TOKYO'S LATEST FASHION, SHOPPING AND ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS

January 2022

01.SHIBUYA SCRAMBLE SQUARE (and Shibuya sky)

Among Shibuya's many iconic buildings, Shibuya Scramble Square is hard to miss. Despite having only opened in 2019, Shibuya's tallest skyscraper has quickly established itself as an area landmark and symbol of dynamic Tokyo. Directly connected to Shibuya Station, this lifestyle complex is home to over 200 shops and restaurants-including well-known brands from Japan and abroad-as well as Shibuya Sky, a state-of-the-art observatory. From the glass-walled rooftop, the view of the Tokyo skyline stretching across the horizon all the way to Mt. Fuji is not to be missed.

Once a haven for sports enthusiasts, Shibuya's MIYASHITA PARK has been reborn as a vertical city park with a uniquely Tokyo feel. Now, it's a stylish, 330-meter-long lifestyle complex with pockets of greenery and three main facilities: RAYARD MIYASHITA PARK, a mall with everything from luxury brands to eclectic knick-knacks; sequence MIYASHITA PARK, a hotel that offers an escape from city life; and SHIBUYAKURITSU MIYASHITA PARK, an open-air terrace where guests can relax on the lawn. Despite its reinvention, it stays true to its roots with installations like a skate park and bouldering wall.

In a Tokyo that never stops evolving, old merges with new, and even historic sites don’t stand still forever. K5 is one such landmark, leading the charge to revitalize the old financial district of Kabuto-cho. Starting life as Japan’s First National Bank in the 1920s, the building was reborn in 2020 as a fully renovated and reimagined “micro-complex”: four floors of restaurants, bars, social spaces, and spacious guestrooms bound by the design concept of aimai, meaning ambiguity in the best possible sense.

WATERS Takeshiba is a new cultural hub on the Tokyo Bay waterfront, served by water buses and sightseeing cruises and just six minutes from Hamamatsucho Station. The modern complex combines the vibrant dining and shopping of atré Takeshiba with diverse artistic entertainments at the Theater Building, centered around an expansive plaza overlooking the water and Hamarikyu Gardens. The top floors of the Tower Building also house mesm Tokyo, an Autograph Collection hotel designed to mesmerize the senses with a captivating fusion of tradition and innovation.

Gems Aoyama Cross is the newly-opened crown jewel of one of Tokyo's most upmarket neighborhoods. As the name suggests, Gems focuses on quality over quantity: just seven establishments were selected to set up shop across the building's four floors. Among them you'll find gourmet sushi, French-Japanese fusions from Michelin-starred chefs, and uniquely experimental mushroom-based cuisine. Along with world-class dining, visitors can indulge in specialty beauty treatments and taste the Scandinavian lifestyle at Iittala, a café and store designed by world-renowned architect Kengo Kuma.