Today, I would like to introduce one of the tourist spots in Tokyo - Hamamatsucho -. Hamamatsucho is not that popular like Harajuku or Shibuya for foreigners. Hamamatsucho station is one of the stations of Yamanote line, and also has a monorail station to Haneda Airport. So it is easy to access, and you can see a lot of things that is so “JAPAN”. Here are what you can enjoy around Hamamatsucho Station.
World Trade Center Building
World Trade Center Building is the right next to Hamamatsucho Station. It has a lot of the restaurants and offices inside. My favorite is its observatory – the Seaside Top Observatory. You can see the bay area, Tokyo tower, Tokyo sky tree and other Tokyo spots from the top of the building. If the weather is clear enough (I recommend winter season.) you can also see Mt. Fuji from there.
And I am sure it has the best night Tokyo tower view with Roppongi Hills.
Kyu Shiba Rikyu Garden
Kyu shiba Rikyu Gardern is one of the oldest gardens in Tokyo. Just a few minute walk from Hamamatsucho Station. The garden is not that big like other popular gardens in Tokyo, but it has a quiet atmosphere and you can have a relaxing time with seasonal flowers. From the garden you can enjoy the view of Tokyo tower and Shinkansen (Bullet train).
Zojoji Temple
Zojoji Temple is 10-minute walk from Hamamatsucho Station. You can see the Hondo (Main) Building and Tokyo tower at the same time. Zojoji Temple has 600-year history and related to Tokugawa Shogunate.
In the Zojoji Temple, there are a lot of Jizo Statues. It is said that these Jizos got placed to pray children’s healthy growth and good luck in the future.
Shiba Park
Shiba Park is located around Zojoji Temple. You can enjoy nice Tokyo tower view from many places in Shiba park. Some places are often used as a TV drama shooting location, so if you are a Japanese TV drama fan, you might find some places you might have seen before here.
Izakaya (Japanese Pubs)
Because around Hamamatsucho station is a business area, it has a lot of Izakayas (Japanese pubs). Once you visit there you will see many business men enjoying drinking after work. Most of those izakayas have English menus (sometimes Chinese too) so you will be welcomed to experience Japanese drinking culture.
If you come to Japan for the first time, I strongly recommend to visit Hamamatsucho Station Area once. Of course, Shibuya or Harajuku have a lot of fun stuff but Hamamatsucho shows you the different side of Japanese culture.
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