Feb 12, 2014 - 1 min read

Nihonbashi

The historical kilometer zero point in Tokyo

Community writer

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Today, the stone structure of Nihonbashi (literally Japan Bridge) is overshadowed by the modern Shuto Expressway. There was a proposal to put the Shuto Expressway underground, to restore the nice view of the bridge; however, it was rejected by the municipal government.

There are two bronze shishi (lion) statues with sodium light posts on either side of Nihonbashi. The light-up at night-time is beautiful and definitely the best time to visit.

The light post illumination of Nihonbashi next to nicely colored tree in autumn

When you walk over the bridge, do not miss the bronze plate in the middle, which marks the kilometer zero point from where all the distances to Tokyo are measured.

Mitsukoshi department store just next to Nihonbashi, directly accessible from Mitsukoshi-mae station on the Ginza and Hanzomon lines

Coredo Nihonbashi building near Nihonbashi. There is some good shopping in this commercial building, which is directly accessible from Nihonbashi station on the Tozai line.

Sodium gas lamps on Nihonbashi (Japan Bridge)

Nihonbashi ("Japan Bridge") is considered the kilometer zero point of Tokyo, the point held as a reference to indicate the distance to Tokyo on highways. The old wooden bridge built in the 17th century was replaced by a stone bridge in 1911, and it crosses the Nihonbashi river. Today, Nihonbashi is encircled by mostly commercial office buildings, including the Mitsukoshi department store. To see how the bridge looked like before, you need to check out the Edo paintings of the old simplistic wooden bridge; hard to believe that the bridge is actually in the same spot, especially considering the fact that Mount Fuji was visible from this spot at the time.