A short walk from Roppongi's bustling central crossing, Tokyo Midtown is one of the area's main draws, attracting thousands of shoppers, diners and art lovers. The modern, spacious interior of the Galleria building exudes style, and style is also on display in the architecture, best enjoyed from the outdoor Plaza.
Most people come here to hit the four floors of shops in the Galleria, splashing out out on high-end fashion and interior design. There's far too much for me to list here (and it'd be a boring read too), but a representative sample is Boss Orange, Joseph the Store and Figaro Paris for fashion, Tasaki and Harry Winston for jewelery, Nicolai Bergmann and Style Meets People for 'lifestyle', plus stores specialising in neckties, antiques, fragrances and much more.
Food and dining
There are also plenty of shops where you can pick up food and drinks, mostly on the basement floor. Dean and Deluca has a range of mid- to high-end imported foods, Sake Shop Fukumitsuya sells exactly what the name indicates, and Precce Premium is a supermarket with all your everyday necessities and a good deli selection.
If you want to sit down to a meal, you have a good number of cafes and restaurants to choose from. There's a Dean and Deluca Cafe near the store, Antico Caffe Al Avis close by, and a big Starbucks on the Plaza, with outdoor tables good for watching Tokyo's well-heeled and wealthy striding by. Then upstairs there are the restaurants, where you can enjoy fine Italian, French, Chinese, Japanese and other kinds of meals.
Art and leisure
The main attraction for art fans is the Suntory Museum of Art, which holds exhibitions of traditional Japanese art, as well as some foreign art, ceramics and glassware. More eclectic are 21_21 Design Sight, dedicated to Japanese design in its many areas, as is Tokyo Midtown Design Hub, while FujiFilm Square has rotating displays of exquisite photography alongside a permanent exhibition of vintage cameras. If music is your thing, then Billboard Live on the fourth floor has regular shows by big name artists, often harkening back to the 80s and 90s.
If you want some air, then behind the buildings there's a pleasant garden, with a spacious lawn and a Chinese-style rock garden, with angular bridges spanning a stream that runs down into a large pond. In winter there are beautiful illuminations here, while at other times it might be temporarily home to promotional statues and sculptures for movies or other events.
Finally, there's even a hotel here though, like much else about Midtown, it's aimed at visitors on higher budgets - in this case, much higher. With guest rooms commanding fine views of Tokyo and Mount Fuji, The Ritz-Carlton offers all the luxury you'd expect from the name, with prices to match, but even if you're not staying, it's worth heading up to take in the heady atmosphere of the lavish lobby.
Location and opening
It's very easy to get to, within easy walking distance of three subway stations: Roppongi on the Oedo line and Hibiya line, and Nogizaka on the Chiyoda line. From Shibuya and Shimbashi there are frequent buses that stop in Roppongi, while if you're driving there's plenty of parking in the sub-basement.
The shops and restaurants open at 11:00am, except for the Precce supermarket, which is open 24 hours a day. The shops stay open until 9:00pm, and the restaurants operate different individual hours, many of them staying open until 11:00pm or midnight.
