Two sides, two names
Marunouchi is the brick side facing the palace. Yaesu is the modern side facing Nihombashi and Ginza. Every sign in the station uses one of the two.
A first-timer's guide · Tokyo Station · Marunouchi · Nihombashi · Ginza
Your first steps in Tokyo start at the station.
A clear, independent guide to the four districts around Tokyo Station: what to see, how to walk between them, and the small things that make a first day in Japan easier.
Start here
Three things to know before you arrive
Everything is walkable
The four districts sit within about two kilometres of each other. You can see all of them in one unhurried day without using a train.
Most of the best is free
The station domes, a rooftop garden, the palace grounds, the bridge and Ginza's main street cost nothing to enjoy.
The four districts
One station, four different Tokyos
東京駅
Tokyo Station
Where most first trips begin
A 1914 red-brick landmark on one side, bullet trains on the other, and a small city of food and shops in between.
You are here丸の内Marunouchi
Between the station and the palace
Tree-lined streets, calm cafés and free viewpoints, ending at the moats and stone walls of the Imperial Palace.
1 min from the Marunouchi exits日本橋Nihombashi
The old merchant quarter
The bridge every road in Japan was once measured from, and family shops that have sold tea, paper and sweets for centuries.
10 min from the Yaesu / Nihombashi exits銀座Ginza
Tokyo's grand shopping street
Flagship stores, department store food halls and tiny galleries, with the main street closed to traffic on weekend afternoons.
15–20 min from the Yaesu South exitOrientation
How it all fits together
The palace is to the west and the old merchant town to the east, with the railway running north to south between them. Once you know which side of the tracks you are on, the rest is easy.
Before you land
Airport to station, tickets, luggage, manners
The practical questions every first-time visitor asks, answered in plain English on one page.
Read the essentials