Central TOKYO GUIDE
The moving time by car of TOKYO.
Ginza and Yurakucho
The Ginza (銀座) is Tokyo's most famous upmarket shopping, dining and entertainment district, featuring numerous department stores, boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, night clubs and cafes.
The Yurakucho (有楽町, Yūrakuchō) district lies one stop south of Tokyo Station along the JR Yamanote Line. Together with the adjacent Ginza district, Yurakucho offers a wealth of shopping and dining opportunities. Yet at the same time, Yurakucho has a more approachable, relaxed atmosphere than its upscale neighbor, and parts of it maintain a charming, old neighborhood feel.
Tsukiji Fish market
Tsukiji Market (築地市場, Tsukiji Shijō) is a large wholesale market for fish, fruits and vegetables in central Tokyo. It is the most famous of over ten wholesale markets that handle the distribution of fish, meat, produce and flowers in Tokyo.
Tsukiji Market is best known as one of the world's largest fish markets, handling over 2,000 tons of marine products per day. It is scheduled to move to a new site in Toyosu in November 2016.
Nihonbashi
Nihonbashi (日本橋, literally "Japan Bridge") is a city district of Tokyo, just north of Ginza and northeast of Marunouchi and Tokyo Station. The bridge, after which the district is named, has been the kilometer zero marker for Japan's national highway network since the early Edo Period.
Akihabara
Akihabara (秋葉原), also called Akiba after a former local shrine, is a district in central Tokyo that is famous for its many electronics shops. In more recent years, Akihabara has gained recognition as the center of Japan's otaku (diehard fan) culture, and many shops and establishments devoted to anime and manga are now dispersed among the electronic stores in the district. On Sundays, Chuo Dori, the main street through the district, is closed to car traffic from 13:00 to 18:00 (until 17:00 from October through March).
Ueno
Ueno(上野), Ueno Park and the Ameyoko shopping street are located next to the Ueno station. Several suburban train lines commence at Ueno Station.
Asakusa
Asakusa (浅草) is the center of Tokyo's shitamachi (literally "low city"), one of Tokyo's districts, where an atmosphere of the Tokyo of past decades survives.
Roppongi
Roppongi (六本木, lit. "six trees") is a district in Tokyo that is well known as the city's most popularnightlife district among foreigners, offering a large number of foreigner friendly bars, restaurants and night clubs. Roppongi and the surrounding districts of Azabu, Hiroo and Akasaka are home to many embassies and a large expat community.
Shibuya
Shibuya (渋谷) is one of the twenty-three city wards of Tokyo, but often refers to just the popular shopping and entertainment area found around Shibuya Station. In this regard, Shibuya is one ofTokyo's most colorful and busy districts, packed with shopping, dining and nightclubs serving swarms of visitors that come to the district everyday.
Harajuku and Omotesando
Harajuku (原宿) refers to the area around Tokyo's Harajuku Station, which is between Shinjuku and Shibuya on the Yamanote Line. It is the center of Japan's most extreme teenage cultures and fashion styles, but also offers shopping for adults and some historic sights. Omotesando(表参道), known as Tokyo's Champs-Elysees, is a tree lined avenue with upscale boutiques, cafes and several leading designer brand shops. Takeshita Dori, on the other hand, is a center of youth fashion and counter culture found along a narrow street crammed with shops and cafes targeting the younger, teenage crowd.
Shinjuku
Shinjuku (新宿) is one of the 23 city wards of Tokyo, but the name commonly refers to just the large entertainment, business and shopping area around Shinjuku Station.
Odaiba
Odaiba (お台場) is a popular shopping and entertainment district on a man made island in Tokyo Bay. It originated as a set of small man made fort islands (daiba literally means "fort"), which were built towards the end of the Edo Period (1603-1868) to protect Tokyo against possible attacks from the sea and specifically in response to the gunboat diplomacy of Commodore Perry.