Tokyo is the most populated city in the world, and it can be hard to imagine finding a place of quiet and solitude, however, if you look around and follow our lead here at Uncharted Japan, you can enjoy them. One of our favorites is the Yaesu Terrace situated just a very short walk from the east side of Tokyo Station.
If you come out of the Yaesu Central Exit (east side) of Tokyo Station, look directly across the road to the Tokyo Midtown Tower. Make your way inside and take the series of escalators up to the fifth floor and look outside and you’ll see an oasis in the city. This is the Yaesu Terrace and it offers an expansive sitting and viewing area overlooking Tokyo Station and the skyline beyond. The lower floors at Tokyo Midtown feature numerous high retailers and several restaurants and coffee shops that are not nearly as crowded as most areas of Tokyo.
Very few people visit this place, especially foreign tourists who scurry about down below going to this popular site seeing spot or another. From the outside, it looks like a typical modern office building, so what business do foreign tourists have going in there? All the better for you! In all our many visits both day and evening, we’ve never encountered more than two or three others, and often have the place to ourselves. Another very nice feature is that there is plenty of outdoor seating which can be a hard thing to find in Japanese cities. Just take notice as you walk Tokyo and you’ll often be hard pressed to find somewhere to sit and enjoy that street food or pastry you just purchased from a street vendor. But here at Yaesu Terrace there is plenty of seating in a garden like setting. We often come in the early evening after picking up a delicious dessert in the food halls of the Daimaru Department Store next to the station entrance. And one of the best things is that it is FREE!
