Tokyo / Nihonbashi / Landmark

Nihonbashi Bridge

日本橋 にほんばし

The zero milestone of Japan — a 1911 stone bridge with bronze kirin, under an expressway that is finally coming down.

EssentialHistory · Free · Photogenic · Walkable

The five highways of Edo all began here, and the plaque in the middle of the road still marks the point from which distances to Tokyo are measured. The present bridge, of 1911, has Renaissance balustrades and bronze lions and winged kirin — the kirin were given wings because the bridge was where journeys took off. The expressway built over it for the 1964 Olympics is being moved underground, a project that will take until the 2040s; for now the bridge is best seen from the river, on a short cruise from the pier beside it, or from the terrace of the Coredo buildings on the north bank.

Don't miss

Map of central Tokyo Tokyo Ueno Akihabara Shinjuku Shibuya Shinagawa Ikebukuro Shimbashi Kabukiza Theatre Chuo-dori and the Sunday promenade Ginza Six Ginza Itoya Hama-rikyu Gardens The Ginza gallery walk Tsukiji Hongwanji The Ginza bar streets Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building Imperial Palace East Gardens Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum Marunouchi Naka-dori KITTE and the rooftop garden Idemitsu Museum of Arts Nihonbashi Bridge Mitsukoshi Nihombashi Main Store The old shops of Nihonbashi Artizon Museum Fukutoku Shrine and the Coredo lanes Nihonbashi river cruise Sensoji Temple Kappabashi kitchen street Sumida river water bus The craft and coffee streets west of the temple A kimono day in Asakusa Tokyo Skytree Asakusa Shrine and Sanja Matsuri Tokyo National Museum National Museum of Western Art Ueno Park and Shinobazu Pond Yanaka Ginza and the Yanesen lanes Nezu Shrine Ameyoko market street Asakura Museum of Sculpture Akihabara Electric Town Jimbocho book town Kanda Myojin Shrine Holy Resurrection Cathedral (Nikolai-do) Kanda's old noodle houses Yushima Seido and the Confucian hall Mori Art Museum and Tokyo City View The National Art Center, Tokyo Tokyo Midtown and the Suntory Museum of Art Azabu-Juban shopping street Tokyo Tower and Zojoji Temple Roppongi after dark Nezu Museum The Omotesando architecture walk Aoyama Cemetery Meiji Jingu Gaien ginkgo avenue The Aoyama and Minami-Aoyama back streets Meiji Jingu Yoyogi Park Takeshita Street and Cat Street Ota Memorial Museum of Art Togo Shrine Shibuya scramble crossing and Hachiko Shibuya Sky Nonbei Yokocho and the Shibuya alleys Udagawacho record shops and Shibuya vintage Tomigaya and Kamiyamacho Live music in Shibuya Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observatories Golden Gai Omoide Yokocho The Isetan food hall Hanazono Shrine Tsukiji Outer Market Toyosu Market and the tuna auction teamLab Planets The Tsukiji-to-Ginza walk The Meguro River cherry trees Daikanyama T-Site Daikanyama's low-rise streets Ebisu Garden Place and the Ebisu restaurant streets Nakameguro's back streets Kagurazaka's stone lanes Akagi Shrine Dining in Kagurazaka Zenkokuji Bishamonten Ryogoku Kokugikan and sumo Edo-Tokyo Museum Kiyosumi Garden Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) The Kiyosumi-Shirakawa roasters Nihonbashi Bridge
A hand-drawn sketch for orientation — each place links to an exact map.
Tip
The 35-minute Nihonbashi river cruise is the way to understand that this was a city of canals.
Best time
Late morning; cruises run through the day.
Allow
30 min
Station
Nihombashi (Ginza / Tozai / Asakusa lines) or Mitsukoshimae (Ginza / Hanzomon lines)
Official site — hours, prices, closures
www.nihonbashi-tokyo.jp · Map

Appears in

In this area: Nihonbashi

Shop Essential

Mitsukoshi Nihombashi Main Store日本橋三越本店

Japan's first department store, a 1914 palace with a pipe organ, a five-storey atrium and lions at the door.

60 min · Mitsukoshimae (Ginza / Hanzomon lines), direct from the basement
District Essential

The old shops of Nihonbashi日本橋の老舗

One thing, made for centuries — knives, chopsticks, seaweed, dried bonito, paper, brushes, all within four blocks.

90 min · Mitsukoshimae (Ginza / Hanzomon lines)
Museum Worth it

Artizon Museumアーティゾン美術館

The Bridgestone collection reborn in a 2020 tower — Impressionists to Japanese modernism, in generous rooms.

90 min · Kyobashi (Ginza line) or Tokyo (Yaesu side)

All places — Nihonbashi →