Harajuku & Aoyama
This deceptively deep concrete mall (2003), designed by Tadao Ando, spirals around a sunken atrium. Andō’s architecture utilises materials such as concrete to create strong geometric shapes, often drawn from Japan’s traditional architecture.
Omotesandō Hills replaced an ivy-covered pre-WWII apartment building (to considerable protest); the low, horizontal design plays homage to the original structure.
5.23 MILES
If you visit only one museum in Tokyo, make it the Tokyo National Museum. Here you'll find the world's largest collection of Japanese art, including…
7.99 MILES
This museum is the heart of the Studio Ghibli world, a beloved (even 'adored') film studio responsible for classic, critically-acclaimed animated titles…
1.85 MILES
Golden Gai – a Shinjuku institution for over half a century – is a collection of tiny bars, often literally no bigger than a closet and seating maybe a…
0.69 MILES
Rumoured to be the busiest intersection in the world (and definitely in Japan), Shibuya Crossing is like a giant beating heart, sending people in all…
15.12 MILES
This impressively slick attraction is dedicated to, you guessed it, cup noodles. But in reality, its focus is more broad, with numerous exhibitions…
1.95 MILES
Digital-art collective teamLab has created 60 artworks for this museum, open in 2018, that tests the border between art and the viewer: many are…
2.75 MILES
The Imperial Palace occupies the site of the original Edo-jō, the Tokugawa shogunate's castle. In its heyday this was the largest fortress in the world,…
5.96 MILES
Tokyo’s most visited temple enshrines a golden image of Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy), which, according to legend, was miraculously pulled out of…
0.05 MILES
This five-storey glass building (2003) uses clever lighting and acrylic screens to pull off the effortlessly chic look of a breezy tiered skirt. Pritzker…
0.09 MILES
On the top floor of Aoki Jun's Louis Vuitton boutique, this light-filled gallery hosts contemporary exhibitions backed by the luxury brand's well-endowed…
0.09 MILES
Aoki Jun’s design for Louis Vuitton (2002) features offset panels of tinted glass behind sheets of metal mesh of varying patterns and is, fittingly, meant…
0.12 MILES
Had enough of the Harajuku crowds? Exit, stage right, for Cat Street, a meandering car-free road with a mishmash of boutiques and a little more breathing…
0.15 MILES
Pritzker Prize–winner Itō Toyō designed the Tod's boutique (2004). The criss-crossing strips of concrete take their inspiration from the zelkova trees…
6. Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku
0.15 MILES
The entrance to this castle-like structure by Nakamura Hiroshi is a dizzying hall of mirrors (which makes for a great photo); there’s a roof garden on top.
0.2 MILES
This broad, tree-lined boulevard is lined with boutiques from the top European fashion houses. More interesting are the buildings themselves, designed by…
0.21 MILES
Artist and stylist Sebastian Masuda is behind the lurid colours, surrealist installations and other-worldly outfits of this darkly cute cafe. In the…