Marunouchi

Located between the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station, Marunouchi (丸の内) is one of Japan's most prestigious business districts. During the Edo Period, Marunouchi (literally "within the enclosure") was located within the outer moats of Edo Castle and contained the residences of some of Japan's most powerful feudal lords. Together with neighboring Otemachi, Marunouchi is now home to the headquarters of many of Japan's most powerful companies, particularly from the financial sector.

Over the last decade, Marunouchi has been receiving a major facelift, led by the Mitsubishi Estate company, which owns a lot of the land in the district. Many older office buildings were replaced by new skyscrapers with offices on their upper floors and a variety of shops and restaurants on their lower floors. These newly opened shopping and dining complexes have revitalized the formerly unexciting business district and are drawing an increasing number of non business visitors in recent years.

Marunouchi is bordered on the east by Tokyo Station, one of Japan's busiest railway stations and the terminal of multiple shinkansen lines. The station building on the Marunouchi side is a prominent red brick building, which dates from the Meiji Period and was recently renovated and reopened in its pre-war appearance. Besides travel service it offers a hotel, restaurants and an art gallery.

More construction works have been going on the opposite side of the station, the Yaesu Side, where three skyscrapers were added to the station complex in recent years, and a pedestrian deck is currently being built (to be completed in 2013). Shopping and travel facilities within the station have also received a facelift in recent years. The product of all these works is the "Tokyo Station City" complex.

Opened in 2002 just in front of Tokyo Station, the Marunouchi Building (Marubiru) is one of the districts landmark buildings. Shopping and restaurants can be found on the lower six floors, while the top two floors (35 and 36) offer nice restaurants with a view over the city.

The Shin Marunouchi Building (Shin Marubiru), was opened in 2007 opposite the Marubiru as another landmark building outside of Tokyo Station. It features over 150 shops on its lower five floors and about 40 restaurants on the 5th, 6th and 7th floors. The 7th floor is surrounded by a publicly accessible balcony.

Opened in spring 2013, Kitte (Japanese for postal stamp) is a shopping and dining complex on the lower floors of the JP Tower next to Tokyo Station. The first four floors feature over 70 stores selling mostly fashion and interior goods, while the top two floors contain restaurants and a rooftop garden with views out over Tokyo Station. The Tokyo Central Post Office is located on the ground floor with its facade preserved from the previous building.

Opened in 2004, Oazo is a shopping, dining and hotel complex facing the Marunouchi North Exit of Tokyo Station. Four of Oazo's 18 floors are occupied by the Maruzen bookstore with a large foreign language section, while the top ten floors constitute the Marunouchi Hotel.

Spanning the length of the Marunouchi district, Nakadori Avenue is a tree lined shopping street running between the large shopping and office buildings. The street is lined by cafes, fashion boutiques and other shops, and gets closed to motorized traffic during lunch time.

One of the newer shopping and dining centers in Marunouchi, Brick Square is located along Nakadori near Marubiru. The building's lower two floors feature specialty shops, fashion boutiques, cafes and restaurants, while the 2nd and 3rd floors feature trendy restaurants and bars. The 4th floor houses a fitness gym. The Ichigokan Museum is also part of the Brick Square grounds.

Tokia is a shopping and dining center in the lower floors of the Tokyo Building, which aims to be an evening spot where people can gather after work to enjoy good food and music in a fun atmosphere. As such it is filled with a variety of trendy restaurants and bars that cater to the after work crowd.

Originally built in 1894 for the Mitsubishi Company as the first Western style office building in the Marunouchi district, the Ichigokan was reconstructed and reopened in 2010 as a museum focusing on 19th century Western art.

The Tokyo International Forum is one of the city's many architectural highlights. It is a venue for various conventions, exhibitions, concerts and other events. An event calendar can be found on the official website (see links towards the bottom of the page).