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Tokyo

Japan · 115 curated places. The best tables, bars, sights, and gems, with why they earned a spot.

★ 4.2 (9.1K)

🌿Shinobazu Pond

Nature

Shinobazu Pond is a large natural lotus pond at the heart of Ueno, where in late summer the entire surface turns into a dense green-and-pink carpet of…

naturescenichistoricfamily friendly

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Photo: Tateomi Fujino

$★ 4.2 (1.6K)

🏛️Takeshita Street

Landmark

Takeshita Street is a 350-metre pedestrian lane that has served as Tokyo's primary laboratory for youth fashion subcultures since the 1970s, and it st…

local favoritehidden gemstreet fashionkawaii

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Photo: Alex Giles

★ 4.4 (34K)

🌿Ueno Park

Nature

Tokyo's great democratic park packs a world-class cluster of museums, a zoo, a lotus-covered pond, and some of the city's most celebrated cherry trees…

naturehistoricfamily friendlycherry blossoms

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Photo: jared lee

$$★ 4.3 (7.3K)

🖼️Mori Art Museum

Museum

Perched on the 52nd and 53rd floors of Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, this is one of Asia's most consequential contemporary art spaces, staging large-scal…

contemporary artdesignscenicdate night

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Photo: YUKIKO MIZUTANI

★ 4.6 (52K)

🏛️Meiji Jingu

Landmark

A forested Shinto shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, Meiji Jingu draws you in long before you arrive: the approach along a broad gr…

local favoritehidden gemshinto shrinehistoric

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Photo: Lawrence

★ 4.5 (99K)

🏛️Tokyo Tower

Landmark

Tokyo Tower is the city's great romantic silhouette: a 333-metre lattice-steel structure painted in white and international orange that has anchored t…

landmarkobservation deckscenichistoric

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Photo: 쿰척

$$$★ 4.5 (54K)

🖼️teamLab Planets TOKYO DMM

Museum

teamLab Planets is an immersive art institution where visitors wade barefoot through ankle-deep water that mirrors infinite light fields overhead, the…

local favoritehidden gemimmersive artdigital art

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Photo: Phan Tom

🏛️Tokyo

Landmark

Tokyo is a city of thirty-seven million people that somehow feels navigable, even intimate, once you learn to read its neighborhoods: the baroque elec…

🏅 Featured in 'Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown' S2E7 (CNN, 2013); Bourdain explores Tokyo's food scene and dines with sushi chef Naomichi Yasuda🏅 Featured in 'Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown' Season 2, Episode 7: Tokyo (CNN, aired November 3, 2013); Bourdain explores Tokyo after dark and dines on sushi with chef Naomichi Yasuda🏅 Featured in 'Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown' Season 8, Episode 6: Japan (CNN, 2016); guided by chef Masa Takayama, Bourdain visits outdoor food markets and enjoys omakase at Sushi Ko🏅 Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown S08 (Japan), Tokyo

local favoritehidden gemhistoriccultural

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Photo: Daiane Basílio

$$$$★ 4.6 (1K)

🍽️Gastronomy “Joël Robuchon”

Restaurant

Housed inside a mock-Victorian chateau within Yebisu Garden Place, this is Joël Robuchon's flagship Tokyo temple, the grandest expression of his legac…

🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 19 consecutive years🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 19 consecutive years, French cuisine, Ebisu

french fine diningtasting menuromanticluxurious

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Photo: ガストロノミー “ジョエル・ロブション”

$$$★ 4.4 (934)

🍸Bar Benfiddich

Bar

Bar Benfiddich in Shinjuku is run by Hiroyasu Kayama, a bartender who grows many of his own botanicals and distills his own spirits, making this one o…

🏅 World's 50 Best: No. 25, World's 50 Best Bars 2024, Tokyo

craft cocktailsjapanese whiskyintimatebar

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Photo: ベンフィディック

★ 4.4 (26K)

🗿Hachiko Statue

Monument

The bronze Akita standing outside Shibuya Station is one of the most emotionally loaded meeting points in Japan, a figure so embedded in the city's da…

🏅 Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, Tokyo

historicfamily friendlyiconic meeting pointdog

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Photo: Trip Be Me Travel Stories

$$$$★ 4.2 (280)

🍽️Azabu Kadowaki

Restaurant

Tucked into a quiet residential corner of Azabu-Juban, Kadowaki is one of Tokyo's most intimate kaiseki experiences, where chef Toshiya Kadowaki disti…

🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 7 consecutive years

kaisekijapanese fine diningtasting menuseasonal

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Photo: Happy Otto

$$$$★ 4.4 (271)

🍽️Ginza Harutaka

Restaurant

Chef Harutaka Takahashi runs a ten-seat counter in Ginza that represents sushi at its most uncompromising, sourcing fish with a specificity that borde…

🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 3 consecutive years; promoted to 3 stars in 2024 Guide🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 3 consecutive years, Sushi, Ginza🏅 First awarded 3 Michelin Stars, Sushi, Ginza

sushiomakasecounter diningintimate

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Photo: Nancy

$★ 4.4 (5.2K)

🍽️ICHIRAN Shibuya

Restaurant

The Shibuya outpost of Japan's cult solo-ramen institution delivers the full ICHIRAN ritual: a vending machine ticket, a private timber booth with a b…

🏅 Michelin Bib Gourmand

ramensolo diningtonkotsulate night

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Photo: 一蘭 渋谷店

$$$$★ 4.4 (330)

🍽️Den

Restaurant

Chef Zaiyu Hasegawa's Den is the rare high-end restaurant in Tokyo where genuine warmth and wit are built into every course, from the whimsical salad…

🏅 World's 50 Best: World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024, Rank 32🏅 Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2024, Rank 8🏅 Featured in 'I'll Have What Phil's Having' S1E1 (PBS, 2015); chef Zaiyu Hasegawa plays tricks and has fun with his food🏅 World's 50 Best: Ranked #32, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024

local favoritejapaneseomakaseinnovative

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Photo: manabu watanabe

$$$★ 4.5 (1.5K)

🍸The SG Club

Bar

The SG Club in Shibuya is a two-floor testament to what happens when genuine curiosity about drinking culture meets Japanese hospitality. The ground-f…

🏅 World's 50 Best: No. 12, World's 50 Best Bars 2024, Bangkok

craft cocktailsjapanese whiskyshibuyadate night

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Photo: The SG Club

$$$$★ 4.5 (922)

🍽️Quintessence

Restaurant

Chef Shuzo Kishida's quietly radical French restaurant in Shirokanedai operates on a philosophy of extreme restraint: a single set menu, sourced from…

🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 19 consecutive years🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 19 consecutive years, French cuisine, Kita-Shinagawa

french fine diningtasting menufarm to tableminimalist

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Photo: Indoorfish

★ 4.3 (7.5K)

🏛️DAIKANYAMA T-SITE

Landmark

Daikanyama T-Site is the bookshop Tokyo's creative class actually uses: three interconnected wooden pavilions wrapped in a latticed T logo, set among…

local favoritehidden gembookshopdesign

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Photo: 代官山 T-SITE

★ 4.4 (1.5K)

🗿Edo Castle Ruins

Monument

The stone foundations and towering walls of Edo Castle, now at the heart of the Imperial Palace East Garden, represent the grandest castle constructio…

local favoritehidden gemhistoriclandmark

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Photo: 小嶋美文

★ 4.4 (11K)

🌿Rikugien Gardens

Nature

Rikugien is considered one of the two finest Edo-period stroll gardens in Tokyo, a miniature landscape of hills, bridges, and a central pond designed…

naturehistoricscenicromantic

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Photo: Taffy Ragan

★ 4.3 (15K)

🌿Meiji Jingu Gaien

Nature

The outer gardens of the Meiji Shrine complex are best known for the Icho Namiki, a 300-metre boulevard lined with roughly 150 ginkgo trees that turn…

naturescenicautumn foliagejogging

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Photo: 林家毅

★ 4.6 (3.1K)

🗿Senso-ji Hozomon Gate

Monument

The Hozomon, or Treasure House Gate, is the great two-story inner gate of Senso-ji and the most photographed threshold in Asakusa: its massive red lan…

historicbuddhistculturalarchitecture

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Photo: José Luís Oviedo Sánchez

$$★ 4.5 (6.5K)

🖼️Nezu Museum

Museum

One of Tokyo's great understated pleasures, the Nezu Museum in Minami-Aoyama holds a superb collection of pre-modern East Asian art assembled by Meiji…

east asian artjapanese gardenhistoricceramics

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Photo: Lucia Opazo

$$$★ 4.7 (904)

🍸Bar TRENCH

Bar

Tucked into a narrow Ebisu backstreet, Bar TRENCH is one of Tokyo's most revered craft cocktail destinations, a long, dimly lit counter where the bart…

craft cocktailsintimateebisudate night

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Photo: Bar TRENCH Tokyo

$$★ 4.3 (16K)

🖼️Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

Museum

One of Japan's oldest public art museums, located in Ueno Park with a striking semi-subterranean design by Kunio Maekawa that keeps its roofline low s…

fine arttemporary exhibitionshistoricarchitecture

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Photo: walKINGlasses

$★ 4.5 (31K)

🖼️Tokyo National Museum

Museum

Japan's oldest and largest museum spreads across five buildings in Ueno Park, housing the world's most comprehensive collection of Japanese art and an…

museumhistoricartjapanese culture

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Photo: 山賀康弘

$$$★ 4.6 (430)

🍸Old Imperial Bar

Bar

The Old Imperial Bar inside the Imperial Hotel is Tokyo's most historically loaded drinking room: the decor incorporates original Oya stone and terrac…

local favoritehistoricclassic cocktailshotel bar

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Photo: 帝国ホテル 東京 オールドインペリアルバー

$$$$★ 4.2 (319)

🍽️Kozue

Restaurant

On the 40th floor of the Park Hyatt Tokyo, Kozue serves refined kaiseki-style Japanese cuisine against a panoramic backdrop of the western Tokyo citys…

japanesekaisekifine diningscenic

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Photo: Kozue

$$$$★ 4.9 (450)

🍽️Ise Sueyoshi

Restaurant

One of Tokyo's most rarefied kaiseki experiences, Ise Sueyoshi earns its reputation through a strictly omakase format built around the freshest season…

local favoritekaisekiomakasefine dining

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Photo: 伊勢 すえよし

$$$$★ 4.0 (543)

🍽️Nihonryori RyuGin

Restaurant

Chef Seiji Yamamoto's RyuGin in Roppongi is where classical Japanese kaiseki meets the kind of technical ambition that stops conversations cold. Yamam…

🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 15 consecutive years🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 15 consecutive years, Japanese cuisine, Hibiya

kaisekijapaneseomakaseinnovative

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Photo: Ryugin

$$$$★ 4.4 (713)

🍽️Florilège

Restaurant

Chef Hiroyasu Kawate's Aoyama restaurant is one of the most intellectually alive fine-dining rooms in Asia, built around an open kitchen counter where…

🏅 World's 50 Best: World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024, Rank 21🏅 Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2024, Rank 2🏅 World's 50 Best: Ranked #21, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024🏅 World's 50 Best: Ranked #2, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2024

frenchtasting menufine diningsustainable

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Photo: Yameki J

$$$$★ 4.4 (364)

🍽️Aman Tokyo Arva Italian Restaurant

Restaurant

Perched on the upper floors of Aman Tokyo, Arva delivers a quietly spectacular Italian dining experience where floor-to-ceiling windows frame the city…

local favoriteitalianfine diningwood-fired

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Photo: Aman Tokyo Arva Italian Restaurant

$$★ 4.3 (2.7K)

🖼️Suntory Museum of Art

Museum

Tucked inside the sleek Tokyo Midtown complex in Roppongi, the Suntory Museum of Art is devoted to the idea that beauty lives in everyday life, with a…

japanese artdecorative artsdesignceramics

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Photo: K BG

★ 4.4 (5.5K)

🌿Kiyosumi Gardens

Nature

Kiyosumi Teien sits in the heart of the Fukagawa district and is the kind of quietly refined garden that rewards return visits more than first glances…

naturehistoricscenicromantic

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Photo: Remy Rachet

$★ 4.1 (11K)

💎Yanaka Ginza

Hidden gem

Yanaka Ginza is a narrow, old-fashioned shotengai (shopping street) that survived the wartime bombing of Tokyo, preserving a shitamachi atmosphere tha…

local favoritehidden gemhistoricshitamachi

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Photo: SPCA663 Little B

$$★ 4.6 (124K)

🏛️Tokyo Disneyland

Landmark

Tokyo Disneyland is widely considered the gold standard of Disney parks worldwide, not because of its size but because of the extraordinary hospitalit…

local favoritehidden gemtheme parkfamily friendly

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Photo: Felix S

$$$$★ 4.6 (348)

🍽️Héritage by Kei Kobayashi（エリタージュ バイ ケイ コバヤシ）

Restaurant

Chef Kei Kobayashi made history as the first Japanese chef to earn three Michelin stars in France, at Restaurant Kei in Paris, and this Tokyo address…

local favoritefrenchfine diningjapanese-french

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Photo: Héritage by Kei Kobayashi（エリタージュ バイ ケイ コバヤシ）

$★ 4.4 (12K)

🌿Hamarikyu Gardens

Nature

A tidal strolling garden built around two seawater ponds fed directly by Tokyo Bay, Hamarikyu delivers a quietly extraordinary experience: the water l…

local favoritehidden gemnaturehistoric

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Photo: Gary Heuard

$★ 4.4 (1.2K)

🌅Asahi Sky Room

Viewpoint

The Asahi Sky Room crowns the Asahi Beer Tower in Asakusa, and the view from its top floor is one of the most satisfying in the city: Senso-ji temple…

viewsbeerasakusascenic

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Photo: LUNA T

★ 4.5 (38K)

🏛️Kaminarimon Gate

Landmark

The great red-and-black gate at the entrance to Senso-ji temple in Asakusa is the defining image of old Tokyo, its enormous paper lantern, roughly fou…

historictempleculturalasakusa

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Photo: Diego Silva

$$★ 4.1 (16K)

🖼️Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation

Museum

Known locally as Miraikan, this hands-on science museum in Odaiba is anchored by a breathtaking suspended globe, the Geo-Cosmos, displaying real-time…

sciencetechnologyfamily friendlyinteractive

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Photo: Sotir Daniel

★ 4.5 (14K)

🏛️Tokyo Skytree Town

Landmark

At 634 metres, the Tokyo Skytree is the tallest tower in Japan and the centrepiece of a sprawling retail and entertainment complex in Sumida Ward that…

landmarkviewsfamily friendlyshopping

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Photo: Tony Chan (TON)

$$$$★ 4.4 (1.2K)

🍸TOKYO Whisky Library – Premium Whisky Bar & Restaurant

Bar

The TOKYO Whisky Library is exactly what it promises: floor-to-ceiling shelves holding hundreds of bottles spanning Japanese single malts, rare Scotch…

whiskyjapanese whiskyupscaleomotesando

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Photo: TOKYO Whisky Library – Premium Whisky Bar & Restaurant

$$$$★ 4.6 (709)

🍽️Narisawa

Restaurant

Chef Yoshihiro Narisawa's Minami-Aoyama restaurant occupies a singular position in world gastronomy: it is the place where French technique and deep J…

🏅 World's 50 Best: World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024 extended list (51-100), Rank 56🏅 Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2024, Rank 14🏅 Featured in 'I'll Have What Phil's Having' S1E1 (PBS, 2015); Phil dines on an elaborate tasting menu revolving around the theme of nature🏅 World's 50 Best: Ranked #56, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024 (51-100 extended list)

innovativetasting menufine diningsustainable

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Photo: NARISAWA

$$$$★ 4.4 (419)

🍽️SÉZANNE

Restaurant

Perched inside the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi, SÉZANNE is chef Daniel Calvert's deeply personal take on modern French cuisine, shaped by h…

🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 2 consecutive years; promoted to 3 stars in 2025 Guide🏅 World's 50 Best: World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024, Rank 15🏅 Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2024, Rank 1, Best Restaurant in Asia🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 2 consecutive years, French cuisine, Marunouchi (Four Seasons)

french fine diningtasting menuhotel restaurantromantic

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Photo: SÉZANNE

$$$$

🍽️Kanda

Restaurant

Chef Hiroyuki Kanda runs one of the most quietly celebrated kaiseki counters in the city, a small room in Motoazabu where the food operates at the hig…

🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 19 consecutive years🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 19 consecutive years, Japanese cuisine, Roppongi

kaisekijapaneseomakaseintimate

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Photo: yuuchi

$$$★ 4.6 (605)

🍸The Bellwood

Bar

The Bellwood in Shibuya is a quietly serious cocktail bar that wears its craft without flash: a warm, woody interior with a short, rotating menu built…

craft cocktailsseasonal ingredientsintimatedate night

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Photo: The Bellwood

★ 4.3 (9)

🏛️Geisya Komichi Alley

Landmark

Geisha Komichi Alley in Asakusa is a narrow lantern-lit passage that transports you several decades back in one or two steps off the main tourist circ…

local favoritehidden gemtraditionalshopping

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Photo: T S

★ 4.4 (117K)

🏛️Tokyo Skytree

Landmark

At 634 metres, Tokyo Skytree is the tallest structure in Japan and the second-tallest in the world, and its two observation decks at 350 and 450 metre…

landmarkobservation deckscenicfamily friendly

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Photo: Riccardo Widera

★ 4.4 (10K)

🌿Imperial Palace East National Gardens

Nature

The East Gardens occupy the former innermost enclosure of Edo Castle, now an open, manicured park that gives anyone a rare chance to walk ground that…

historicnaturescenicpeaceful

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Photo: 加藤美千代

$★ 4.5 (29K)

🖼️National Museum of Nature and Science

Museum

Japan's national natural history and science museum sits in Ueno Park and runs far deeper than its modest entrance suggests, with two interconnected b…

museumsciencenaturefamily friendly

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Photo: ヒロ

★ 4.4 (16K)

🌿Odaiba Marine Park

Nature

Jutting into Tokyo Bay on a man-made island, Odaiba Marine Park gives you something almost no other urban park in the world can: a sandy beach, the fu…

scenicwaterfrontromanticfamily friendly

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Photo: 山本稔

$$$★ 4.8 (175)

🍸Liquid Factory

Bar

Liquid Factory approaches cocktails as an exercise in precision and experimentation, earning a reputation among Tokyo's bar cognoscenti for drinks tha…

local favoritecraft cocktailsexperimentalintimate

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Photo: LIQUID FACTORY

$$★ 4.5 (3.2K)

🖼️Artizon Museum

Museum

Reborn in 2020 after a years-long renovation, the Artizon Museum in Kyobashi is the refined reinvention of the old Bridgestone Museum of Art, and its…

impressionismwestern artmodern artjapanese art

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Photo: cc y

$$★ 4.5 (12K)

🖼️The National Museum of Western Art

Museum

Ueno's sole UNESCO World Heritage building was designed by Le Corbusier and completed in 1959, making the architecture itself the first reason to visi…

western artarchitecturele corbusierunesco

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Photo: Yee WANG (Architecte)

★ 4.5 (774)

🏛️Mt. Atago

Landmark

At 26 meters, Mt. Atago is the highest natural hill in the central wards of Tokyo, a distinction that sounds modest until you climb the dramatically s…

historiclandmarksceniccultural

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Photo: Dario Durà Armadans

★ 4.4 (27K)

🌿Yoyogi Park

Nature

Yoyogi Park is 134 acres of zelkova-shaded paths and open lawns in the heart of Harajuku, where Tokyo residents come to breathe, picnic, and perform.…

local favoritehidden gemparkscenic

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Photo: 柿原和明（Kackey）

$$$$★ 4.6 (365)

🍽️Tapas Molecular Bar

Restaurant

Perched inside the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo with sweeping views over the city skyline, Tapas Molecular Bar is an eight-seat counter theater where a tea…

local favoritemolecular gastronomyomakasefine dining

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Photo: Tapas Molecular Bar

$$$$★ 4.7 (326)

🍽️Sazenka

Restaurant

Sazenka is one of the most singular dining experiences in Tokyo, a converted townhouse in Hiroo where chef Tomoya Kawada fuses the architecture of Chi…

🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 6 consecutive years🏅 World's 50 Best: World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024 extended list (51-100), Rank 93🏅 Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2024, Rank 39🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 6 consecutive years, Chinese cuisine, Hiroo

chinesejapanesefusiontea pairing

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Photo: 茶禅華

$$$$★ 4.6 (967)

🍽️L’Effervescence

Restaurant

In a quiet Nishiazabu townhouse, chef Shinobu Namae has built one of Tokyo's most intellectually generous restaurants, a place where the French tastin…

🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 6 consecutive years🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 6 consecutive years, French cuisine, Omotesando

french fine diningtasting menusustainablefarm to table

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Photo: レフェルヴェソンス

$$$$★ 4.6 (305)

🍽️Kagurazaka Ishikawa

Restaurant

Tucked into a centuries-old lane in Kagurazaka, chef Hideki Ishikawa's kaiseki restaurant is the neighborhood's most treasured table: a low-lit, timbe…

🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 18 consecutive years

kaisekijapanesefine diningseasonal

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Photo: Albert Ramirez

★ 4.2 (3.8K)

🌿Kita-no-maru Park

Nature

Tucked between the northern walls of the Imperial Palace and the Budokan arena in Chiyoda, Kita-no-maru is the quieter, more contemplative sibling of…

naturehistoricsceniccherry blossoms

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Photo: Kevin Koo

$$★ 4.4 (4.8K)

🖼️Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum

Museum

Housed in a pristine 1933 Art Deco villa in Shirokanedai that was originally built as the residence of Prince Asaka, this is one of Tokyo's most archi…

art decodecorative artshistoricromantic

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Photo: S Tackey

$$★ 4.6 (460)

🍸TenCups Cafe Bar & Lounge

Bar

TenCups sits at a comfortable intersection between a neighbourhood cafe and a proper cocktail lounge, the kind of place that serves good coffee in the…

local favoritecafecocktailslounge

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Photo: TenCups Cafe Bar & Lounge

$$$★ 4.3 (1.2K)

🍽️NOBU Tokyo

Restaurant

The Tokyo outpost of Nobu Matsuhisa's global empire holds its own in a city of world-class Japanese cuisine, partly because the chef's signature Peruv…

japanese peruvianfusionfine diningcelebrity chef

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Photo: NOBU TOKYO

★ 4.6 (45K)

🌿Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

Nature

Shinjuku Gyoen holds three distinct garden styles within its 58-hectare grounds: a formal French parterre, an English landscape garden, and a traditio…

local favoritehidden gemnaturegardens

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Photo: Vivian Li

$★ 4.4 (14K)

🖼️Edo-Tokyo Museum

Museum

Housed in a monumental building raised on pilotis above Ryogoku, the Edo-Tokyo Museum traces the city's transformation from the shogun's capital into…

local favoritehidden gemhistorycultural

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Photo: Maeda Nobuyuki

$★ 4.4 (6.7K)

🌿Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens

Nature

One of Tokyo's two surviving Edo-period stroll gardens, Korakuen is a masterclass in compressed landscape design, miniature mountains, a central pond…

gardenhistoricnatureseasonal

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Photo: チッチチャン

$$★ 4.3 (7.5K)

🖼️The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

Museum

Japan's first national art museum, opened in 1952 and redesigned by Yoshiro Taniguchi, holds the country's most comprehensive collection of modern Jap…

modern artjapanese arthistoricpermanent collection

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Photo: ほげ

★ 4.2 (2K)

🌅Meguro Sky Garden

Viewpoint

Perched on top of a highway interchange where the Shuto Expressway loops above Meguro, this circular elevated garden is one of Tokyo's most pleasantly…

viewpointscenicnaturehidden gem

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Photo: 八岐之大蛇

★ 4.1 (70)

🗿TOKYO Word Mark Monument

Monument

The TOKYO Word Mark Monument is a large-format public installation near Tokyo Station spelling out the city's name in bold lettering, one of the most…

local favoritehidden gemlandmarkphoto spot

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Photo: NEW LIFE

$$$$★ 4.4 (307)

🍸Bvlgari Ginza Bar

Bar

Perched on the upper floors of the Bvlgari Ginza Tower, this bar is one of the most formally glamorous drinking rooms in Tokyo: think mirrored surface…

local favoriteluxuryglamorouscocktails

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Photo: Bvlgari Ginza Bar

$$$$★ 4.7 (131)

🍽️Myoujyaku

Restaurant

Myoujyaku is one of Tokyo's most serious kaiseki destinations, operating with the kind of quiet precision that only comes from a chef who has spent de…

🏅 3 Michelin Stars, newly promoted in 2026 Guide🏅 3 Michelin Stars, newly awarded in 2026, Japanese cuisine

kaisekijapanese fine diningtasting menuseasonal

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Photo: 明寂 Myoujyaku

$$$$★ 4.4 (275)

🍽️Nishiazabu Sushi Shin

Restaurant

Tucked into the quiet residential lanes of Nishiazabu, Sushi Shin is the kind of intimate counter where the chef's whisper-quiet focus becomes the who…

🏅 2 Michelin Stars, newly awarded in 2026, Sushi, Nishiazabu

sushiomakaseintimatedate night

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Photo: Rebecca

$$$★ 4.5 (86)

🍽️Nihon Ryori Ensui

Restaurant

Ensui is a quietly exceptional Japanese cuisine restaurant where the kitchen's mastery of dashi and seasonal ingredients produces courses of remarkabl…

🏅 2 Michelin Stars, newly awarded in 2026, Japanese cuisine, Nakameguro

japanesekaisekiseasonalcounter dining

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Photo: 日本料理 炎水 中目黒

$$★ 4.3 (609)

🍽️Ramen Break Beats

Restaurant

A counter-culture ramen shop where the soundtrack is as considered as the broth, with hip-hop and soul records spinning while a small kitchen produces…

🏅 Michelin Bib Gourmand🏅 Michelin Bib Gourmand

ramencreativemusiccounter culture

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Photo: Ramen Break Beats

$$★ 4.1 (946)

🍽️Vampire Café

Restaurant

Tucked inside a Ginza building, Vampire Café is Tokyo's most committed gothic-fantasy dining room: crimson velvet drapes, coffin-shaped decor, candela…

themed dininggothicquirkydate night

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Photo: VAMPIRE CAFE

$$★ 4.4 (3.8K)

🖼️Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum

Museum

Tucked into Marunouchi's business district, this museum occupies a meticulous red-brick reconstruction of Tokyo's first Western-style office building,…

western art19th centuryarchitecturehistoric

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Photo: manyway 850

$★ 4.4 (22K)

🖼️The National Art Center, Tokyo

Museum

Kisho Kurokawa's final major work is a building worth visiting before you even look at what is on the walls: a sinuous glass facade of undulating conv…

museumcontemporary artarchitectureroppongi

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Photo: 小川ゆうこ

★ 4.4 (9.8K)

🌿Kokyo Gaien National Garden

Nature

The broad graveled plaza stretching from Nijubashi Bridge toward the outer moat of the Imperial Palace is the public forecourt of Japan's symbolic cen…

scenichistoricnaturepeaceful

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Photo: Sergio Reis

★ 4.2 (4.5K)

🌿Todoroki Ravine Park

Nature

A genuine geological surprise in the middle of residential Setagaya, Todoroki Ravine Park follows a narrow, forested gorge carved by the Yazawa River…

naturescenichistoricfamily friendly

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Photo: ねこハンド

★ 4.4 (2.2K)

🌿Higo-Hosokawa Garden

Nature

One of Tokyo's genuinely under-visited traditional stroll gardens, Higo-Hosokawa once served as the Edo-period residence of the Hosokawa clan, lords o…

historicnaturetraditional japanesescenic

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Photo: 肥後細川庭園

$★ 4.3 (19)

💎Yoyogi Broadway

Hidden gem

Yoyogi Broadway is a low-key covered shopping arcade near Yoyogi Station that caters almost entirely to the local neighbourhood rather than tourists,…

local favoritehidden gemlocal cultureshopping

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Photo: Bear Peace (SilentRunning)

$$★ 4.8 (524)

🍸Deathmatch in Hell

Bar

One of Tokyo's most theatrically named bars, this Shinjuku fixture leans hard into a dark, gothic aesthetic with dramatic decor, dim lighting, and a d…

local favoritehidden gemcocktailsgothic

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Photo: DEATHMATCH IN HELL 地獄のデスマッチ

$$★ 4.9 (10K)

☕Maidreamin Shibuya Store

Cafe

Maidreamin is one of Japan's largest maid cafe chains, and its Shibuya outpost delivers the full theatrical experience: staff dressed in frilly aprons…

cafepop cultureunique experiencefamily friendly

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Photo: めいどりーみん SHIBUYA

$$$$★ 4.5 (190)

🍽️MAZ

Restaurant

MAZ is the Tokyo outpost of chef Virgilio Martinez's vision, an extension of the world he built at Central in Lima, transplanted into a sleek Minami-A…

🏅 2 Michelin Stars; directly awarded 2 stars upon entry

peruviantasting menucontemporaryinnovative

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Photo: MAZ

$$$$★ 4.6 (815)

🍽️L’Osier

Restaurant

L'Osier on Ginza's main boulevard is Tokyo's definitive grand French restaurant, housed in a beautifully restored building where the service and room…

🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 8 consecutive years🏅 3 Michelin Stars, 8 consecutive years, French cuisine, Shinbashi

frenchfine diningromanticdate night

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Photo: 1110 milan

★ 4.6 (97K)

🏛️Sensō-ji

Landmark

Senso-ji is Tokyo's oldest and most visited temple, and despite the crowds along Nakamise-dori, the moment you pass through the Kaminarimon gate with…

🏅 James Beard: Winner, Best New Restaurant 2023, Portland, OR🏅 James Beard: Winner, Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific 2024, Portland, OR

landmarktemplehistoriccultural

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Photo: Guanchul Guanchunao

$$$★ 4.8 (2.2K)

🍽️Ueno Halal Wagyu Yakiniku Iwasaki

Restaurant

A rare and genuinely valuable find for Muslim travelers in Tokyo, this Ueno yakiniku specialist serves certified halal wagyu beef grilled tableside ov…

🏅 James Beard: Winner, Best Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY) 2023, Boise, ID

halalwagyuyakinikubeef

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Photo: pyakulay rai

★ 4.3 (7.3K)

🌿Mizumoto Park

Nature

Tokyo's largest water park stretches across the flat wetlands of Katsushika Ward, built around a network of ponds and channels fed by the Edogawa Rive…

naturescenicfamily friendlybirdwatching

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Photo: Darren Z

$$$★ 4.9 (199)

🍽️Mark's Tokyo

Restaurant

Mark's Tokyo is a quietly confident Italian-influenced restaurant that has built a loyal following among Tokyo's discerning dining crowd for its ingre…

local favoriteitalianseasonalfine dining

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Photo: Mark's Tokyo

★ 4.3 (2.3K)

🌿Kyū Shiba-rikyū Gardens

Nature

Sandwiched between the elevated expressways and glass towers of Hamamatsucho, this Edo-period tidal garden is a small act of defiance against the surr…

historicnaturetraditional japanesegarden

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Photo: Alice

$$$$★ 4.6 (91)

🍽️Nihonryōri Hakuun

Restaurant

Hakuun is a study in classical kaiseki discipline, where each seasonal course arrives as a quiet argument for restraint and precision. The kitchen dra…

🏅 2 Michelin Stars, newly awarded in 2026, Japanese cuisine, Gaienmae

kaisekijapaneseseasonalintimate

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Photo: 伯雲

★ 4.6 (26K)

🌅Shibuya Sky

Viewpoint

Shibuya Sky sits atop the Shibuya Scramble Square tower at 229 metres and offers something the older observation decks do not: a largely open-air roof…

viewpointobservation deckscenicnight views

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Photo: たろきち

$$$★ 4.6 (29K)

🖼️teamLab Borderless: MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM

Museum

teamLab's permanent digital art space in Azabudai Hills is a labyrinthine series of rooms with no fixed map and no walls as conventionally understood,…

digital artimmersivecontemporarydate night

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Photo: Javier Martinez

★ 4.3 (993)

🗿Kikyō-mon Gate

Monument

One of the original surviving gates of Edo Castle, the Kikyo-mon is a compact but storied wooden gate on the western perimeter of the Imperial Palace…

historicarchitectureculturallandmark

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Photo: Ricardo Benitez

$★ 4.1 (4.4K)

🖼️Science and Technology Museum

Museum

Sitting inside the outer gardens of the Imperial Palace in Kitanomaru Park, the National Museum of Nature and Science's older sibling focuses squarely…

sciencetechnologyfamily friendlygreat for kids

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Photo: net k-m

★ 4.5 (42)

🏛️Kame ishi

Landmark

Kame Ishi, meaning 'turtle stone,' is a large natural boulder in the grounds of the Imperial Palace East Garden that has served as a quiet landmark an…

local favoritehidden gemhistoricgarden

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Photo: ptamagnolia

$$★ 4.7 (1.4K)

🍸LOST BAR

Bar

LOST BAR is a moody, intimate cocktail den that earns its name with a labyrinthine layout and decor that feels like a forgotten traveller's study. The…

cocktailscraft drinksintimatedate night

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Photo: LOST BAR

$$★ 4.3 (833)

🍸Tír na nÓg

Bar

Tír na nÓg is one of Tokyo's most genuine Irish pubs, a warm-lit room in Shinjuku where Guinness is poured properly and the bar staff actually know yo…

irish publive musicexpatbeer

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Photo: Tir na nog

$$$★ 4.3 (324)

🍽️Ginza Kyubey Keio Plaza Tokyo

Restaurant

This branch of the legendary Kyubey sushi house, operating within the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku, brings one of Tokyo's most storied sushi names to…

🏅 Featured in 'I'll Have What Phil's Having' S1E1 (PBS, 2015); traditional omakase with chef Yosuke Imada including toro, uni, mackerel, and live shrimp🏅 Featured in 'I'll Have What Phil's Having' Season 1, Episode 1: Tokyo (PBS, 2015); Phil Rosenthal joins chef Yosuke Imada for traditional omakase including toro, uni, mackerel, and live shrimp

sushiedomaeomakasetraditional japanese

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Photo: TAKANORI NOJIMA

$$★ 4.4 (4.2K)

🖼️Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT)

Museum

MOT in Koto-ku is Tokyo's most serious dedicated contemporary art institution, with a permanent collection of over 5,000 works and some of the city's…

🏅 2 Michelin Stars; promoted to 2 stars in 2025 Guide🏅 2 Michelin Stars, promoted from 1 star, Tempura, Ebisu🏅 Promoted to 2 Michelin Stars in the 2025 Guide (18th edition)🏅 Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations S04E16, Tokyo

contemporary artmodern artarchitecturejapanese art

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Photo: 伊藤善久（Yoshihisa Ito）

$$$★ 4.6 (252)

🍽️CENSU TOKYO

Restaurant

CENSU brings a contemporary, boundary-crossing sensibility to Tokyo's dining scene, drawing on Asian and Western influences to produce sharing plates…

local favoriteasian fusionsharing platesnatural wine

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Photo: F石田

★ 4.2 (10)

🌿Forest path

Nature

A quiet, tree-lined trail threading through one of Tokyo's green corridors, this kind of forest path offers a rare chance to feel the city drop away e…

naturescenicjoggingoutdoor

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Photo: masa miya

★ 4.5 (306)

🏛️300 Year-Old Pine

Landmark

A single enormous Japanese black pine standing in the Imperial Palace East Garden, believed to be over 300 years old, is one of the quiet marvels of c…

local favoritehidden gemhistoricgarden

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Photo: 遠江

★ 4.5 (7.6K)

🌅Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

Viewpoint

Designed by Kenzo Tange and completed in 1991, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is the best free observation deck in the city, with twin tow…

viewpointlandmarkobservation deckscenic

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Photo: I S

★ 4.4 (5.2K)

🏛️Godzilla Head

Landmark

Perched on the rooftop terrace of the Hotel Gracery Shinjuku at the eighth floor, this full-scale Godzilla head looms over Kabukicho with the particul…

pop culturequirkyfamily friendlynightlife

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Photo: S H

$$★ 4.9 (21K)

🖼️Samurai Ninja Museum Asakusa Tokyo

Museum

A compact, participatory cultural experience in the heart of Asakusa designed primarily for international visitors curious about samurai and ninja his…

samuraininjaculturalfamily friendly

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Photo: Samurai Ninja Museum Asakusa Tokyo

$★ 4.5 (20K)

🖼️Ghibli Museum

Museum

Designed by Hayao Miyazaki himself as a place that feels discovered rather than visited, the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka is a small, eccentric building wh…

local favoritehidden gemanimationfamily friendly

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Photo: 後藤猛

$$★ 4.4 (3.8K)

🍽️Hard Rock Cafe Tokyo Roppongi

Restaurant

The Tokyo outpost of the global rock-and-roll chain sits in the heart of Roppongi, plastered with guitars, stage costumes, and memorabilia from rock r…

americanburgersrock musicfamily friendly

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Photo: Hard Rock Cafe Tokyo

$$★ 4.3 (409)

🍽️Japanese Ramen Gokan

Restaurant

Gokan approaches ramen as a serious culinary project rather than a quick meal, with bowls built on layered broths that take days to develop their dept…

🏅 Michelin Bib Gourmand🏅 Michelin Bib Gourmand

ramenjapanesecasualcounter dining

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Photo: Japanese Ramen 五感

★ 4.2 (1.2K)

🌿Todoroki Ravine

Nature

The ravine itself, as distinct from the managed park around it, is a rare cleft in the flat Kanto plain where the Yazawa River has cut a forested chan…

naturescenicwalkingromantic

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Photo: カメレオンマン

$$★ 4.3 (3.7K)

☕Fuglen Tokyo

Cafe

Fuglen is an Oslo institution that opened its first outpost outside Norway here in Tomigaya, a quiet residential pocket just west of Yoyogi Park, and…

cafespecialty coffeebarscandinavian

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Photo: 岡野谷覚士

$$$★ 4.0 (270)

🍸ディストリクト ブラッスリー・バー・ラウンジ | District - Brasserie, Bar, Lounge

Bar

District, inside the Hilton Tokyo in Shinjuku, is a grown-up all-day space that shifts from a brasserie at lunch and dinner into a comfortable hotel l…

hotel barbrasseriecocktailscasual

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Photo: ディストリクト ブラッスリー・バー・ラウンジ | District - Brasserie, Bar, Lounge

$$$★ 4.4 (332)

🍽️Ginza Sushi Ko Honten

Restaurant

Sushi Ko Honten occupies a remarkable place in Tokyo's sushi history as one of the oldest continuously operating sushi restaurants in Ginza, and eatin…

🏅 Featured in 'Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown' S8E6 (CNN, 2016); omakase experience with chef Masa Takayama🏅 Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown S08 (Japan), Tokyo

sushiedomaehistorictraditional japanese

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Photo: 銀座寿司幸本店

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