All roads in Tokyo – be it mainly underground – lead to Tokyo Station. The city’s most beautiful train station is one of Japan’s main travel hubs. Most of the Shinkansen bullet trains stop here, and they’re always right on time. Opposite the station – shielded by a forest of skyscrapers and surrounded by timeless gardens – lies the Imperial Palace.
Unlike places such as Amsterdam, Brussels and maybe even New York, Tokyo doesn’t really have one city centre to which most of the attention is drawn. The Japanese capital can best be imagined as an endless sea of residential districts, office buildings and 7-Elevens. From this sea the occasional island rises, serving as a nerve centre for a myriad of activities. Shinjuku, Shibuya and Asakusa are such islands, as are Akihabara, Harajuku, Ueno and a handful of others. Tokyo has a dozen or more of these “downtowns”, and almost all of them have unique characteristics. There might not be a real city centre, but there is an official geographical one. That would be Nihonbashi Bridge (literal translation: Japan Bridge). This stone bridge has stood here for over 400 years in all kinds of iterations, and used to be the main access road to old Edo (the original city name). Even today it’s used as a zero-mile point from which all distances in Tokyo are measured. Unfortunately, the bridge doesn’t look all too photogenic these days, because in the not so distant past some government bobo decided to build an ugly elevated highway right above it. Fortunately this abomination will be demolished sometime in the next ten years. You’ll have to wait a bit longer for that photo moment, but it’s almost there.
Marunouchi and Tokyo Station: a tour of central Tokyo
Nihonbashi Bridge may be the geographical centre of Tokyo, but the beating heart of the city is nearby Tokyo Station. This isn’t the busiest train station in the capital – not by a longshot: Shinjuku Station serves almost four million commuters every day – but it is the main gateway to the rest of the country. Just about all Shinkansen trains leave from this station to every godforsaken corner of the islands, so anyone traveling from Tokyo to another Japanese destination will pass through here at least once. The station can be found in Marunouchi: a financial district of gleaming towers and malls. Outside of shopping, getting some good food and sipping a latte in a fancy coffee bar, there’s not too much to do for tourists here – although there’s a hidden gem to be found here and there. Fortunately the Imperial Palace lies just opposite the station. Behind its meter-thick walls it’s still home to the Japanese head of state: the world’s only remaining Emperor. The man is called Naruhito and came to power in 2019. Power should be put in big quotation marks though. The position was turned fully ceremonial after WWII. Cutting ribbons is still in the job description though, so why not start with the one around this blog post on the six best sights in Marunouchi? Nice!
1. Tokyo Station: spend some time undergrond
‘Goddamnit, it’s raining. Guess I’ll just have to hang around in Brussels-Central Station for the day.’ This is a sentence that has never been spoken by a non-homeless person in Belgium (and even they don’t like sitting there) but in Tokyo Station it’s an actual option. As in many other large Japanese stations, half a city was built right under it. Tokyo Station is more than just a transportation hub. Entire underground shopping streets full of souvenir shops and chic boutiques are waiting for you; as well as food options that range from bento boxes to fine dining, and with the Tokyo Station Gallery you can even visit an art gallery here. The station has more than thirty exits, but because everything is indicated with names, arrows and symbols (even on the floor) getting lost is an actual mission. The big difference with most other stations in Japan is that Tokyo Station also looks impressive above ground. This is due to the iconic red brick façade. It was designed by Japanese architect Tatsuno Kingo, with Amsterdam-Central Station as inspiration. The building opened in 1914 but was badly damaged during WWII and later rebuilt in a much more modest version. A second renovation was needed – which was only completed in 2012 – before it could once again be admired in its original glory. Better enjoy it, I would say.
2. Tokyo Character Street & Ramen Street: anime en noodles in Tokyo Station
Two streets in particular are worth a visit in the bowels of Tokyo Station. Tokyo Character Street is a collection of more than twenty colourful shops focused on Japanese and international pop culture (read: nerd stuff). Need a stuffed Pikachu, Hello Kitty or even Miffy? They all have their own theme shop (there was a strange amount of military Miffies for sale: I must have missed that book as a toddler). Fans of Harry Potter, Snoopy (Hey Boomer!) and the fantastic Studio Ghibli will also find everything their little hearts desire. If all that shopping made you hungry, you can relocated to nearby Ramen Street. This is an extremely popular hallway with eight (good) restaurants that exclusively serve ramen bowls. Everything is very streamlined: queue up, order from the vending machine at the entrance, give a ticket to the waiter, sit down and start slurping. If you don’t want to starve, it’s best to avoid peak hours.
3. The Imperial Palace and Imperial Palace East Gardens
The Imperial Palace of Japan was built on the foundations of the old Edo Castle – where the Shogun used to rule from – but the current buildings are quite recent. They were finished in the sixties after the previous palace was razed to the ground during WWII (which is pretty much the story of all of Tokyo). There are guided tours through the palace grounds twice a day, but you’re not allowed to enter any of the buildings (I didn’t book one: reviews were mixed). The only original buildings left are the watchtowers and the outer walls, which can be admired without a tour. For the best point of view, you’ll have to cross a parking lot and walk towards Nijubashi Bridge, where you can take the picture above. What you can actually visit (not on Mondays or Fridays), completely free of charge nonetheless, are the Imperial Palace East Gardens. They serve as a Tokyo version of Central Park and are very pleasant to explore. You can climb a few foundations of the old castle, the Imperial Collection is exhibited in a museum and there are a few beautiful Japanese gardens to wander through. The koi in the ponds were personally bred by the previous emperor.
4. Fraternise with an Imperial heron
When I decided to walk back to the Imperial Gardens from Ginza’s bustling shopping streets, I did so along the moat separating the palace grounds from the rest of the city. This is a wide body of water, running all around the grounds. It appears to be clean as well, because you can always see several white herons fishing from the quayside. These birds have become so accustomed to humans they’ll hardly notice you and will continue to scan the water for silvery snacks without a bother. And thus I spent half an hour sitting next to my new heron friend, taking pictures and pretending we were fishing together. Quite soothing and the ideal remedy for the occasional loneliness every megacity brings.
5. Intermediatheque: curiosity cabinet in a mall
About ten years ago, KITTE was opened in the old Marunouchi Post Office near Tokyo Station: a slick mall of which there are dozens in Tokyo. More interesting is what you can visit on the second and third floors. Intermediatheque is a unique and free museum, used by the University of Tokyo to exhibit artefacts from their collection. In a stately setting, you’ll see everything from Egyptian mummies, African musical instruments, Roman coins and vintage scientific instruments to a whole bunch of taxidermized animals and skeletons from the faculty of biology. There’s a giraffe, a whale, a prancing draft horse and a huge crocodile crawling on the wall near the entrance. Most special might be the skeleton of a moa: a flightless bird from New Zealand about two ostriches in size. Unfortunately the whole species got eaten almost instantly when the Maori discovered the islands. Interesting place for a visit, with a nice view on the station.
There are two larger museums in the station area. I didn’t visit them myself (choices needed to be made) but I’ll go over them briefly. The Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum is a classic red brick building surrounded by skyscrapers. It was demolished in the sixties and rebuilt with the original plans forty years later. It primarily showcases Western art from around the 1900s: Van Gogh, Monet and Renoir for example. The National Museum of Modern Art is Japan’s most important modern art museum. It focuses on Japanese art from the last 200 years.
6. The Marunouchi Building: a free observation platform over Tokyo
The Marunouchi Building is a skyscraper housing offices, a mall and several restaurants, one of which is on the top floor. If you’d like to enjoy a view over the area without having to pay for a five-course meal, this building has you covered as well. Simply take the elevator to the 35th floor, take a seat on a cosy sofa and watch the sun bleed out over the city and the Imperial Palace below. As you can see in my picture, you’ll have to deal with a bunch of reflections on the glass caused by light from inside the building. For the perfect image, you’ll have to buy one of those silly looking blackout jackets to put around your lens while you press it against the window. I haven’t bothered yet, but they exist.
Travel tips for Tokyo: hotels, tours and public transport
**Disclaimer: This section contains a number of (useful) affiliate links. This means that if you book a hotel or tour through a referral on this page, I’ll receive a small compensation for it, so I can put food on the table without having to beg for it in the train station. It won’t cost you even an extra cent, so why hesitate? Thank you in advance!**
Where you stay in Tokyo doesn’t really matter that much and depends on your budget and interests. Make sure you’re close to a metro station though. It’ll save you plenty of time every day and apart from the occasional bus, you don’t need to use any other means of transport. I found all my hotels in Japan on Booking.com.
You can book a lot of interesting activities, guided tours and food experiences in Tokyo. For a complete overview, take a look at GetYourGuide.
Buy a local eSIM card before you get to Japan, you’ll need it. I’ve been using Airalo for years. This is an app that lets you buy data in almost every country on the planet. It just takes a couple of clicks. Install the sim at home and activate it after landing: that’s it. You really need mobile data in Japan, so you can use Google Maps to navigate through the subway system in real time. Google will tell you which train to take when, which carriage is best for your transfer and which exit you need to use to get to your destination fastest. Without online help you’re almost guaranteed to get lost.
You’ll need a Suica Card to use public transport smoothly. The Welcome Suica Card is specifically catered to tourists and can be ordered online. You can top up the card with cash in any station, and it works in other Japanese cities as well. The Suica Card also serves as an electronic wallet. The Japanese economy is surprisingly cash-focused, so if you don’t pay with your Suica Card, you’ll be carrying around a whole pouch of nearly unusable coins after a couple of days.
If you plan to visit a lot of different cities with the Shinkansen bullet train, it’s best to buy a Japan Rail Pass (book it here directly). You’ll have to do this from home and long before your departure, because they’ll actually send you the pass by mail and you can’t buy one in Japan. If you’re only visiting three or four cities like I did, it might be better to buy separate tickets on the spot – you’ll have to do the math to see which option is preferable. JR-passes can be booked here. Don’t want to bother with all of this and looking for a tailor-made trip (either individually or in a group) instead? Check out Japan Experience: they offer plenty of wonderful itineraries throughout the entire country.
7-Eleven and Lawson are every budget traveller’s friend. These convenience stores (“konbini” in Japanese) are on almost every street corner and many of them are open 24/7. Unlike in the rest of the world, they actually offer decent microwave meals (they’ll warm them up for you for free), delicious pastries and deserts and lots of adventurous stuff I was too afraid to try. Supermarkets are cheaper still, but they’re closed at night. 7-Elevens always have an ATM in store, accepting all foreign cards. You’ll want to use these, because plenty of other places won’t be as compliant.
EU citizens do not need a visa to enter Japan for trips up to ninety days. You could basically leave tomorrow should you want to. The yen is historically low these days, so now is the time.
Ready for more Tokyo? Read my articles on Akihabara, Asakusa, Harajuku, Ueno and Ginza next.
Looking for another Asian Trip? Read my blog posts on Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore and Hanoi. Would you rather go to Texas? Read my posts on Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.
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