Japan Photo Guide

Ginza is an upscale shopping district in Tokyo that also has it’s fair share of nightlife and restaurants, most of which are fairly (by fairly I actually mean very) expensive. There are many famous designer shops, department stores and even a theater to see Kabuki (traditional Japanese theater) all year long. If you go on the weekend the roads are blocked off to traffic and you can freely walk around.

Below you can see people waiting for the Gucci store to open and also a melon from a department store. The sign with the melon says you can buy two of those bad boys for about 200 USD. Yes that is 200 not 2.00.

For more information about Ginza, see the Japan-Guide.com.

Roppongi Hills Tower is a very modern complex and buildings with everything from (upscale) shops to offices to apartments to restaurants to an art museum. Think of it as an upscale, modern city within Tokyo. It is connected to Roppongi Subway Station and is within walking distance of all the nightlife of the vastly different area known as Roppongi.

Roppongi Hills is a must see if you are visiting Tokyo. I recommend going in the afternoon, walking around the outside and then going up to the tower to see the view of Tokyo (and beyond) just before sunset. On a clear day you can even see Mt. Fuji (see the photo below). Also the art museum is on the top floors of the tower. On another side note, the movie theater has a great discount for foreigners and tickets are only 1000 yen which is almost half price for movie tickets in Japan.

Below on the left is a huge sculpture of a spider. This spider is a popular place to meet and wait for people at Roppongi Hills. On the right, one day I went to Roppongi Hills and I just happened to be there at the same time as a festival parade was passing by Roppongi Hills. The shrine they are carrying is called Mitsukoshi. This style of carrying a shrine in a parade like fashion is a very common for festivals throughout Japan.

For more information see the official site of Roppongi Hills.