Nihombashi over the Nihombashi River with the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway overhead

©Rebecca Milner/Lonely Planet

Nihombashi

Tokyo


Guarded by bronze lions and dragons, this handsome 1911-vintage granite bridge over the Nihombashi-gawa is partly obscured by the overhead expressway. During the Edo period, this was the beginning of the great trunk roads (the Tōkaidō, the Nikkō Kaidō etc) that took daimyō (domain lords) between the capital and their home provinces. It's still the point from which distances to Tokyo are measured.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Tokyo attractions

1. Kite Museum

0.11 MILES

There are 300 or so kites in this small but fascinating museum, located above the restaurant Taimeiken, including brilliantly painted kites based on folk…

2. Mitsui Memorial Museum

0.18 MILES

Stately wood panelling surrounds a small collection of traditional Japanese art and artefacts, including ceramics, paintings and nō (stylised dance-drama)…

3. Artizon Museum

0.38 MILES

Amassed by Bridgestone founder Ishibashi Shōjiro, this is one of the best French impressionist collections you will find in Asia – although it is closed…

4. Tokyo Station Gallery

0.46 MILES

Within the north end of the original Tokyo Station brick building, this small museum mounts regularly changing exhibitions sometimes based around JR's own…

5. Tokyo Station

0.47 MILES

Tokyo Station celebrated its centenary in 2014 with a major renovation and expansion. Kingo Tatsuno's original elegant brick building on the Marunouchi…

6. Amazake Yokochō

0.59 MILES

The hub of Ningyōchō, Amazake Yokochō is a delightful shopping street lined with age-old businesses, including several good craft shops. It's named after…

7. Intermediatheque

0.61 MILES

Dedicated to interdisciplinary experimentation, Intermediatheque cherry-picks from the vast collection of the University of Tokyo to craft a fascinating,…

8. National Film Archive of Japan

0.62 MILES

Here you'll find an archive of Japanese and foreign films, as well as books, periodicals, posters and other materials. There are daily screenings of…