Restaurants, Bars and Cafés Beauty & Health Points of Interest

Strut your stuff through designer boutiques and Cat Street Omotesando (表参道), Aoyama (青山) and Gaienmae (外苑前) are each both workplace and playground for the modern adult, complete with designer stores, stylish bars, cool restaurants and taxis waiting to take you anywhere you want to go. Omotesando—a grand avenue lined with maple trees leading up to Meiji-Jingu shrine (明治神宮)—is a catwalk for the cosmopolitan. Freeway 246 (affectionately called “ni-yon-roku” [“2-4-6” in Japanese]) is perpendicular to Omotesando and is lined with great restaurants, both casual and fancy.

Aoyama Book Center (青山ブックセンター) bookstore A great stop for books on design and art, especially by Japanese artists. Although their foreign fiction is limited, many of their design-oriented hardbacks are in both English and Japanese. There is a wide range of foreign and domestic magazines. Cosmos Aoyama Garden Floor, 5-53-67 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku 03-5485-5511 Station: Omotesando (metro exit B2) more information...

Ginza Natsuno Aoyama (銀座　夏野　青山店) chopsticks specialty shop This gem of a shop, tucked behind busy Omotesando's main street, has row after row of handmade, one-of-a-kind chopsticks and other Japanese utensils that will tempt you with its artisanship and beauty. They make great souvenirs, too. Aoyama Natsuno Building 1-2F, 4-2-17 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku 03-3404-6033 Station: Omotesando (metro exit A2) more information...

Kinokuniya International (紀ノ国屋) grocery store A gourmet grocery with many hard-to-find imported foods, kitchen supplies and home amenities lining the shelves. For ￥525, same- or next-day delivery of online and in-store shopping items is available to select locations. 3-11-13 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku 03-3409-1231 Station: Omotesando (metro exit A4) more information...