Aoyama and Omotesando: Tokyo's Luxury Boulevard

Aoyama and Omotesando constitute Tokyo's most elegantly international luxury district, a tree-lined boulevard in Minato Ward where zelkova trees planted in the 1920s create a canopied avenue that has been compared to the Champs-Élysées — and where global luxury fashion houses have established their most architecturally ambitious Tokyo flagships. The Omotesando Hills complex, designed by Tadao Ando and incorporating the facade of the historic Dojunkai Aoyama Apartments within a spiralling internal avenue, is one of Tokyo's most significant architectural spaces as well as a luxury retail destination. The boutiques of Prada (designed by Herzog and de Meuron) and Louis Vuitton along the main avenue represent among the most design-forward retail architecture in any world city.

The Aoyama neighbourhood extending south from Omotesando has a character distinct from the retail boulevard's commercial intensity. The Aoyama Cemetery, one of Tokyo's largest, is particularly beautiful during cherry blossom season when its main avenue becomes one of the city's quieter sakura viewing spots. The southern Aoyama area around Minami Aoyama is one of Tokyo's most concentrated gallery districts, with a density of contemporary art spaces — including the Spiral Building, which combines art and retail in a remarkable Fumihiko Maki design from 1985 — that makes it the essential destination for contemporary art browsing in the city.

The food and café scene of Aoyama reflects its position at the intersection of Tokyo's most international and most affluent demographic groups. Blue Bottle Coffee opened its first Japan location in Aoyama, establishing a template for the specialty coffee movement that has since spread across the city. The concentration of European-influenced bakeries, Scandinavian-influenced café interiors, and quality international cuisine restaurants makes Aoyama one of Tokyo's most consistent neighbourhood destinations for a long lunch or afternoon of cultural exploration. The neighbourhood is most easily accessed from Omotesando Station on the Chiyoda, Ginza, and Hanzomon subway lines.