Ginza is a famous shopping district, but you can learn a lot about Japan just by walking through the stores, especially the food halls.
Let’s start at the Mitsukoshi department store (exit A7).
My favorite floor is downstairs: the food hall!
B-1 (Basement food hall): Desserts, tea, traditional sweets, fresh take-out savory foods (skewered chicken, savory dumplings, tempura, barbequed eel, yakisoba, salads, Chinese food & more.) Everything is truly delicious, but if you buy something, you have to take it home to eat it – there’s nowhere to sit and eat take-out in the neighborhood.
B-2: This is a super high-end grocery store, with refrigerator lockers you can use for free to store your perishables while doing your other shopping!
And now it’s time for The Best Coffee In The World. Café Bechet is just around the corner, and I’m never disappointed by the hand-dripped brew made from beans roasted daily, measured out bean by bean, and ground fresh for every cup.
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Most stores in Ginza open from 10:00 am
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While you’re in Japan, read a novel set in Tokyo!
“A genuinely gripping crime thriller which wrong-foots and perplexes the reader throughout, drawing us in emotionally . . . Highly recommended.”
Tokyo beyond the guidebooks 