At dusk in Marunouchi the red brick of Tokyo Station warms under its lamps, and the office towers behind it light up floor by floor. Taxis turn through the square in front of it, and a few hundred metres to the west the stone walls of the Imperial Palace drop into the still water of the moat, the pines of the Outer Garden dark above them. Within a short walk of this one square lie the palace, the shops of Ginza and the old merchant streets of Nihonbashi.
Choosing where to base in Tokyo decides which version of the city greets a guest each morning and receives them again each night. Kyoto has one old centre. Tokyo has many, and a good base settles on one of them and lets the rest follow.
the polished centre
Marunouchi, Ginza and Nihonbashi
Marunouchi is Tokyo at its most composed. Set between Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace, it has broad pavements, dining floors beneath its towers, design shops, and the quickest start to any journey on to Kyoto. After a long flight or a full day across the city its streets are easy to read: the palace moats give it air, and brick, stone and glass give it a formal, settled tone. Its best hotels look across the moat at Wadakura to the palace gardens, or down on them from the tops of the towers of Otemachi.
Ginza, just to the south-east, changes the mood. It is the city's most grown-up shopping district, a place of department stores, galleries, watchmakers and dining rooms, with evening light on polished facades. A base here suits a guest who wants to walk to dinner, to the shops and to a quiet bar, and the best hotels in Ginza keep a real stillness behind the shine of the street.
Nihonbashi is older in spirit. The bridge that gives the district its name was the point from which every road distance in Edo Japan was measured, and it still is, and the merchant houses of that era live on as department stores and long-established shops beneath the modern business district. It suits a guest who wants the centre of the city with more history than Marunouchi and less glitter than Ginza.
the western centre
Aoyama, Akasaka and Roppongi
West of the palace the city turns more layered. Aoyama and Omotesando are a district of architecture and fashion, with small galleries and broad pavements that soon give way to quiet residential streets. Along Omotesando and the lanes beside it, the flagship buildings are the work of Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, Herzog & de Meuron and SANAA, and a walk of a few hundred metres is a short course in contemporary Japanese building.
Akasaka is more discreet, set among government offices, embassies and business districts, with a mood far less showy than Ginza's. Close by, Toranomon has a garden hotel built around a museum of art.
Roppongi is more mixed. Art museums, international dining and nightlife sit among offices and apartment towers, and the district looks polished on one street, busy on the next and different again after dark. It suits a guest who comes for the museums: the Mori Art Museum near the top of the tower at Roppongi Hills, and the rippling glass front of the National Art Center. The whole western centre lies close to Shibuya, Harajuku and the residential western wards, and from here Tokyo becomes a set of neighbourhoods joined by short drives.
The onward journey matters as much as the atmosphere. A base near Tokyo Station suits a journey that continues to Kyoto, Kanazawa or the west, because the last Tokyo morning needs no crossing of the city. A base in the western wards suits a longer stay, where a slightly longer final morning is repaid by easier evenings throughout.
the lived city
Shibuya, Ebisu and the old east
Shibuya is Tokyo in motion: the great crossing, the new towers, and building work that never seems to end. It suits a guest who wants the energy of the city at the door. It also opens onto a wider western Tokyo. Ebisu has a grown-up neighbourhood rhythm and some of the city's best dining; Daikanyama is low-built and stylish, with bookshops and quiet streets; Nakameguro has its tree-lined river and an easy pace outside the weeks of the blossom.
These districts suit a returning guest more than a first-time one. They give a Tokyo that feels lived in: coffee on a side street, dinner without crossing half the city, and a walk home that is familiar by the third night.
The older east of the city, around Asakusa, Ueno, Yanaka and Kuramae, has temple approaches, old shopping streets, museums and the traces of Edo's merchant and artisan life along the Sumida River. Asakusa has the strongest atmosphere, around the long approach to Sensō-ji, and is at its loveliest in the evening, when the temple is lit. Ueno has the national museums and the park; Yanaka is low, walkable and full of temples and wooden houses; Kuramae, on the river, has become a district of craft and design, with small studios in old warehouses.
Shinjuku is a city within the city, with great department stores, late-night streets, an enormous range of dining and quick access to western Tokyo. A stay there depends on the hotel, and the best of them sit high above the streets, where the noise falls away. Tokyo Bay and Odaiba have space and water views but sit apart from the life of the city, and they suit a particular need, a family stay, an event or a morning flight, better than a first visit.
the right base
Choosing the right base in Tokyo
The right choice starts with the purpose of the stay:
- A first visit, continuing on to Kyoto: Marunouchi, Ginza or Nihonbashi.
- Design, dining, museums and contemporary ease: Aoyama, Akasaka or Roppongi.
- A returning guest who wants the city's own daily life: Shibuya, Ebisu, Daikanyama or Nakameguro.
- Old-city atmosphere and museums: Asakusa, Ueno, Yanaka or Kuramae.
- Late-night scale and quick access to the west of the city, with the hotel chosen carefully: Shinjuku.
Many guests move through these districts over several visits: the polished centre on a first stay, the western districts once the city feels familiar, and the neighbourhoods of the old east later still. Some return to their first base every time.
The hotel matters as much as the district. Tokyo days are full, and the return each evening should be calm wherever it is.
Luxury hotels in Tokyo, ranked →
One week in Japan: a 7-day itinerary →
Luxury Tokyo tours for 2027, with their dates and prices →
The Custom Tour of Japan, Luxury Japan Travel's private journey made once for one party, chooses its Tokyo base around what the guests have come for, from a suite high above the gardens of the Imperial Palace to four nights among the city's sushi counters for a couple travelling to eat. A private car and driver waits each day wherever the party is, so the district is chosen for its evenings and its morning view, and the whole city stays within reach.
