18 best things to do in Ginza besides shopping: cocktail bars, onsen, coffee and more

This tea salon puts a fresh twist on traditional Japanese confectionery. As well as the typical combination of green tea and sweets like cold kuzu noodles, the salon also serves alcohol – ask the staff which beer, shochu or wine goes best with your sweets. They also offer a sparse food menu, including a sumptuous lunch tray with five small dishes, miso soup, rice, green tea and wagashi. It's a spot relaxing enough for hours of lingering in busy Ginza.

Mixology Salon embodies everything we love about Tokyo’s drinking culture. Located on the 13th floor of Ginza Six, this small but stunning cocktail bar offers an unmissable array of teatails with housemade blends of spirits like aromatic sobacha-infused vodka and gyokuro-infused vodka.

With a table charge of ¥800 per head, prices here are steep but the impeccable service and delicious tipples are well worth the splurge. Order from the menu of roughly 30 signature cocktails, or tell the bartender your cocktail base of choice and watch as they muddle fresh fruit with Japanese bitters for a drink you’d be tempted to guzzle rather than sip.

The newly opened Tokyo Edition hotel in Ginza is an indulgent haven amid the hustle and bustle of Ginza, but you don’t have to be an overnight guest to enjoy some of its greatest features. The second-floor Punch Room, for instance, is an excellent place to stop by for cocktails with friends if you’re looking for a leisurely place to sit and chat after an afternoon of window shopping.

Elegantly decorated with dark walnut coffered walls and velvet-upholstered sofas, this moody lounge bar is a Japanese take on the private clubs of 19th-century London. The drink menu takes inspiration from the punch recipes of these private London social clubs, reimagined with Japanese flavours like sake and green tea. Signature concoctions include the Green Tea Yuzu Paloma and Matcha Infused Clarified Milk Punch, which are ladled from shareable silver punch bowls. 

Alternatively, there is the 15th-floor rooftop, which offers a leafy retreat away from the frenetic pace of the city. Surrounded by a wall of ferns and olive trees that are lowered to overlook the surrounding cityscape, this unique rooftop oasis offers intimate seating surrounded by plants and space for private gatherings of all sizes, with a stunning view of Tokyo Tower in the distance that is especially scenic after dark. 

The world-conquering ramen may have the reputation of being a pragmatic comfort food, but over at Ginza Hachigo, it’s elevated into a refined, elegant dish. Owner-chef Yasushi Matsumura’s training has much to do with this; once you realise he’s worked more than 30 years in French cuisine, you’ll see how this bowl of ramen came into being.

Ginza Hachigo’s ramen soup is like consommé: a clear liquid gold that’s light yet complex and full of flavour. It’s made by boiling down Nagoya Cochin chicken, duck, scallop, dried tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms, konbu (seaweed), an heirloom green onion from Kyoto and, surprisingly, cured ham. Where your standard bowl of ramen calls for tare, a sauce concentrate that acts like a seasoning, Matsumura eschews that for a sprinkling of French sea salt to round out the flavours. And it’s just phenomenal.

This tiny café tucked down the back streets of Higashi-Ginza exudes Japanese simplicity at its best, fit with Japanese-styled plaster walls, sho-sugiban (charred cedar) details and a coffered ceiling, plus a single bonsai poised behind the barista.

The expansive coffee menu offers your café usuals including drip coffee, americanos and mochas, plus a Japanese spin on lattes made from a combo of espresso and matcha or hojicha. For the non-dairy drinkers, it also has soy, almond and oat milk, so you can get your lactose-free latte fix, too. You can also pair your coffee with small sweets including a walnut monaka (red bean paste filled wafer) or sweet mochi in espresso topped with kinako (roasted soybean powder).

Glitch is known for its light-roast, single-origin coffee beans that are all roasted in-house at its Jimbocho location. By only offering light roasts, Glitch is able to showcase the original flavour of the beans. You won't find any blended coffee here as the café aims to highlight the individuality of the coffee farms and regions it works with. 

Take your pick from 15 varieties of single-origin coffee, each accompanied by an English description of its origin and flavour profile. Glitch also has an interesting ordering system: you first select the bean and then the coffee style, such as pour-over, latte or espresso.

To help narrow down your choice, the shop has categorised its coffees under a few different labels. 'Innovation' beans are made using the latest refining methods, 'Hard to Find' are rare, valuable beans, and 'Competition' are beans featured in world coffee competitions.

Forget your standard cocktail menu – this standout Ginza establishment reimagines mixology with its focus on fresh, seasonal fruits and an impressive array of homemade infusions and spirits.

Here's the scoop: there's no traditional drink list. Instead, patrons are encouraged to select from a vibrant assortment of fruits that are on display. Choose your preferred flavours, and the expert mixologists will whip up a custom cocktail that will challenge your palate and exceed your expectations.

Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property of Japan, the Ginza Lion Building, home to the country's oldest beer hall, has been serving patrons since 1934. Drawing design inspiration from German beer halls, its interior remarkably withstood the World War II bombings, preserving its red brick walls, green tiled pillars echoing barley, and distinctive beer foam-inspired pendant lights.

The beer hall, part of the Sapporo Group, is renowned for its Sapporo Draft and a diverse menu of Western and Japanese dishes. With its spacious interiors, long tables, and grand European-style décor featuring high ceilings, chandeliers and a large pipe organ, it's a go-to spot for social gatherings, office parties, and casual dining in Tokyo.

This Ginza shop and café specialises in ginger syrups and fruit confitures, and its shaved ice creations combine the two. The year-round kakigori menu consists of shaved ice topped with housemade ginger milk and served with a jar of confiture (kiwi, strawberry or orange ginger). Its monthly seasonal selections are equally stunning: think foamy espuma or milk tea cream topped with blueberries and mini macarons.

The name of this ornately decorated basement tavern can be translated as the ‘Land of Youth’ and comes from Celtic mythology. Descend the narrow stairwell and you’ll find hundreds of butterflies and fairy figurines hanging from the ceiling, while the shelves along the walls are filled with tiny glass bottles of shimmery pixie dust. Even the drinks menu reads like a fantasy book, with cocktails like the Pink Tako – a dark, fruity concoction garnished with squid tentacles – and the Lilly, where the drinking glass is hidden under a puff of blue candy floss.