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Chūō, Tokyo — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Chūō is central Tokyo's ward of Ginza and Nihonbashi, wrapping shopping streets, old merchant blocks and Sumida River wharves.
About Chūō
Where to stay in Chūō
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Where you sleep in Chūō shifts the whole trip. Ginza puts department stores and side-street bars at the door, while Nihonbashi trades that glow for quieter merchant blocks near the old bridge. Across Harumi-dōri and the Sumida River, the reclaimed islands of Tsukishima and Kachidoki stay calmer, with tram-line grids of low houses and monja alleys within a short walk of the water.
Pick by pace, not postcode.
About Chūō
What are the main landmarks in Chūō?
Chūō carries its collections in bank halls and merchant buildings. The Artizon Museum shows Impressionist and modern art in Kyōbashi, a short stroll from Tokyo Station. Over in Nihonbashi, the Currency Museum of the Bank of Japan lays out old coinage inside the bank's precinct, and the Mitsui Memorial Museum keeps tea utensils and Noh masks in the early-Shōwa Mitsui Main Building.
The Ginza crossings pull the biggest crowds. Tsukiji's market lanes still cook.
What is the history of Chūō?
The ward is younger than its streets. Chūō was formed in 1947 when the old Nihonbashi and Kyōbashi wards were merged under Tokyo's post-war reorganisation, and it was the first place in Japan to carry the name Chūō, meaning central. Long before that, Nihonbashi's bridge marked the zero-point from which the Edo highways were measured, and merchant houses like the Mitsui line built their trade along these blocks.
Reclamation pushed the ward outward. Tsukishima and Kachidoki rose from the bay.
Where is Chūō?
Chūō sits just east of Tokyo Station, running from the Nihonbashi and Kyōbashi blocks down to the reclaimed Tsukishima and Kachidoki islands across the Sumida River, reached by the Kachidokibashi bridge along Harumi-dōri.
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Updated July 2026