Neighbourhood guide
Ginza and Marunouchi: the palace, the station and the boulevard
The palace gardens and the red-brick station, the grand hotels of Hibiya and Ōtemachi, and Ginza’s department stores and three-star counters.
Between the Imperial Palace and Ginza lies Tokyo’s most polished square mile. Marunouchi and Ōtemachi are towers and tree-lined avenues around Tokyo Station; Hibiya faces its park; Ginza, beyond the railway, is the street of department stores, flagships and the city’s densest cluster of MICHELIN stars.
Sights
The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, the Marunouchi station building, the Kabuki-za and the Tsukiji Outer Market.
Eating
Harutaka and L’OSIER (Three MICHELIN Stars, 2026), RyuGin in Tokyo Midtown Hibiya, ESqUISSE, Sushi Kanesaka and Tempura Kondo (Two Stars), and the Bib Gourmand ramen counters of Ginza 3-chōme.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Basile Morin · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsOn weekend afternoons Chūō-dōri closes to cars: walk down the middle.
Staying
Aman Tokyo, the Palace Hotel, the Four Seasons at Otemachi, HOSHINOYA Tokyo, The Peninsula, the Imperial and The Tokyo Station Hotel.
Our advice: have tea at HIGASHIYA GINZA, then see one act at the Kabuki-za before dinner.
Why it's on our list
- Sights
- Eating
- Staying
What’s nearby
Distances from Ginza and Marunouchi: the palace, the station and the boulevard are approximate, measured in a straight line (as the crow flies). Times are approximate too: walking at about 80 metres a minute, cycling at about 12 km/h and driving at typical city-traffic speeds. Traffic and routes vary.
Nearest metro stations
- GinzaGHMH-TSTS;H100 m1 min walk
- Higashi-GinzaAHH-TSTS;H350 m4 min walk
- Ginza-itchomeY350 m4 min walk
Key sights
- The palace gardens1.8 kmWalk 22 minCycle 9 minCar or taxi 12 min
- Tokyo Tower2.3 kmWalk 29 minCycle 11 minCar or taxi 14 min
- Sensō-ji5.4 kmCycle 27 minCar or taxi 24 min
- The Shibuya crossing5.8 kmCycle 29 minCar or taxi 25 min
- Meiji Jingū5.9 kmCycle 29 minCar or taxi 26 min
- Tokyo Skytree5.9 kmCycle 30 minCar or taxi 26 min
- Haneda Airport14 kmCar or taxi 53 min
Main railway stations
- Tokyo Station1.0 kmWalk 13 minCycle 5 minCar or taxi 9 min
- Ueno Station4.5 kmCycle 22 minCar or taxi 21 min
- Shinagawa Station5.5 kmCycle 27 minCar or taxi 24 min
- Shibuya Station5.8 kmCycle 29 minCar or taxi 25 min
- Shinjuku Station6.3 kmCycle 31 minCar or taxi 27 min
Location
The map comes from Google Maps, which sets its own cookies once it loads.
More in depth
The back storyTokyo at the table: eleven three-star dining rooms, and a bowl of sobaMore MICHELIN stars than any other city, sushi counters of eight seats, tempura fried in front of you, kaiseki, French and Chinese of the highest order, and noodle shops with a Bib Gourmand: how to eat in Tokyo.
The back storyTokyo CuisineEdomae sushi piece by piece, tempura straight from the pan, cold soba on bamboo, glazed eel, yakitori over charcoal, shoyu ramen and the wagashi of the tea ceremony: the dishes of Tokyo, and where to taste them.
The back storyWhere Tokyo sleeps: towers above the palace, ryokan and the new hillsAman and HOSHINOYA in Ōtemachi, the Palace Hotel on the moat, The Peninsula and the Imperial in Hibiya, the Bvlgari above Tokyo Station, Janu at Azabudai Hills and the reopened Park Hyatt in Shinjuku: where to stay, and why the address matters.