Tokyo First Steps

Areas

Marunouchi

Tree-lined streets, calm cafés and free viewpoints, ending at the moats and stone walls of the Imperial Palace.

  • First morning
  • Architecture
  • Free viewpoints
  • 1 min from the Marunouchi exits

Walk out of the brick side of the station and you are in Marunouchi, the business district that fills the few blocks between the station and the Imperial Palace. It is one of the easiest parts of Tokyo to walk: wide pavements, clear signs, and very little traffic on the main shopping street.

For a first morning in Japan it is a gentle start. Everything here is within fifteen minutes on foot, and most of the best things cost nothing.

What to see

  1. 01

    KITTE rooftop garden

    The former Central Post Office, next to the station, has a free garden on its roof. It looks straight down on the brick station building and the trains behind it.

  2. 02

    Marunouchi Naka-dori

    A stone-paved street lined with trees, sculpture and shop windows, running parallel to the station. In winter the trees are lit in the evenings.

  3. 03

    Gyoko-dori and the palace plaza

    The broad avenue that runs from the station straight toward the palace. Ten minutes brings you to the gravel plaza, the moat and the view of Nijubashi bridge.

  4. 04

    Imperial Palace East Gardens

    The grounds of the former Edo Castle, with its stone foundations and lawns. Entry is free. The gardens close on certain days each week, so check the Imperial Household Agency website before you go.

  5. 05

    Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum

    A red-brick reconstruction of the district's first Western-style office building, now an art museum with a quiet courtyard garden behind it.

Good to know

  • The upper-floor terraces of the Marunouchi and Shin-Marunouchi buildings also face the station and are free to visit.
  • Many cafés open early here, which helps on a jet-lagged first morning.
  • The palace plaza has almost no shade. Carry water in summer.