Around Town - Top 10 Tokyo - page 85

! Roppongi Hills

architect Ando Tadao and fashion
guru Issey Miyake. d Map C6
• Akasaka, Minato-ku • 3475-3100
• www.tokyo-midtown.com

Completed in 2003, this
sprawling city-within-a-city
includes gardens and a live-
performance area. The central
structure, the 54-story Mori
Tower, houses some of the
world's largest companies, more
than 200 stores, restaurants, bars,
and the Grand Hyatt Hotel. The
Mori Art Museum, on the 52nd
and 53rd floors, is one of Tokyo's
most innovative art venues.
d Map C6 • 6-10 Roppongi, Minato-ku
• 6406-6000 • www.roppongihills.com

@ Tokyo Midtown Unveiled in 2007, Tokyo

Midtown sets aside 40 percent of
the complex for the landscaped
Hinokicho Park and Midtown
Garden. Midtown Tower, the
tallest building in Tokyo, and its
core of buildings contain offices,
apartments, high-end fashion
stores, restaurants, cafés, bars,
and the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo hotel.
The site's cultural credentials are
enhanced by the presence of the
fascinating Suntory Museum of
Art and 21_21 Design Sight, a
design gallery conceived by

Sparse interior of the Nogi Shrine

£ Nogi Shrine This modest but significant

shrine honors General Nogi
Meresuke, who, along with his
wife, committed ritual suicide in
an act of loyalty when the Meiji
emperor died on September 13,
1912. The event divided the
country into those who admired
the act as a heroic gesture, and
those who condemned it as an
archaic practice. The general's
house stands beside the shrine,
and is open only on the eve of
the couple's death. d Map C5
• 8-11-27 Akasaka, Minato-ku • 3478-3001

$ National Art Center Tokyo Japan's largest exhibition

space, the center hosts tem-
porary exhibitions, such as
Nitten, a prestigious annual
event highlighting Japanese
and Western painting, sculpture,
craftwork, and calligraphy. The
2007 building is a wonder to
behold, with its undulating glass
façade, slated walls, and natural
wood floor. d Map C6 • 7-22-2
Roppongi, Minato-ku • 6812-9900
• Open 10am-6pm Wed-Thu, Sat-Sun;
10am-8pm Fri • Adm • www.nact.jp Towering buildings, Tokyo Midtown

89

The admission ticket for the Mori Art Museum entitles visitors
to enjoy the Tokyo City View and Café panoramas.