 53rd floor of Roppongi Hills, the contemporary art museum has exciting special exhibitions always which foreigners would find attractive such as anime, manga, movie, fashion, design, and others.
Tokyo Midtown
東京ミッドタウン Along with Roppongi Hills, Tokyo Midtown is another landmark in Roppongi which incorporates 130 or more upscale commercial stores and restaurants, The Ritz Carlton Hotel, cultural facility, garden, and museum, 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT. Good place to enjoy gourmet, shopping and art. In the winter season, Christmas lights in a garden are beautiful.
The National Art Center, Tokyo
新東京国立美術館 Along with Mori Art Museum and 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, the huge national art museum composes the triangle of the art in Roppongi. There are many collections exhibited in the graceful architecture designed by the famous architect, Kisho Kurokawa. Proud of Japan’s largest exhibition area and variety of exhibitions.
Mōri Garden
毛利庭園 Located in the area of Roppongi Hills, the traditional Japanese garden dating from 1650 offers an evacuation from the hustle and bustle in Roppongi, with greenery, waterfall, and river surrounding the pond, which changes beautifully in four seasons.
Tokyo Tower
東京タワー Constructed in the year of 1958, Tokyo Tower with 333m in height used to be the highest radio tower in Japan. On the 150m observatory and 250m special observatory, you can enjoy a panoramic view of Tokyo. A commercial complex is situated at the foot of the tower. Renewal-opened in Sep of 2019 and prices have been updated as follows.
Zojō-ji Temple
増上寺 With 600 years of history, this temple is the burial place of Shogun of Tokugawa Shogunate, the former ruler of Edo (Tokyo) district. Since not much historical site left in Tokyo besides Asakusa, it’s an excellent place to enjoy spiritual moments in serene temple ground, viewing ancient architectures constructed hundreds of years ago and historical assets in a treasure house.
Shiba Tōshōgu
芝東照宮 Tōshōgu is the shrine which worships Ieyasu Tokugawa, the first Shogun (General) of Edo Shogunate, and Shiba Tōshōgu is counted as the four greatest Tōshōgus, along with Nikkō, Kunoyuma and Ueno Tōshōgu. The original buildings were constructed in the year of 1617 but burned by the air strike during WW2 except for the large Icho tree (ginkgo tree). Current buildings were rebuilt in the year of 1969.
Shibuya
(渋谷) The epicenter of fashion and the mecca of shopping, Shibuya, is well-known for the huge scramble crossing where the world’s largest number of people walk per one cross. Centering on Shibuya station, there are many shopping complexes where you can find the up-to-date Japanese culture and high-quality products.
Shibuya Scramble Crossing
渋谷スクランブル交差点 Situated at the right front of Shibuya station, the world’s most famous crossing is known for the world’s most significant number of people crossing in a single time, at most 3,000 people per cross, and 1.5 million per a week. Night time and weekend would be the best timing for seeing the maximum situation.
Shibuya Center Gai Street
センター街 The busy shopping street is filled with restaurants, cafes, fast food restaurants, apparel stores, gaming arcade, and other stores.
Spain slope
スペイン坂 Shibuya’s one of the representative cultural streets has many good items and restaurants, popular for young people. The bit chaotic scenery is somehow photogenic.
Shibuya Izakaya alleys (Nonbei-yokocho)
渋谷呑んべい横丁 In spite of the convenient location like the center of Shibuya, there is the retro and atmospheric izakaya alley where you can feel like time-traveling. Dozens of izakaya offer various local cuisines at reasonable prices, and nowadays, it’s prevalent for International travelers.
© 2020