Roppongi: 13 Things to Do in the High-End Hills

Roppongi — where nightlife, brand name shopping and art collide. This lively neighborhood, with its mish-mash of attractions and things to do, is a popular place for locals and tourists alike.

In fact, Roppongi has so much going for it, even in terms of events, that it’s hard to know where to start. That’s where we come in: we’ve compiled this list of the best things to do in Roppongi, so that you can make the most of your time in the the High-End Hills.

Pro tip: You can get to Roppongi any way at all — on foot, by train or by city bus — but for those who might want to double up on the sightseeing, there’s also an open top bus sightseeing tour that takes in most of Tokyo’s major sightseeing spots, including Roppongi.

1. Party your worries away

When the sun sets the bars and club throw open their doors and Roppongi goes from sophisticated metropolitan neighborhood to party-mode. According to our local music fan Roppongi is The Place to party with class — even if it is a little seedy.

We recommend starting the night off at a foreigner friendly bar — or a cheapo friendly bar if that’s a priority for you. One of our own editors jokingly says how “Bar Quest was once gross in a kind of a fun way, same with Geronimos”. Another option is joining a pub crawl (book here) and making some new friends before hitting up a nightclub for your final stop.

1 OAK is one of Roppongi’s most popular clubs, having internationally status. Many celebrites have graced its dancefloors including Bruno Mars. There is also R3 Club Lounge which as a reputation for booking great live artists and DJs.

Keep in mind most clubs have some kind of cover charge (anything from ¥1,000–¥3,000 or more). On Friday and Saturday nights those charges are usually higher. On the upside, the cover charge usually includes at least 1 free drink ticket and there are often discounts for early-birds/students/foreigners/women.

2. Appreciate some art

Roppongi is home to numerous art galleries, including the Roppongi Art Triangle. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Roppongi Art Triangle, it refers to the collaboration between three main art museums in the area. These include:

• Suntory Museum of Art
• National Art Center
• Mori Art Museum

To save some money and stress of buying indiviudal tickets, we recommend getting your hands on a Grutt Pass which will get you discounted entry to all 3, as well as 98 other museums, art galleries, zoos and gardens in and around Tokyo.

There are also numerous independent galleries and the 21 21 Design Sight. These can be a great way to find unusual and backstreet art in the center of the city. Popular spots include:

• Gallery Side 2
• Hiromiyoshii
• Fujifilm Square

If you’re into pop culture — especially anime — the Roppongi Museum (formerly home to the Snoopy Museum) hosts rotating exhibitions. The most popular so far was the Sailor Moon Museum in 2022. Tickets start around ¥2,500, so it’s best to visit only if the current exhibition truly interests you.

3. Get the best view of Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower is the perfect distance from Roppongi to guarantee a perfect view — if you know where to go. If you find yourself in Roppongi Hills, you’re already halfway there.

Tokyo City View is part of the Roppongi Hills complex, and for ¥2,200 (or ¥1,800 if you book here), you can head on up to the 52nd Floor Observation Deck for exactly what you’d expect — a Tokyo city view. You’ll be able to see a number of Tokyo landmarks, including Tokyo Tower and on a clear day, Mt Fuji. Inside the Sky Deck, visitors can also enjoy temporary art exhibitions that adds artistic flair to the cityscape.

4. Shop to your heart’s content

Shopping in Roppongi can be a high-end experience, but regular events (like the Christmas Markets) and yearly sales make it more accessible to everyone. The two most well-know shopping malls in the area are Tokyo Midtown and Roppongi Hills.

But then again, calling them shopping malls is an understatement. Tokyo Midtown is home to the aforementioned Suntory Art Museum and 21 21 Design Sight, as well as Fujifilm Square (which we’ll get to in a moment). Roppongi Hills meanwhile has the Mori Art Museum and Mori Tower.

Of course both have a wide variety of midrange to luxury brand fashion and boutique stores for the whole family. As you would expect from these kinds of shops, you can expect the available styles to be a little fancy and the price tags to be little heavy. If you’re a foreign visitor to Japan and want to spend up big, keep your eye out for shops offering tax-free shopping.

Roppongi is also home to one of the largest Tsutaya bookstores in the city. If you’re looking for a new Japanese or English book or magazine, this is the place to go. There’s even a paid co-working space inside — something that digital nomads might be interested in.

Other personal shopping recommendations include:

• The Cover Nippon: A high end shop in Tokyo Midtown that honors Japanese craftmanship selling lacquerware, pottery, and clothes.
• Hashichou: Also in Tokyo Midtown, at this chopstick shop you can handcrafted chopsticks and personalize them.

5. Face your fear with Maman 

We kept you hanging, but you can probably see why. A must-see in Roppongi — especially for the arachnophobes among us — is Louise Bourgeois’ Maman. At a little over 9m tall and 10m wide, the stainless steel and bronze statue is the stuff of nightmares, but thankfully won’t be chasing you anywhere. If you stand beneath this mammoth creation, you can see its 26 marble eggs. The piece is the artist’s ode to her mother, a weaver in Paris, with her encapsulation of weaving, spinning, nature and protection.

Maman can be found at Roku Roku Plaza in Roppongi Hills. It’s a popular meeting place (we wonder why?) and great for pictures. To truly capture its grandeur, try kneeling down and aiming your camera upward. This way, you’ll not only capture the sheer size of the spider but also get the high-rise building towering in the background.

Want to be in the shot too but don’t have a tripod? No problem. Simply place your phone on the nearby bench, angle the camera up, and you’ll snap a shot that captures the scale of the sculpture — like something straight out of a Godzilla movie.

6. Hang out with space fish at Mohri Garden

In Roppongi Hills you’ll also find a 350-year-old resting spot with beautiful views and even cherry blossoms. We recommend grabbing a takeout sandwich bento from the nearby Grand Food Hall (¥1,080) or a pizza from Salvatore Cuomo and sitting in the park. The best time is to go during the late blooming season, when the sakura is falling all around you.

There is one thing that makes the pond in Mohri Garden unqiue and it’s not just the gold heart art sculpture by artist Jean-Michel Othoniel. In the pond itself, there are space fish. In 2003, 10,000 medaka fish were welcomed to the central pond by Japanese astronaut Mamoru Mohri.

These little silvery fish were once common in flooded rice paddies but have suffered from a susceptibility to pesticides and fertilizer run-off. These ones, however, are the much-studied descendants of those that orbited the earth on the Space Shuttle Columbia as part of research into extra-terrestrial reproduction in 1994. The release of these tiddlers into the pond was an effort to reflect Roppongi Hill’s unique blend of Japanese traditions with 21st-century urban lifestyles — basically spacefish in a beautiful pond — what’s not to like?

Pro Tip: After enjoying a peaceful break in the garden, head into the TV Asahi headquarters. Here, you can check out some exclusive character merchandise — you’re likely to find favorites like Doraemon and Crayon Shin-chan among others.

7. Chow down on some delicous international food

Due to it’s high population of foreign residents, and the presence of a number of international company headquarters, Roppongi has become a must-visit destination for foodies seeking international flavors.

You’ll easily be able to find kebabs, falafels, pizza, as well as delicious brunch and good ol’ British pub options. Our personal recommendations include:

• Downtown B’s Indian Kitchen: Serving home-style Indian classics including spicy curries and tender tandoori chicken. Recognized as one of the best Indian restaurants in Tokyo.
• Pizzakaya: The best place to get Californian-style pizza. Gluten-free options are also available.
• Ruby Jack’s Seafood & Steak: A contemporary steakhouse and bar where you can enjoy premimum cuts of steak and mouthwatering seafood.

If going to a pub isn’t enough and you are missing home comforts like Yorkshire Tea (for you Brits), supermarkets like Meidi-Ya sell such international products. You can also find a variety of ingredients imported from other parts of Asia and beyond.

8. Learn about drastic dedication at Nogi Shrine

For those with a taste for the macabre, Nogi Shrine is the one to visit. Dedicated to General Nogi Maresuke and his wife, the shrine and adjacent house are home to some dark history and chilling artifacts. When Emperor Meiji died on December 13th 1912, the couple decided to prove their honor by joining him in death. The General performed seppuku (disembowelment) whilst his wife slit her throat with a knife.

The house in which they took their lives is next to the shrine, and is only open to visitors for two days a year: the eve and anniversary of their death. You can, however, glimpse a bloodstained shirt from a raised walkway, if you so please. If you like to combine your dark-tourism with some bargain-hunting (and who-doesn’t?), there is a popular flea market here on the 4th Sunday of every month.

9. Enjoy the view at Keyakizaka Dōri (with added illuminations in winter) 

It may be best when partnered with the winter illuminations, but it’s a great vantage point without, offering great views of busy streets and Tokyo Tower. Although only on for a month and finishing at Christmas, the illuminations are just too good not to mention. 

Over 1.2 million LEDs light up the trees lining Keyakizaki Dori in a breathtaking sight, with Tokyo Tower glowing in the distance to create a stunning view. In 2015, there were two color-themes: ‘Snow & Blue’ and a Candle & Red’,  both of which looked amazing, with the street fading between the two. Secret hearts were hidden around the street and only illuminated once an hour — making it a great date spot in the most romantic month of the year (for Japan that is).

10. Follow your sweet tooth to Toraya

If you’re thinking of trying some traditional sweets, you may as well do so at the best known-name in Japanese confectionery. Originally started in Kyoto, Toraya has over 500 years of experience in creating fresh wagashi (small sweets) for beautiful gifts or indulgent treats. This branch houses not only a shop and cafe, but also a gallery where you can learn about various things related to wagashi. The exhibitions change from time to time, so it’s always worth stopping by if you’re in the area.

And of course enjoy some afternoon while you’re at it. Drinks are ¥770–¥990, while the sweets will set you back anywhere between ¥1,200 and ¥1,700. The menu and ingredients change seasonally, making it likely that you’ll be able to try different things each time you visit.

11. Watch theater or a late night show

If dancing on sticky club floors isn’t quite your thing, but you still want to soak up the local entertainment scene, there are other ways to enjoy Roppongi’s nightlife. One option is the Tantra Tokyo Burlesque Show. While it’s set in a club, the focus is on watching dancers rather than dancing yourself.

Prefer something a little more low-key? Check out what’s on at the EX Theater Roppongi. This versatile venue hosts everything from live concerts and stage performances to film screenings, offering a more relaxed evening out.

12. Immerse yourself at teamLab

Although teamLab isn’t technically in Roppongi, it’s far too close — and far too iconic — not to mention. Just next door in the equally upscale Azabudai Hills, you’ll find teamLab Borderless: MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM. As the original teamLab installation, it’s not only one of Tokyo’s most famous attractions, but also one of the busiest.

From flowers blooming right before your eyes to a bright blue waterfall flowing down the walls, the art here truly moves without borders. For more insight on the exhibition and how to score those in-demand tickets, check out our teamLab Borderless Tokyo guide.

Note: Did you know there’s over 20 teamLab exhibitions across Japan?

13. Bonus: Sip on matcha, go sake tasting, or see some street art

Roppongi might not be the first place you’d think of for matcha — and you’d be right. However, there is a hidden gem here. Behind an unassuming door on a residential street is Wasachi, a small and contemporary tea house founded by Takuma Yamanaka. Speaking with Yamanaka about his vision, he shared that he wants “to create a place where people from around the world can enjoy matcha.” And he’s done just that, from international artists to world-renowned chefs, many have called his matcha latte the best in Tokyo.

If you are wanting something stronger than matcha, then you could consider going on this This exclusive sake tasting. As part of this experience, you can make the most of Roppongi’s affluent atmosphere by drinking sake alongside various appetizers in a private room — a taste of the luxury life.

There may not be as much street art in Roppongi as in Shibuya, but it’s still fun to wander the area and see what kind of stickers or unexpected public art you might discover.

Roppongi FAQs

Where is Roppongi?

Roppongi is in the Minato district of Tokyo. However, there is some disagreement on where it actually expands too. Some argue that the shiny Azabudai Hills complex, a 10-15 minute walk from Roppongi, counts. However, we would say that the main stretch is between Roppongi Station and Nogizaka Station (next to Nogi Shrine).

What is near to Roppongi?

After exploring Roppongi, you can head to nearby areas like Azabudai, Toranomon, or even Aoyama. It’s a great starting point if you’re looking to explore other interesting neighborhoods nearby.

What is Roppongi famous for?

The area is most famous for its collection of museums and memorable (but messy) nightlife.

Does Roppongi have any events?

Seasonal events take place across the year so keep your eyes open for things like Design Touch and the Midtown Ice Rink. You can catch up on all the latest events here.

What kind of area is Roppongi?

Though Roppongi is an affluent area with upscale dining and shopping, it has a mixed reputation. Once the sun sets, the neighborhood takes on a seedier vibe, thanks to its many clubs and bars. It is often compared to Kabukicho in Shinjuku.

While we do our best to ensure it’s correct, information is subject to change. Last updated in April 2025 by Jane Pipkin.