Have you just decided to stay around Tokyo Station, Ginza or Nihombashi? Maybe the booking site shows all 3 names side by side, and you’re not sure which to pick.
This article centers on Tokyo Station. Ginza is about a 15-minute walk from Tokyo Station. Nihombashi, too, is within walking distance of Tokyo Station.
In the morning, take the shinkansen from Tokyo Station to your next city. At night, look out over the Marunouchi Station Building from a rooftop, and at midday on the weekend, head to Ginza’s main street, closed to cars.
In Ginza and Nihombashi, the station nearest your accommodation may be a subway station. Check your station together with its line name, like “Nihombashi on the Ginza Line.”
Times, fares and opening hours can change, so before you go, check the official information listed at the end of this article (as of October 2026).
Here’s what decides it.
- If you’ll head out to your next city by shinkansen, or travel to and from Narita → near Tokyo Station: the shinkansen platforms and the Narita Express (N’EX) to Narita are at Tokyo Station. The airport bus to Narita, “TYO-NRT,” leaves from the Yaesu South Gate at Tokyo Station and from Ginza
- If you want to walk the pedestrian zone at midday on the weekend → Ginza: about a 15-minute walk from Tokyo Station, or 3 minutes on the Marunouchi Line
- Nihombashi is within walking distance of Tokyo Station. It has Nihombashi Station on the Toei Asakusa Line, and this line has through service with Keikyu, which runs to Haneda Airport
If you are unsure where in Tokyo to stay, also see “Where to Stay in Tokyo for the First Time“. It lines up your arrival day, the morning you leave for your next city and the day you fly home around Tokyo Station.
Tokyo Station has 2 sides, Marunouchi and Yaesu
Tokyo Station has 2 sides. The Marunouchi side, to the west, faces the Imperial Palace. The Yaesu side, to the east, faces Ginza and Nihombashi. Buses to the airports leave from the Yaesu side.
If you’ll often be taking the Tokaido Shinkansen or TYO-NRT to Narita, accommodation on the Yaesu side suits you. If you’ll be walking around the Imperial Palace and the Marunouchi Station Building, the Marunouchi side does.
There are many ticket gates, so write down the name of the gate nearest your accommodation together with its English sign, and you won’t get lost inside the station.
| Side | Ticket gate (Japanese sign) | English |
|---|---|---|
| Marunouchi | 丸の内北口／丸の内中央口／丸の内南口 | Marunouchi North / Central / South Gate |
| Yaesu | 八重洲北口／八重洲中央口／八重洲南口 | Yaesu North / Central / South Gate |
| Other | 日本橋口 | Nihombashi Gate |
Nihombashi Gate is the name of a ticket gate at Tokyo Station. It doesn’t mean the Nihombashi area, or Nihombashi Station on the subway.
Ginza and Nihombashi have subway stations
- Ginza: Ginza Station (Ginza Line, Marunouchi Line, Hibiya Line), Ginza-itchome Station (Yurakucho Line), Higashi-ginza Station (Hibiya Line, Toei Asakusa Line)
- Nihombashi: Nihombashi Station (Tokyo Metro’s Ginza and Tozai Lines, and the Toei Asakusa Line), Mitsukoshimae Station (Ginza Line), Ningyocho Station (Hibiya Line, Toei Asakusa Line), and others
Tokyo Station, too, has both the JR station and a station on the Marunouchi subway line.
Mornings out to your next city by shinkansen
At Tokyo Station, the shinkansen platforms are split up by destination.
| Destination | Tracks | Transfer gate (English) |
|---|---|---|
| Kyoto / Osaka (Tokaido Shinkansen) | Tracks 14–19 (Yaesu side) | Central / South Transfer Gate |
| Sendai / Kanazawa (Tohoku and Hokuriku Shinkansen) | Tracks 20–23 | North / South Transfer Gate |
The Tokaido Shinkansen also has dedicated gates of its own, the Yaesu Central North and Yaesu Central South gates (for the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen only). The transfer gates in the table are the gates you use when changing from a regular JR line to the shinkansen.
With accommodation near Tokyo Station, it’s easier to catch even an early-morning train. From accommodation in Ginza, Tokyo Station is 3 minutes on the Marunouchi Line, or about 15 minutes on foot. On a weekday, for example, there are trains like these.
- The 6:00 “Nozomi”: Kyoto 8:08, Shin-Osaka 8:22
- The 6:16 “Kagayaki”: Kanazawa 8:43
For breakfast, pick out an ekiben (a boxed meal sold at stations) before you board, and eat it on the shinkansen. If you take a 6:00 train, it’s still morning when you reach Kyoto.
On days you leave in the evening, too, trains to Shin-Osaka, Kanazawa and Sendai keep departing into the 21:00 hour — on a weekday, for example.
Big suitcases: reserve them along with your seat
The Tokaido Shinkansen has “seats with an oversized baggage area,” which come with a place to put big luggage. These seats cost the same as a regular reserved seat.
If your suitcase’s three dimensions add up to more than 160 cm (up to 250 cm), choose one of these seats when you buy your ticket. If you’ve reserved one, you can sit in a seat with a set place for your luggage and ride straight through to Kyoto or Osaka. If you bring it on board without a reservation, it costs 1,000 yen.
On the Tohoku and Hokuriku Shinkansen, you don’t need to reserve a luggage space.
Getting to and from the airports
Narita
The Narita Express (N’EX) stops at Tokyo Station (for the times, see the quick comparison in “Where to Stay in Tokyo on Your First Trip“). From Tokyo Station to Narita, trains run from 6:18 in the morning on weekdays. Some evening trains from Narita don’t run on some days.
The airport bus “TYO-NRT” needs no reservation. All buses have non-reserved seating, and if one is full, you take the next. It’s 1,500 yen one way.
- To Narita: at Tokyo Station, from stops 7 and 8, just past the Yaesu South Gate. Buses run from 5:00 in the morning until 19:30. In Ginza, from beyond Exit C4 of Ginza Station (the Sukiyabashi intersection)
- From Narita: at Tokyo Station, you get off at Nihombashi Gate (not the same place you board)
When boarding at Tokyo Station, if you’re paying in cash or by credit card, buy your ticket before you board at the “JR Expressway Bus Ticket Office” (JR高速バスきっぷ売り場 in Japanese). With a transit IC card, you can pay on the bus. Buses departing between 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning leave before the ticket office opens, so go straight to the stop. Check how to pay for those buses ahead of time on the bus company’s official website.
If you can make the bus that leaves Narita Terminal 3 at 23:20, you can get back to Tokyo Station even on a day you land at Narita late at night (arriving 0:38). This bus has a late-night fare of 3,000 yen, which you pay on the bus in cash or with a transit IC card (credit cards aren’t accepted).
Haneda
From Haneda to Tokyo Station, it’s about 30 minutes by train or monorail. On Keikyu, you change to JR at Shinagawa.
The Limousine Bus linking Haneda and Tokyo Station (Yaesu North Gate) runs 6 times a day, during the daytime only (from Haneda Terminal 3, buses leave from 8:00 to 16:00; from Tokyo Station, from 9:10 to 17:10).
On a day you head to Haneda in the morning, the station you use depends on where you’re staying.
- Accommodation near Tokyo Station: change to Keikyu at Shinagawa. The first Keikyu train from Shinagawa to Haneda Terminal 3 is at 5:09
- Accommodation in Ginza or Nihombashi: from Higashi-ginza Station and Nihombashi Station on the Toei Asakusa Line, there are also trains with through service to Keikyu. Check where the train is going before you board
Luggage — leave it at the station and travel light
Before check-in or after check-out, you can leave your luggage at the “東京駅お荷物サービスカウンター” (Tokyo Station luggage service counter), outside the Yaesu South Gate. On the Marunouchi side, the “JR EAST Travel Service Center,” on your left as you exit the Marunouchi North Gate, will also hold your luggage, for same-day storage.
With your luggage dropped off, you can walk around the city traveling light, even in the time before you head to the shinkansen or the airport. We’ve covered how to send your luggage ahead to your accommodation in the “Where to Stay in Tokyo on Your First Trip” article.
From Tokyo Station to other areas
| Destination | How to get there | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Shinjuku | Chuo Line (Rapid) | 14 min |
| Shibuya | Yamanote Line | 23 min |
| Ueno | Yamanote Line | 8 min |
| Asakusa | Yamanote Line, change to the Ginza Line at Kanda | 20 min |
| Akihabara | Yamanote Line | 4 min |
| Ikebukuro | Marunouchi Line | 17 min |
Places you can walk to on the mornings and nights of your stay
Morning — around the Imperial Palace
The Imperial Palace Outer Garden is open at all times, and it’s free. Early in the morning, walk around the Outer Garden, then head to the Imperial Palace East Gardens, which open at 9:00.
The East Gardens are free too, and no reservation is needed. They’re closed on Mondays and Fridays (they’re open on some public holidays), and they close at 16:30 in October and at 16:00 from November to February. You can go in until 30 minutes before closing. The entrance, Otemon Gate, is about a 15-minute walk from the Marunouchi North Gate of Tokyo Station.
Weekend midday — Ginza’s main street
Ginza’s main street becomes a pedestrian zone on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 12:00 (until 17:00 from October to March, and until 18:00 from April to September). You can walk down the middle of the road and go from shop to shop.
Nihombashi — the stone bridge, and the Ginza Line
Nihombashi Bridge is a stone bridge completed in 1911, and it’s a national Important Cultural Property. On the bridge, there are statues of lions and kirin (a mythical creature).
Ginza and Nihombashi are linked by the Ginza Line. Even on a night out in Ginza, on weekdays you can get back to Nihombashi on the Ginza Line until just past midnight (on weekdays, the last train from Ginza Station toward Nihombashi is at 0:18, and from Nihombashi Station toward Ginza at 0:09).
Night — the Marunouchi Station Building, and the fountains
At Wadakura Fountain Park, the fountains are lit up from sunset until 20:45 (free).
The 6F rooftop garden at KITTE (Marunouchi) is free, and you can go up until 23:00 on weekdays (until 22:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays). After dinner, you can look out over the Marunouchi Station Building from the rooftop.
In the morning, the shinkansen to your next city. After dinner, the Marunouchi Station Building from a rooftop. That’s how the day begins and ends when you stay near Tokyo Station.
For now, just this
- Check your station together with its line name. Tokyo Station has the Marunouchi side and the Yaesu side; Ginza and Nihombashi have subway stations
- On a day you take a big suitcase on the Tokaido Shinkansen, choose a seat with an oversized baggage area
- The airport bus to Narita, “TYO-NRT,” needs no reservation. At Tokyo Station, it leaves from stops 7 and 8 at the Yaesu South Gate. If you’re paying in cash or by card, buy your ticket at the ticket office before you board
