Nihonbashi (“ú–{‹´), literally meaning "Japan Bridge", is a city district of Tokyo, just north of Ginza and northeast of Marunouchi and Tokyo Station. The bridge, after which the district is named, has been the mile zero marker for Japan's national highway network since the early Edo Period.

Formerly a wooden bridge, the Nihonbashi was reconstructed in stone during the Meiji Period, and was covered by an expressway in the 1960s. You can cross a partial 1:1 replica of the original wooden bridge in the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Ryogoku.

As the "center of Japan", the Nihonbashi district has enjoyed much commercial prosperity over the centuries. In the 1600s, the Mitsui family chose it as the site for their Edo branch of Echigoya, a highly successful wholesale business and predecessor of Japan's first Western style department store. The store exists nowadays as Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi, the Mitsukoshi company's flagship store.

A few other shopping complexes in the area are capitalizing on Nihonbashi's commercial heritage, including two stylish Coredo shopping complexes that offer visitors a variety of shopping, dining, and entertainment options. The Coredo Nihonbashi location was opened in 2004 and is located just south of the bridge, while Coredo Muromachi was opened across from the Mitsukoshi in 2010.

Shopping and Dining

Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi Shops: 10:00 to 19:00 (basement through third floor until 20:00) Restaurants: 10:00 to 22:00 Closed: No closing days The construction of Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi's seven story main building was completed in 1935, and the Tokyo Metropolitan designated it a "historic structure" in 1999. There is an adjacent 10 story annex building that has direct connection on a few floors. It is possible to spend an entire day shopping here, and many shops are decidedly high end.

Coredo Nihonbashi Shops: 11:00 to 21:00 Restaurants: 11:00 to 23:00 Everything closes one hour earlier on Sundays and national holidays Closed: January 1 Located just beside Nihonbashi Subway Station, Coredo Nihonbashi's approximately 50 shops and restaurants are spread across the lower five floors of a larger building. Prices are more moderate than at Mitsukoshi, and the restaurant floor offers quite a few international cuisines. The basement has one of central Tokyo's few regular supermarkets.

Coredo Muromachi Shops: 10:00 to 20:00 (B1F weekdays from 8:00) Restaurants: 11:00 to 23:00 Closed: January 1 Located just across the street from the Mitsukoshi department store, Coredo Muromachi is a five floor shopping complex that was opened in 2010, a few years after Coredo Nihonbashi. There are almost 20 restaurants and seven shops, some of which deal in traditional Japanese goods and foods such as knives and dried bonito.

Mitsui Memorial Museum 10:00 to 17:00 (entry until 16:30) Closed: Mondays (or following day if Monday is a national holiday) Admission: 1000 yen (or 1200 yen for special exhibition) The museum has elegant exhibition galleries in which objects are displayed from the art collection of the Mitsui family, the same family that opened the nearby Mitsukoshi department store. The museum was opened in 2005 and has regularly changing themed exhibitions and a reconstruction of a teahouse. It is located in the Mitsui Tower complex.

Currency Museum 9:30 to 16:30 (entry until 16:00) Closed: Mondays, national holiday, December 29 to January 4 Admission: Free English: Moderate Located in an annex building across the street from the Bank of Japan, the museum was opened in 1982 to commemorate the bank's centenary. A detailed history of currency in Japan is displayed, and there are plenty of interesting historical coins and bills on display.

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