Home Destinations Asia Japan Tokyo Sights Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Review

Read our Tokyo sights reviews. Or post your own.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office

Address: 2-8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03/5321-1111
www.metro.tokyo.jp

Tokyo Tocho

Category: Sports Venues, Government Buildings
Location: Shinjuku-ku

Write a review

Fodor's Review:

Dominating the western Shinjuku skyline and built at a cost of ¥157 billion, Kenzo Tange's grandiose city hall complex is clearly meant to remind observers that Tokyo's annual budget is bigger than that of the average developing country. The late-20th-century complex consists of a main office building, an annex, the Metropolitan Assembly building, and a huge central courtyard, often the venue of open-air concerts and exhibitions. The building design has raised some debate: Tokyoites either love it or hate it. On a clear day, from the observation decks on the 45th floors of both towers, you can see all the way to Mt. Fuji and to the Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture. Several other skyscrapers in the area have free observation floors—among them the Shinjuku Center Building, the Shinjuku Nomura Building, and the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building—but city hall is the best of the lot. The Metropolitan Government Web site, incidentally, is an excellent source of information on sightseeing and current events in Tokyo.

Cost: Free
Open: North observation deck daily 9:30-10:30; south observation deck daily 9:30-5:30
Subway: Marunouchi and Shinjuku subway lines, JR, Keio Shin-sen and Teito private rail lines; Shinjuku Station (Nishi-guchi/West Exit)

Find more sights in Tokyo »