Culture, design & architecture

Tokyo’s oldest temple, through Kaminarimon gate and Nakamise. The grounds are open early and lit at night.

A forested shrine beside Harajuku; walk in under the giant torii before 9am.

Japan’s largest collection of art and antiquities, across several halls in Ueno Park. Closed most Mondays.

Reopened on 31 March 2026 after a four-year renovation, with life-size Edo streets and a rebuilt Meiji Ginza shopfront.

Free entry to the old castle grounds, with stone walls, lawns and maples. Closed Mondays and Fridays.

An Edo-period stroll garden of ponds, hills and maples. The autumn night viewing runs 25 November to 6 December 2026.

One of Tokyo’s oldest gardens, with a red-lacquered bridge framed by maples.

A former shogun’s garden on the bay, with a teahouse on the pond and skyscrapers behind.

Stepping stones across a large pond, ringed by stones from across Japan.

Wide lawns, a Japanese garden and plane-tree avenues. No alcohol is allowed inside.

A 300-metre avenue of ginkgo trees that turns gold in late November; go early on weekdays.

Walk barefoot through water and light rooms in Toyosu. Open until the end of 2027; closed 5 November.

Digital art rooms without fixed routes, inside Azabudai Hills. Book timed tickets.

Kengo Kuma’s bamboo-lined entrance, Asian art and a sloping garden of maples.

Contemporary art on the 53rd floor of Roppongi Hills, with the Tokyo City View deck.

Tadao Ando’s folded-steel roof over design exhibitions in the Tokyo Midtown garden.

SANAA’s faceted aluminium building in the artist’s home district.

Le Corbusier’s only building in East Asia, part of a UNESCO World Heritage listing.

An Art Deco prince’s villa with Lalique glass doors and gardens, used for changing exhibitions.

Kenzō Tange’s 1964 Olympic arena with its sweeping suspension roof; best seen from the outside.

Tange’s steel-clad cathedral, rising in a cross of light. Visitors are welcome outside services.

A glass hall shaped like a ship’s hull, free to walk through.

Tatsuno Kingo’s 1914 red-brick station, restored with its domes in 2012.

A new cultural centre at Takanawa Gateway City, opened in March 2026 beside Kuma’s timber-roofed station. Open 10:00–21:00; closed 17 and 18 November 2026.