All polish and glitz, here is where the city's glamorous self goes on display. It's where tourists go to window shop, sip tea in silver-tray cafés, and maybe catch some kabuki between gallery stops.
Landmarks & Streets
Wako Clock Tower. Ginza’s iconic Seiko clock tower is your compass rose. Built in 1932, it anchors the main intersection of Chuo-dori and Harumi-dori.
Chuo-dori. Window Shopping - Ginza’s main stage—broad, bright, and built to impress. Flagship stores line both sides: Chanel, Uniqlo, Mitsukoshi, Wako. On weekends, it turns into a car-free promenade.
Namiki-dori. Backstreet where legacy tailors, pearl dealers, and discreet bars live behind polished brass doors.
Suzuran-dori. Bookstores, perfumeries, and kissaten with velvet seats and drip coffee.
Toyoiwa Inari Shrine. A small Edo-era shrine tucked between buildings. Dedicated to Inari, quiet, compact, and easy to miss—more pause than destination.
Kabuki-za Theatre. Opened in 1889, rebuilt multiple times. Daily shows, single-act tickets available. Shops, a rooftop garden, and English guides if you need them.
Shopping
Itoya. 12 floors of stationery and Japanese paper heaven, plus pens, a postcard station, art supplies, homewares and more. Across the street in the annex is a place where you can create custom notebooks.
Ginza Six. 241 stores, rooftop garden, Noh theater, and art installations. Come for the flagship boutiques, basement food hall, and panoramic views from the rooftop.
Imadeya. A sake shop in B1, over 1,000 bottles of sake, shochu, wine, some rare, some everyday. There’s a tasting counter and staff who actually know their stuff.
Mitsukoshi Depachika. Mitsukoshi’s depachika is two floors of high-end food. Bento, wagyu, sashimi, sweets—everything’s wrapped like a gift. Buy what you need, then head up to the rooftop terrace to eat.
Kanadaya 金田屋. Fruit daifuku, but flips the script—no wrapping, no surprise. Just a flat disc of black mochi, topped with cream, white bean paste, and a single perfect fruit.
Dover St Market. Seven floors curated by Rei Kawakubo—part gallery, retail experiment. High fashion and streetwear mix across sculptural spaces, with a café and book corner up top.
The Whisky Museum. 6F showroom packed with rare Japanese bottles—Yamazaki, Hibiki, Ichiro’s Malt. It’s part gallery, part high-end shop. Tastings are offered, mostly for serious buyers.
Art & Galleries
Ginza Graphic Gallery. Graphic design, typography, poster art
Shiseido Gallery. Emerging and mid-career Japanese artists
Pola Museum Annex. Shows ranging from contemp art to fashion and photography
Tokyo Gallery + BTAP. One of Japan’s first contemp galleries, modern and postwar avant-garde
Gallery Koyanagi. High-concept, photography, installation, video.
Okuno Building. Art deco building with over a dozen micro-galleries
Wako Works of Art. International and Japanese conceptual artists
Cafes & Sweets
Ginza West. Elegant café, tea & cakes, silver trays, a kissaten locked in time. The mille-feuille and cream puffs are the draw; the corned beef sando also a classic.
Ken’s Coffee. Old-school Kissaten. Known for its 3D cat cappuccinos and shortcake sourced from a nearby bakery. Seats about 30, no reservations, and lines form early.
Henri Charpentier. Gold-rimmed plates, chandelier light. The signature is the crêpe suzette, flambéed tableside. Pricey.
Parlour Shiseido. From another era— proper tea, parfaits stacked with precision.
Restaurants & Izakaya
Uogashi Nihon-Ichi. A standing sushi bar, order by the piece, watch the chef work, eat, and go, nigiri starts at ¥75.
Ginza Kan. Solid izakaya, seasonal dishes. No walk-ins. Not flashy, friendly staff, earns repeat visits.
Chez Tomo. French technique, local ingredients, standout is a 30-vegetable starter, arranged like a color palette.
Ginza Yokota. Fine tempura and sushi, expensive, nice lunch set.
Gyūan Ginza. Steakhouse, Kobe and Tajima wagyu. Lunch is walk-in, expect to wait 30+ min. Dinner reservations are recommended.
Birdland. Yakitori, grills premium Okukuji Shamo over binchotan. It’s casual, precise, and worth booking.
Andy’s Shin Hinomoto. Rowdy izakaya under the Yurakucho tracks—run by a Brit, packed with locals. Fresh fish from Tsukiji, big portions, low prices. No-frills, all noise. Cash only, book ahead.
Yoinokuchi. Izakaya, menu leans warm: oden, sashimi, grilled odds and ends, matched w Japanese wine.
Hibiya Okuroji. Shops and restaurants tucked beneath century-old brick railway arches.
Bars & Nightlife
Rocky Top. Since 1980, serving up a good dose of bluegrass, over the years, it has welcomed local talents and int’l legends.
The Deep. 4F jazz bar, low-lit, close-set. Run by a singer, it books sets of standards and soul most nights. Music charge is ¥3,300.
Ginza Swing. Around since ’76—low stage, wraparound seats, clean sound. Nightly sets from seasoned locals, mostly straight-ahead jazz and standards. Cover’s around ¥3,800.
Bar Evans. A second-floor jazz bar with no sign and no chatter. It’s just you, a drink, and a jazz music. The bartender moves deliberately.
Orchard. Books on the wall, fruit on the counter. Drinks are tailored, whimsical, not on a menu. Feels like someone turned a library into a bar.
Tir na Nog. A fairy bar behind an iron door and down a stairwell, dim lights, floating keys, drinks with names like poems. Fun place, instagrammable drinks, especially the cotton candy cloud one.
Magic Bar 12 O’Clock. Two hours all-you-can-drink, a stage show, and table-side tricks. Magicians rotate, tricks are well executed, tone is playful. Reservations recommended.
Folklore. Innovative cocktails, sake with tequila, shochu w blue cheese brandy. Led by a mostly female team. Reservations recommended.
Mixology Salon. An eight-seat bar at Ginza Six. They do cocktails focused around tea — sencha gin, gyokuro martinis, hojicha with bourbon— beautifully balanced. Also, innovative infusions, as well as fresh fruit cocktails. Reservation recommended though you can take your chance and go. Interesting snacks to go with your cocktails.
Shinshuu Osake Mura. A standing bar under Shimbashi Station. It stocks sake, beer, wine, from Nagano, and because it is more bottle shop than bar, you can drink everything on-site at retail prices.