Tokyo Station Day Trip 2026: Imperial Palace East Gardens, Shopping & Walking Guide

Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building

Attraction Introduction

Historical Background and Cultural Significance

Shin-Marunouchi Building (Shin-Marunouchi Birudingu)

Closed: Open year-round (except January 1 and designated maintenance days)

Website: https://www.marunouchi.com/building/shinmaru/

Department Store Features

The Shin-Marunouchi Building is located at the Marunouchi North Exit of Tokyo Station and is a commercial building that combines shopping, dining, and office spaces. With the design concept of "Suteki na Jikan" (Wonderful Time), it houses approximately 150 shops and restaurants; the 7th floor features "Marunouchi House," which has a circular outdoor terrace where you can enjoy meals while taking in views of Tokyo Station and Marunouchi. The architectural design was crafted by the renowned British firm Hopkins Architects, blending modernity with the classical atmosphere of Tokyo Station's red brick structure, showcasing a harmonious urban aesthetic.

Floor Products

Basement 1 (B1F): Focused on gourmet food, featuring the French bakery restaurant "POINT ET LIGNE," offering French cuisine and handmade bread supervised by Michelin-starred chefs; also includes the convenience store "7-Eleven" providing daily necessities and various services.

1st Floor: A collection of international brands and fashion boutiques, such as "Bshop," which offers minimalist and high-quality lifestyle clothing and goods, suitable for consumers seeking "Classic Everyday" items.

2nd to 3rd Floors: Focused on fashion and beauty, the 3rd floor features "Marunouchi Boite," which gathers high-end cosmetics stores, including "MCS Marunouchi Cosmetics Selection," offering a selection of beauty products.

4th Floor: Specializing in lifestyle and selection stores, such as "Spiral Garden," which sells creatively designed cultural products and artworks, recently introducing unique postcards and other items; also includes "DESCENTE," selling sports and casual wear.

5th to 6th Floors: Focused on dining and leisure, featuring cafes like "Starbucks Coffee," offering high-quality coffee, and "Foyer," creating a hotel-style coffee space suitable for business or casual gatherings.

7th Floor (Marunouchi House): The 7th floor "Marunouchi House" features Thai, Hong Kong-style tea restaurants, and Italian dining; the terrace area allows for takeaway meals while enjoying the night view.

8th Floor and Above: Primarily office floors.

Historical Background

The Shin-Marunouchi Building was completed on April 19, 2007, and the commercial floors officially opened on April 27. It is part of the "Marunouchi Manhattan Project" led by Mitsubishi Estate, aimed at transforming the Marunouchi area into an international business and cultural center. Its predecessor was the "Shin-Marunouchi Building," completed in 1952, an eight-story structure that underwent reconstruction starting March 15, 2005, after half a century of history. The Shin-Marunouchi Building is connected to surrounding buildings such as Tokyo Station and Marunouchi Building via underground passages. Since 2010, it has utilized wind power from Rokkasho Village in Aomori Prefecture, and there is an "EV/HV taxi stand" in front of the building. The building's floor area ratio reaches 1760%, utilizing the transfer of the floor area ratio from Tokyo Station's red brick station and the specific district system.

Marunouchi Nakadori (丸の内仲通り)

Attraction Introduction

Marunouchi Nakadori is approximately 1.2 kilometers long, connecting Yurakucho and Otemachi; the street is lined with zelkova trees, cobblestone paths, boutiques, and restaurants. Along the way, you can also find outdoor cafes, Michelin-starred restaurants, and sculptures by artists.

Historical Background and Cultural Significance

Marunouchi Building

Features
The Marunouchi Building is located in front of the Marunouchi exit of Tokyo Station and serves as a shopping mall and office building in Marunouchi. MARUCUBE is a spacious atrium with a glass curtain wall facing Marunouchi Nakadori, often used for events and exhibitions; the mall also features a seasonal floral outdoor relaxation area.

Floor Guide
The floor layout of the Marunouchi Building is clear, catering to various needs from everyday shopping to high-end dining:

• B1F～4F (Shopping Area): A collection of high-quality shops, trendy clothing, jewelry, and lifestyle goods from both domestic and international brands. From classic brands to emerging designers, it showcases the refined taste of Marunouchi.
• 5F & 6F (Restaurant Area): A variety of dining options including Japanese, Western, Chinese, and Asian cuisine, suitable for business lunches or casual gatherings. The 5th floor features a "Sky Garden," an excellent place to relax while dining.
• 35F & 36F (Premium Restaurant Area): A luxurious dining space located on the upper floors, home to several renowned high-end restaurants, such as French cuisine "Restaurant Monna Lisa" and Italian cuisine "ANTICA OSTERIA DEL PONTE." Restaurants on the 35th and 36th floors offer views of Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace while dining.

Historical Background

The history of the Marunouchi Building reflects the development of the Marunouchi area. Its predecessor, the "Old Marunouchi Building," was completed in 1923 (Taisho 12) and was Japan's first comprehensive office building constructed in the American style. It was groundbreaking for having a "Shopping Arcade" open to the public on the lower floors, becoming a sensation at the time.

At that time, buildings in the Marunouchi area were uniformly restricted to a height of 31 meters (100 feet), creating a neat skyline, and the area was nicknamed "Icchō New York" (いっちょうニューヨーク, meaning "a little bit of New York"), with the Old Marunouchi Building symbolizing that era.

After nearly 80 years, the Old Marunouchi Building was deemed unsuitable for continued use following structural reviews after the 1995 Hanshin earthquake, leading to its reconstruction. The current Marunouchi Building opened in 2002, retaining the three-window element of the Old Marunouchi Building, becoming a commercial facility in the redevelopment of Marunouchi.

KITTE Marunouchi

Features
"KITTE Marunouchi" is a commercial facility that perfectly blends historical architecture with modern design. Its name cleverly combines the Japanese words for "postage stamp (切手 Kitte)" and "come (来て Kite)." The building, designed by Kengo Kuma, retains parts of the outer wall of the old Tokyo Central Post Office built in 1931 and features a triangular high ceiling inside.
The interior is themed around "Feel JAPAN," gathering artisan-style shops, lifestyle goods, and gourmet food from across the country. The "KITTE Garden" on the 6th floor offers a close-up view of the red-brick Tokyo Station Marunouchi building.

Floor Guide
KITTE Marunouchi has a clear floor plan, from B1 to 6F, with each floor having its unique theme:

• B1F "KITTE GRANCHE": This floor is directly connected to JR Tokyo Station. It features a collection of specialty bento, desserts, delicatessen, local sake, and popular souvenirs from all over Japan.
• 1F: The main entrance of the mall, featuring the most spectacular high-ceiling plaza, often hosting various events. This floor includes cafes and lifestyle shops, and notably preserves the "Old Tokyo Central Post Office Director's Room," showcasing the historical ambiance of the past.
• 2F: A fashion floor primarily for mature women, featuring clothing, jewelry, and accessory brands.
• 3F: A blend of men's and women's clothing, lifestyle goods, and cosmetics, showcasing high quality and design in Japanese living aesthetics.
• 4F: Themed around "Japanese Hospitality," this floor gathers a rich selection of traditional Japanese crafts, design-oriented stationery goods, and includes a Japanese-style café and a space displaying the history of the old post office.
• 5F - 6F: The restaurant floors, featuring a variety of famous cuisines such as sushi, tempura, Japanese food, and Chinese cuisine. The 6th floor also has an exit leading to the "KITTE Garden," making it a perfect spot for a post-meal stroll and view.

Historical Background

Intermediatheque (インターメディアテク)

Exhibition Overview
The "Intermediatheque" is an academic and cultural comprehensive museum located directly across from the Marunouchi exit of Tokyo Station, within the "KITTE" shopping complex. This space breaks the traditional museum framework, showcasing the rich academic specimens and research materials accumulated by the University of Tokyo since its founding, in a visually appealing display. Exhibits include large animal skeletons, scientific instruments, and historical artifacts, all presented in a lofty space.

Historical Background and Cultural Significance

This museum is a non-profit facility operated jointly by Japan Post Co., Ltd. and the University of Tokyo's Museum of Comprehensive Research. The location "KITTE" itself is a commercial facility that preserves and refurbishes parts of the old Tokyo Central Post Office building constructed in 1931. Intermediatheque utilizes the old Tokyo Central Post Office building to open the University of Tokyo's academic assets to the public; the exhibitions span biology, geography, and archaeology, presenting research materials in a restructured manner.

Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum

Museum Features

The Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, located in Tokyo's Marunouchi business district, is a museum focused on modern art from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. The building is a restored structure of the "Mitsubishi Ichigokan," designed in 1894 by British architect Josiah Conder, featuring a red brick exterior and the Victorian-era "Queen Anne style," exuding a classical elegance. During the restoration, original design drawings, measured drawings, and some building materials, such as the stone used for the staircase handrails, were preserved. The museum has three floors of exhibition space, approximately 800 square meters, covering 20 exhibition rooms, along with the "Café 1894" café (restored from the old bank's business room) and the "Store 1894" souvenir shop, allowing visitors to enjoy art while experiencing the history and cultural atmosphere of Marunouchi. A new small exhibition room will be added in November 2024, dedicated to showcasing collection and commissioned works in small planned exhibitions.

Exhibition Types

The Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum primarily collects Western art from the late 19th century, featuring works by artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Odilon Redon, and Félix Vallotton, and has established a sister museum relationship with the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum in Albi, France. The museum holds 3 to 4 planned exhibitions each year, focusing on modern art from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, including Impressionism, Symbolism, and the Art Nouveau movement. Recent exhibitions include "Rousseau and Cézanne—Two Masters Who Shaped Modernity" (May 29 to September 7, 2025), "Landscape Painting in French Modern Art—from Corot to Matisse" (concurrently exhibited), "Art Deco and Fashion—Kyoto Costume Institute (KCI) Collection" (October 11, 2025, to January 25, 2026), and "From Kiyochika to Hasui—Ukiyo-e and New Prints in the Muller Collection" (February 19 to May 24, 2026). The museum has also exhibited ukiyo-e and traditional Japanese dyeing tools known as "katazome."

Historical Background

The Mitsubishi Ichigokan was built in 1894 as the first Western-style office building in Marunouchi, designed by Josiah Conder, who is regarded as the "father of modern Japanese architecture." It was originally used by the banking department of Mitsubishi's joint venture and for renting office space. This red brick building, featuring the popular Queen Anne style of late 19th-century England, symbolizes Japan's modernization during the Meiji era. However, it was demolished in 1968 due to age, and after more than 40 years of silence, the site was restored in 2009 based on original design drawings and historical data, reopening as a museum on April 6, 2010. The restoration preserved the historical appearance of the building, with some exhibition rooms carpeted to reduce noise from shoes on the wooden floors. The museum reopened in 2010, becoming a cultural exhibition hub in Marunouchi.

Meiji Seimei Kan

Attraction Introduction

Meiji Seimei Kan is located in the heart of Marunouchi, Tokyo, by the Imperial Palace moat, and is a treasure of classical architecture. This eight-story building above ground and two stories below is renowned for its magnificent Corinthian column façade, bringing the solemn grandeur of ancient Greece and Rome into modern Tokyo. Upon entering the first-floor lobby, the spacious atrium with marble flooring and splendid chandeliers instantly immerses visitors in the luxurious atmosphere of the early Showa era. The conference rooms, dining hall, and corridors on the second floor showcase an elegant and understated beauty with intricate wooden decorations and classical designs. Meiji Seimei Kan is still an office building today, open for free visits and offering audio guides; theSeikado@Marunouchi on the first floor displays treasures of Eastern art.

Historical Background

Meiji Seimei Kan was built in 1934 (Showa 9) as a new company headquarters for Meiji Life Insurance to expand its business, replacing the original Mitsubishi No. 2 Building. The building was designed by Shinichiro Okada, a professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (now Tokyo University of the Arts), through a competitive selection process, blending classical styles with modern technology, and took three years and seven months to complete. Okada passed away in 1932 due to illness, and his brother, Goro, took over to finish this masterpiece. During the war, although Tokyo suffered air raids, Meiji Seimei Kan was spared; however, from 1945 to 1956, it was occupied by the GHQ (General Headquarters of the Allied Forces) and used as the headquarters of the U.S. Far East Air Forces, with the famous Council for U.S.-Japan Relations also held here. In 1997, Meiji Seimei Kan became the first building from the Showa era designated as an Important Cultural Property; after restoration in 2001, it stands alongside the Meiji Yasuda Life Building, preserving the history of the GHQ occupation period.

Cultural Significance

The classical design of Meiji Seimei Kan integrates elements of Greek and Roman architecture with modern Japanese technology, reflecting the historical context of the Meiji to early Showa period when Western architectural ideas were absorbed. The Corinthian columns and exquisite decorative carvings showcase the architects' meticulous attention to detail, while also embodying the ambition and confidence of Meiji Life Insurance as Japan's first life insurance company. The history of being occupied by the GHQ after the war makes it an important witness to Japan's post-war reconstruction and international exchange. Today, as an Important Cultural Property, Meiji Seimei Kan invites visitors to appreciate the beauty of the architecture while experiencing the historical context and cultural heritage of Japan from the Meiji Restoration to the present. TheSeikado@Marunouchi within further connects the Iwasaki family's collection with the corporate spirit of the Meiji era, deepening its cultural significance.