5 Best Sights in Marunouchi, Tokyo

The strength of the collection in these four spacious, well-designed rooms lies in the Tang- and Song-dynasty Chinese porcelain and in the Japanese ceramics—including works by Nonomura Ninsei and Ogata Kenzan. On display are masterpieces of Old Seto, Oribe, Old Kutani, Karatsu, and Kakiemon ware. The museum also houses outstanding examples of Zen painting and calligraphy, wood-block prints, and genre paintings of the Edo period. Of special interest to scholars is the resource collection of shards from virtually every pottery-making culture of the ancient world. The museum is on the ninth floor of the Teikoku Gekijo building, which looks down upon the lavish Imperial Garden. Check ahead on the website to see if reservations are required when you plan to visit.

Hibiya Park opened in 1901 as the first Western-style park in Japan. Its nearly 40 acres of land contains beautiful seasonal flowers, a 500-year-old ginkgo tree, two ponds, and two open-air concert halls. It is the place to go for live music, festivals, and a leisurely stroll.

Architect Hiroyuki Iwamoto's winning entry in the design competition for the National Theater building (1966) is a rendition in concrete of the ancient azekura (storehouse) style, invoking the 8th-century Shosoin Imperial Repository in Nara. The large hall seats 1,610 and presents primarily Kabuki theater, ancient court music, and dance. The small hall seats 590 and is used mainly for Bunraku puppet theater and traditional music. Performances are in Japanese, but English-translation headsets are available for many shows. Debut performances, called kao-mise, are worth watching to catch the stars of the next generation. Tickets can be reserved until the day of the performance by calling the theater box office between 10 and 6.

This postmodern masterpiece, the work of Uruguay-born American architect Rafael Viñoly, is the first major convention and art center of its kind in Tokyo. Viñoly's design was selected in a 1989 competition that drew nearly 400 entries from 50 countries. The plaza of the Forum is that rarest of Tokyo rarities: civilized open space. There's a long central courtyard with comfortable benches shaded by trees, the setting for an antiques flea market the first and third Sunday of each month. The Forum itself is actually two buildings. Transit fans should take a stroll up the catwalks to the top, which concludes with a view of the Tokyo Station JR lines.

This work of Kingo Tatsuno, one of Japan's first modern architects, was completed in 1914, with Tatsuno modeling his creation on the railway station of Amsterdam. The building lost its original top story in the air raids of 1945, but was promptly repaired. In the late 1990s, a plan to demolish the station was impeded by public outcry. The highlight is the historic and luxurious Tokyo Station Hotel, on the second and third floors. The area around the station is increasingly popular for dining, shopping, and entertainment.