The New Tokyo Midtown Yaesu: A Floor by Floor Guide

The new Tokyo Midtown Yaesu in the capital’s most central business district opened on March 10, offering five stories plus a basement of stores and eateries. The higher floors contains offices, with the soon-to-open (April 4) Bulgari luxury hotel to occupy the top (40th to 45th) floors. Curious, I paid a visit to the publicly open areas of the ultra skyscraper just five days after it opened. Here’s a brief guide.

Art sculpture outside Tokyo Midtown Yaesu

5th Floor: Terrace & event space

The fifth, and top floor open to the public, offers access to a terrace, which provides a sweeping view of Tokyo Station and the surrounding skyscrapers. Photographers and those who want a relaxing place to rest should check it out.

View from terrace on 5F of Tokyo Midtown Yaesu

The floor also houses an event space and something called Potluck Yaesu, which disappointingly has nothing to do with sharing food but is a rather a center for some regional economy revitalization project.

Potluck Yaesu

4th Floor: Buffer space

The fourth floor is some sort of buffer floor for those with business on the fifth floor or offices above. Nothing of much interest here.

Escalators in Tokyo Midtown Yaesu

3rd Floor: Dining

The third floor is a dining floor full of posh-looking restaurants that are on par with the budget at other Tokyo Midtowns.

2nd Floor: Stores & food court

Alright, we finally get to the good part. The second floor is where all the action is. Featuring a selection of boutique stores and eateries, the most interesting being:

Kakigoori Collection

Kakigoori Collection

This shaved ice store had hands-down the longest line in the whole complex. I saw countless people hunting for seats while carrying trays with massive bowls of shaved ice drizzled with strawberry sauce. Not a huge fan of kakigori myself so I wasn’t even remotely tempted, but the long line put me off completely.

Blue Tokai Coffee

Blue Tokai Coffee

I know India is famous for tea, but never knew its coffee beans were famed too. But then I don’t drink coffee. At Blue Tokai Coffee, you can order single estate coffees produced in various regions of India, as well as original blends, hand-dripped and espresso-based drinks such as lattes and Americanos. Sustainable production appears to be the hook here.

Also (Taiwanese street food)

Also, Taiwanese street food

Strange name for a store, but the vibe is pretty on point. Love the hand-written retro style menu signboard.

These eateries are located in a hybrid standing bar/food court type space known as Yaesu Public, with has some rather creative seating.

Yaesu Public
Creative food court seating inside Tokyo Midtown Yaesu

1st Floor: Niche stores

The first floor is mostly niche, high-end stores, including Onitsuka Tiger (designer athletic shoes), Gelato Pique Homme (classy pajamas for men) and Hario Lampwork Factory (glass accessories).

Basement Floor: For convenience

The basement is the other most interesting floor in this complex. In addition to the ticket counter for the bus terminal, a 7-Eleven and Starbucks, there is also curious eatery called Pork Tamago Onigiri. This takeaway-only outlet serves the Okinawan “soul food” consisting of spam and egg sandwiched between rice and seaweed. According to the store, each “one-handed feast” is made fresh to order.

Pork Tamago Onigiri

Next to this yellow and black motif store is, to my utmost delight, a Frijoles. This burrito chain is the bomb, and there are no prizes for guessing where I ate on this visit.

Frijoles

On the other side is a standing sushi bar, which was quite packed the day I went.

Standing sushi bar in basement of Tokyo Midtown Yaesu

Outside of food, a dedicated Anker store is located in the far end, near the connecting passageway to the neighbouring Yaesu Central Square building.

Anker store

Nearby is a public seating space outside Yanmar‘s Tokyo office, although I am not sure whether they are provided by the company. Given it is cherry blossom season, the space above was decorated with dazzling faux pink petals and greenery.

Cherry blossom decorations in the basement of Tokyo Midtown Yaesu

Final thoughts: Tokyo Midtown Yaesu

So there’s the quick and dirty on the new Tokyo Midtown Yaesu complex. To be honest, I feel it is the weakest of the three Tokyo Midtowns, so was a little underwhelmed. But I guess given its location, the Yaesu one acts as a functional complex for business people, as opposed to a full shopping and entertainment hub like the Midtowns in Roppongi and Hibiya. I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to visit this place, although it is convenient for those who need somewhere to chill while waiting for a bus or on business.

Ticket counter for the bus terminal of Tokyo Yaesu

Looking for more things to do in the crazy capital? Check out my archive of Tokyo posts to get some ideas.

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