The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, is one of the country’s biggest and most important art museums. Centrally located, the museum’s superlative collection of modern and contemporary Japanese art provides a journey through the development of modern Japan, from the late 19th century to today.
Ginza Six is a high-end retail complex in Ginza, boasting over 240 shops, making it one of the largest shopping malls in the area. You can easily spend a whole day here exploring the stores, restaurants, bars, and incredible basement food hall, where small-batch makers create exquisite sweets and desserts. The esteemed Kanze Noh Theater is on-site too.
With over 85 million annual passengers, Haneda Airport—also known as Tokyo International Airport—is Japan’s busiest airport and handles all of Tokyo’s domestic flights plus a smaller number of international flights. The airport is also home to Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, as well as several low-cost carriers.
LEGOLAND® Discovery Center is an indoor amusement park in Tokyo’s waterfront Odaiba district. The center houses more than three million LEGO® bricks, as well as attractions including a Miniland Tokyo—a dioramic cityscape filled with mini reconstructions of some of Tokyo’s most famous landmarks—a 4D movie theater, and themed rides. It’s an ideal family-friendly attraction that’s usually restricted to families with kids, though it sometimes hosts adults-only nights.
Designed by architect Ando Tadao and fashion designer Issey Miyake, this bold glass and concrete building is an architectural attraction in itself, with much of the exhibition space set underground. The museum focuses on the theme of everyday life, offering exhibitions and workshops that highlight fashion, technology, and reimagined ordinary objects. The displays encourage visitors to look at familiar items in new ways and to appreciate the creativity behind items often overlooked.
The Mt. Takao Cable Car is actually a funicular railway that transports visitors halfway up the 1,965-foot (599-meter) mountain. Many visitors like to hike up—which takes about 1.5 hours—but the cable car is a quicker, less strenuous alternative. On the way up, you’ll see beautiful forest, and Mt. Takao’s summit affords sweeping views of the mountains of the Meiji no Mori Takao Quasi-National Park.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) opened with the mission to research, collect, preserve, and display contemporary art from Japan and around the world. It’s one of the largest modern and contemporary art museums in Japan, with three floors of temporary exhibitions, and two floors housing the MOT Collection exhibitions, with artwork that spans from 1945 to the present day.
Although cat fanatics might be misled by its name, Cat Street Tokyo is all about fashion, not felines. This mostly pedestrianized street runs between Harajuku and Shibuya in central Tokyo, and attracts the “cool cats” of fashion with its trendy boutiques and designer shops. It offers an unpretentious, relaxed, and eclectic shopping experience, without the crowds you expect in Harajuku.
Established in the late 19th century, Shiba Park (Shiba Koen) is one of Japan’s oldest public parks. It’s best known for the distinctive red-and-white Tokyo Tower looming over it. The park is a refreshing green space in the central city, and it’s a great place to take a walk while in this part of Tokyo. As you stroll, you’ll see trees like zelkova and gingko, seasonal flowers and blossoms, and a temple.
DiverCity Tokyo Plaza is a shopping and entertainment complex on the artificial island of Odaiba in Tokyo Bay. The mall features a wide range of Japanese and international clothing stores, a large food court, Japanese souvenir shops, and family-friendly attractions. Known for its full-size Gundam statue outside, it’s a great spot to shop, dine, or take a break while exploring Odaiba’s futuristic sights.
A short trip from central Tokyo, the Railway Museum is a must-do for train enthusiasts and families with kids. The 3-story museum includes everything from 19th-century carriages to contemporary Shinkansen bullet trains. Explore the hands-on exhibits, and try out the steam locomotive simulator.
Nissan Crossing is the main showroom for Nissan Intelligent Mobility, where you can see interactive exhibits that feature notable vehicles, as well as advanced technology and even a 4D racing simulator. For fun, the on-site Crossing Cafe has coffee with custom latte art, which can be your favorite Nissan car or even something personalized.
Situated next to the Jindaiji Temple, the Jindai Botanical Gardens are famous for having one of Tokyo’s biggest rose gardens, featuring over 5,200 rose bushes. Divided into 30 themed areas, gardening enthusiasts and nature lovers flock to this natural wonder to see everything from azaleas to aquatic plants and over 100,000 trees and shrubs. It also plays a key role in conservation, protecting native trees from the Musashino Plain.
Sunshine 60 is a skyscraper in central Tokyo with a 60th-floor observatory deck. The views of the surrounding city from 823 feet (251 meters) above are spectacular, and its central-city location in Ikebukuro makes it a good place to fit into your itinerary between shopping and dining. Visit during the day or at night with kids or friends for sweeping views, especially when the weather’s clear.
Yebisu Garden Place is a multibuilding commercial complex in central Tokyo’s Ebisu neighborhood, where you’ll find restaurants, shops, hotels, and museums, including the Museum of Yebisu Beer and the small Tokyo Photographic Art Museum. Like other cities-within-the-city, it offers a convenient way to enjoy several kinds of experiences in one location.
At Ginza Mitsukoshi in Tokyo’s Ginza district, experience one of Japan’s oldest surviving department store chains, founded in 1673. This upscale shopper’s heaven features 12 floors of luxury fashion, accessories, toys, childrenswear, cosmetics, and household goods. Don’t miss the large food hall with gourmet items, offering both a visual and culinary feast.
Located in Tokyo’s lively Ebisu district, the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum is dedicated to the art of photography and moving images. Spanning four floors, it showcases rotating themed exhibitions rather than permanent displays, which keeps the experience fresh for repeat visitors. With a collection of over 37,000 pieces, the museum showcases both the work of Japanese and international artists, with exhibitions typically running for a few months at a time.
Ginza Wako is a prestigious department store offering high-end goods, including luxury watches, handbags, jewelry, and fashion items. As well as coming to shop, visitors flock here to capture photos of the iconic Hattori Clock Tower—which dates back to 1932 and has even appeared in the Godzilla movies. You’ll also find an art gallery and gourmet chocolate and tea shops.
While you may assume that the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery features works related to the musical genre, it gets its name from the cultural complex in which it’s located: Tokyo Opera City. The gallery features an array of modern art from Japanese and international artists, spanning a range of themes and genres, from painting and sculpture to photography and fashion.
In Tokyo’s Asakusa neighborhood—a traveler favorite for its old temples and traditional charm—you’ll find this pedestrianized street that runs east–west, intersecting with the busier north–south Nakamise Shopping Street. Although this area was badly damaged during World War II, it’s been reconstructed in the loose style of Edo-era Tokyo (spanning the 17th-19th centuries).
Get a peek at the Japanese Imperial family’s art collection, including paintings, calligraphy scrolls, ceramics, and lacquerware, at this Tokyo museum. The nearly 10,000-strong collection spans artwork from around the world, but is primarily focused on Japan, with masterpieces from every era of the nation’s history.
Tokyo’s Asakusa neighborhood is beloved for its traditional charm and historic temples and shrines. Adding another element of tradition is the Asakusa Engei Hall, one of only four theaters in Tokyo where rakugo comedy is performed. While the art form was especially popular during the Edo period (17th–19th centuries), rakugo has only been staged at Engei Hall since the 1960s.
The centrally located Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo feels like a step away from the hustle and bustle of city life, primarily because of its traditional Japanese garden. Striking in every season, the garden reveals cherry blossoms in the spring, hydrangeas and fireflies in the summer, migrating birds and colorful foliage in the fall, and camellias in the winter. You need to be staying, dining, or otherwise using the facilities at the hotel to visit the garden.
Located within the Maison Hermès fashion boutique in Ginza, Maison Hermès Le Forum is a contemporary exhibition space designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. This stylish glass-brick building is flooded with light and hosts rotating art exhibitions that showcase work by both Japanese and international artists. It’s a fascinating place for architecture and art fans alike.
Shiseido Gallery—run by the cosmetics company Shiseido—is known for being one of the oldest operating art galleries in Japan, dating back to 1919. It features exhibitions that showcase the work of contemporary Japanese artists and is a fantastic place to discover emerging talent. With its constantly changing displays, it's an essential stop for anyone interested in exploring Japan's evolving art scene.
Here’s one for the cat lovers: Tokyo’s Imado Shrine (Imado Jinja) is dedicated to maneki neko, the waving feline figurines that welcome you into almost every shop and restaurant in Japan. The shrine actually dates back to the 11th century and was originally dedicated to the Shinto god of war, but over time has become associated with the beckoning cats.
While the name doesn’t give this away, Tokyo’s Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art focuses on French artist Georges-Henri Rouault, known for his early 20th-century works. His pieces are displayed in the permanent Rouault Gallery, and the museum also hosts special exhibitions directly or indirectly related to Rouault, who was associated with the expressionist and fauvist art movements.
Eastern Tokyo’s Shibamata neighborhood retains an old-fashioned, traditional charm, in a city dominated by sleek skyscrapers and flashing neon. At its heart is the Shibamata Taishakuten Temple, famous for its wooden carvings similar to those at Nikko’s UNESCO–listed Toshogu Shrine. The neighborhood is also home to a handful of other attractions, so it’s worth making the trip from central Tokyo.
Omoide no Nukemichi is a backstreet alleyway in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho district, which is home to a collection of small but popular izayakas—local bars that also serve food. Often considered a quieter alternative to the ultra busy Golden Gai, it's a great place to come for beers and yakitori (grilled skewers), while people-watching and enjoying the buzz.
The Hozomon Gate is one of two large gates that lead to the 7th-century Senso-ji Temple in Tokyo’s Asakusa neighborhood. But the English word “gate” doesn’t really do justice to the two-story wooden structure, painted red and white, with curved roofs, wooden statues and giant sandals on either side (protective symbols), and a huge red lantern suspended from the middle.
