Ginza
Tokyo’s most expensive real estate, where the main avenue closes to cars at weekends and people simply walk down the middle of it.
Where Japan learned to shop
Ginza was rebuilt in brick after an 1872 fire as a demonstration of Western modernity, and it has been Tokyo’s luxury district ever since — the land here is consistently among the most expensive in the world. What makes it worth walking rather than just shopping is the architecture: department stores from the 1930s next to buildings by Renzo Piano and Kengo Kuma, and a Kabuki theatre rebuilt in 2013 that still runs single acts you can buy on the day. On weekend afternoons Chuo-dori closes to traffic and becomes a pedestrian avenue.
Explore Ginza on the map
City locations, drawn from our published destination data. Attractions, hotels and restaurants are not mapped yet.
What to look for
Shopping, but also theatre, architecture and one very good stationery shop.
🏬 The stores
- Mitsukoshi and Wako, both pre-war institutions
- Ginza Six and the newer flagship buildings
🎭 Kabukiza
- The Kabuki theatre — single-act tickets sold on the day
- An hour, cheap, and the best cultural value in central Tokyo
✒️ Specialists
- Itoya, twelve floors of stationery
- Basement food halls under the department stores
Getting to Ginza
Dead central, on three metro lines and a walk from Tokyo station.
🚇 By train
- Ginza station — Ginza, Marunouchi and Hibiya lines
- Higashi-Ginza is closer to the Kabuki theatre
🚶 On foot
- 10 minutes from Tokyo station
- 15 minutes from the Imperial Palace outer gardens
When to come
One specific window makes the district notably better.
🚶 Pedestrian paradise
- Chuo-dori closes to cars on weekend afternoons
- Roughly midday to 5–6pm depending on the season
🌃 Evening
- The signage and window displays are better after dark
🕐 Hours
- Stores generally 10.30am–8pm; basement food halls close earlier
Visitor intelligence
Expensive to shop in, free and rewarding to walk through.
🎭 Kabuki
- Single-act tickets are sold from a separate window on the day
- English audio guides available — take one, the plots are not obvious
🍱 Eating
- Department store basements are the best-value food in the district
🗣 Language
- Excellent English throughout; tax-free counters standard
📷 Photography
- Store interiors frequently prohibit it; the street does not
Close by
Central Tokyo.
Frequently asked
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