4Hours in Tokyo

as of June 2013

Sightseeing in Tokyo: Old Japan, New Japan

start at

[JR Tokyo Station]

Take snapshots around the station's beautifully restored building: 15 minutes

(c)Yasufumi Nishi

↓ Walk 3 minutes to

[KITTE]

Visit JP Tower Museum Intermediatheque (IMT): 30 minutes (Free Admission)

↓ Walk 5 minutes to

[Marunouchi Cafe SEEK]

Take a Japanese handicrafts class: 40 minutes (Free of Charge)

↓ Walk 15 minutes to

[Ginza "Kabukiza Theatre"]

Take the tour and visit the gift shop: 60 minutes
See a single act of a kabuki play: About 30-90 minutes (varies by act); 900-2,000 yen
*Regular ticket for one performance (2-3 acts): 4,000-20,000 yen

(c)Shochiku Co., Ltd.

↓ Walk a few minutes to

[Ginza "Brand Street"]

Stroll the high-end boutiques of this famous luxury shopping district: 30 minutes

↓ Walk 7 minutes to

[Lunch at Sushi Bar]

Lunch: 30 minutes; approx. 1,000 yen

Estimated Total Budget: 3,000 yen

[Option A: Art Tour (1000 yen)]

[Option B: Business Building Tour (Free Admission)]

[Option C: Shopping and Gourmet Tour]

This itinerary is intellectually stimulating. It gives a point of contact with Japanese history, while also offering something new. We also focused on places that were reasonably priced.

JR Tokyo Station

(c)Yasufumi Nishi

In continuous use for more than 90 years, the Tokyo Station building is the nexus of Japan's railway network. It is also a Tokyo landmark and architectural masterpiece. It was originally built in 1914, in the Gothic Revival style, and was designed by the renowned architect Tatsuno Kingo. Boasting a 335-metre long redbrick facade, it took six and a half years, and the combined efforts of 740,000 workers, to complete. During the war in 1945, it lost its iconic north and south domes, as well as other decorative features, to fire. A preservation and restoration project was launched in 2007 and completed in October 2012, returning the station building to its original appearance.

KITTE

Just opened in March 2013, KITTE is a shopping mall across the street from and directly connected underground to Tokyo Station.

Its 98 fascinating, highly original shops and restaurants reflect KITTE's strong "Japan" appeal and include 30 places selling fashion and fashion accessories. Prices for clothes and accessories tend to be more affordable than in shops in the Marunouchi and Shin-Marunouchi Buildings. The first basement floor features outposts of popular vendors of delicious traditional and modern delicacies representing many regions of Japan, all the way from Hokkaido to Okinawa. Plenty of free samples are on offer!

KITTE (the Japanese word for postage stamp) also includes the Intermediatheque (IMT), a museum jointly operated by Japan Post Co. Ltd. and the University Museum of the University of Tokyo (UMUT). The permanent exhibition of IMT consists of about 7,000 artefacts, which have been selected from the world-class collections accumulated by the University of Tokyo since its foundation in 1877. These objects are exhibited with a unique, eclectic design approach that the museum calls "retrofuturism." From wildlife specimens - including the extinct "elephant bird" Aepyornis, Moa eggs and giant crocodile skeletons - to the world's largest gold and platinum nuggets, to ancient pottery, IMT offers a new way to encounter important objects from both natural and cultural history.

IMT also hosts special exhibitions and events that highlight contemporary scientific research and artistic expression, while keeping to the same "retrofuturistic" curatorial approach as the permanent exhibition.

Consult the IMT website for schedules and other details : 
http://www.intermediatheque.jp/en/schedule

Address
2-7-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-7001

Marunouchi Cafe SEEK

Marunouchi Cafe SEEK opened in January 2012, to provide a venue that foreign visitors to Tokyo would find welcoming and genuinely useful. It offers convenient services including free Wi-Fi, a library of tourist literature and other resources of interest to foreigners visiting Japan. SEEK also serves as a gallery, presenting exhibits about Japanese art and culture. And it hosts events and hands-on classes related to traditional Japanese arts such as origami and calligraphy.

Adding to the convenience, on the first floor of the same building is a JNTO Tourist Information Center (TIC).

For more information, please visit the English website : 
http://www.marunouchicafe.com/english/

Address 
2F Shin Tokyo Building, 3-3-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005

Kabukiza Theatre

(c)Shochiku Co., Ltd.

Kabukiza Theatre is a flagship theatre of Kabuki, a traditional Japanese performing arts. It has stood on the same site since 1889. After a reconstruction, including the building of a multipurpose office high-rise, Kabukiza Theatre opened again in April 2013. The daily program consists of 2 or 3 performances with 2 or 3 acts each. The line-up changes monthly. If you'd like just a taste of Kabuki, withought spending too long at the theatre, a "hitomakumi" single act ticket is an economical way to see one part of a performance in this daily program. To enable non-Japanese speakers to follow the performance, an English Earphone Guide rental service is provided. Just go to the Earphone Guide counter to rent. The cost of the rental for a single act is 500 yen and for a full performance(2 to 3 acts) is 700 yen, with a 1,000 yen deposit that is refunded when you return the receiver.

You can also get a sense of the world of Kabuki in the Kabukiza Gallery and the Rooftop Garden.

For more information, please visit the English website : 
http://www.kabuki-bito.jp/eng/

Address 
4-12-15 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0061

Lunch at Sushi Bar

There is a sushi bar which serves sushi with a creative twist, embracing the sushi rolls that are so popular in global sushi cuisine, while using innovative ingredients and preparation methods. The extensive menu (available in English) features seasonal vegetables and seafood, and includes more than 30 different original sushi rolls.

Option A: Art Tour (1000 yen)

Idemitsu Museum of Arts

The Idemitsu Museum of Arts is located in the Imperial Theatre Building, a 13-minute walk from Tokyo Station. It looks out over the beautiful gardens of the Imperial Palace. First opened in 1966 to exhibit the collection of East Asian antiques assembled over some 70 years by Sazo Idemitsu (1885-1981), it reopened after a renovation in 2007. The new space honours the traditional Japanese aesthetic of the museum's original design, while adding a contemporary touch. It provides an inviting, relaxing atmosphere in which to appreciate the museum's numerous artworks, many of them National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties. Many historical styles of Japanese painting, ukiyo-e woodblock prints, works by modern Japanese painters such as Kosugi Hōan, calligraphy, East Asian ceramics (ancient and modern) and more are represented. There are even a few Western painters on display. Themed special exhibitions are held six or seven times a year.

Consult the museum's English website for details:
http://www.idemitsu.com/museum/

Address
9th Floor, Teigeki Bldg., 3-1-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-0005

Option B: Business Building Tour (Free Admission)

Bank of Japan and Currency Museum

The Bank of Japan is a 12-minute walk from Tokyo Station. Completed in 1896, the Bank of Japan building was registered as an Important Cultural Property in 1974. With advance reservations, you can take an English-language tour of Bank of Japan facilities normally off-limits to the public, including the old underground vault, the former offices, and an archives display room.

The Currency Museum has a collection of about 4,000 artefacts, ranging from the currencies of Japan through the ages, and of other East Asian countries, to related items such as wallets and lottery tickets.

Highlights include authentic gold coins minted in the 16th century by samurai warlords, with full-scale replicas that visitors can pick up and handle, and a presentation on the latest anti-counterfeiting technologies used in current Bank of Japan notes. Various unique notes and coins from around the world are also on display.

For more information, please visit the English website : 
http://www.boj.or.jp/en/about/services/kengaku.htm

Address

In-House Tours of the Bank: 2-1-1, Nihonbashi-Hongokucho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo,103-0021

Currency Museum (Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies): Bank of Japan Annex Building, 1-3-1 Nihonbashi-Hongokucho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 103-0021

Option C: Shopping and Gourmet Tour

Coredo Muromachi

Coredo Muromachi is a multipurpose complex a 14-minute walk from Tokyo Station in the historic Nihombashi district. It has five floors of retail, mainly eateries with a few other culinary-related shops. A common thread among these establishments is the convergence of the best of Japanese food traditions with fresh, contemporary flair. Coredo Muromachi's elegant decor evokes the classic Japanese architecture of teahouses and old-fashioned wooden homes.

For more information, please visit the English website : 
http://mi-mo.jp/lng/eng/muromachi.html

Address
2-2-1 Muromachi, Muromachi Nihombashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 103-0022