Kamata | Time Out Tokyo

7 things to do in Toranomon this winter

Make it through the chilly season with our top wintertime picks

Written by
Time Out Tokyo Editors
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In association with Mori Building
 
Surviving a cold and dry Tokyo winter is never easy, especially as your average city apartment is woefully under-insulated, the north wind sweeps down ruthlessly at times and packing the insides of your clothes with kairo heat packs can feel like more trouble than it's worth. But hey, at least there are plenty of pretty lights, hot drinks and interesting events to look forward to – including quite a few in the Toranomon area. These are some of the things you should be doing once the cold season arrives. 

Seven top winter picks

  • Attractions
  • Religious buildings and sites
  • Shinbashi
Found right by Shinbashi Station, this shrine is popular for its colourful fortune slips (omikuji). Find out how lucky you'll be in love (red), business (yellow), work and studies (blue) or health- and family-related matters (green) – or draw one of every colour and get the full range of predictions for 2017. Karasumori Shrine
Warm up with mulled wine...
  • Shopping
  • Specialist food and drink
  • Kamiyacho
In addition to a plentiful selection of fine bottles, this wine shop near Atago Shrine offers monthly tasting events and other fun happenings. From January to March, look out for their aromatic mulled wine, which is sure to warm up your innards on a chilly winter day. Wine Shop Atago Konishi
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Start the day right...
  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Shinbashi
  • price 1 of 4
Open from 7.30am on weekdays and 8am on weekends and holidays, Good Morning offers a rotating range of six or seven breakfast sets, including the Morning Toast that comes with a boiled egg and yogurt. It'll set you back a mere ¥450 if you go on a weekday between 7.30am and 8.30am. Good Morning Cafe & Grill
  • Art
  • Galleries
  • Shinbashi
See a new exhibition every month at this interesting gallery, where Miyazaki-based lacquerware artist Soichiro Miyashiro is exhibiting his pieces alongside earthenware from the 10th century BCE until November 27. Next up is Californian Ido Yoshimoto, whose woodwork can be viewed from December 3 to 18. Curator's Cube
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  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Toranomon
Advertising itself as the world's first 'organic caffeine charge bar', this quirky operation serves up what's essentially espresso-like coffee and tea shots at ¥200 a pop. You can even get your condensed pick-me-up mixed with a beer – talk about the ultimate salaryman beverage. Caffeineholic
  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • Shinbashi
  • price 2 of 4
Serving up hearty, healthy traditional Japanese cooking with plenty of character, Kamata specialises in the stew-like oden, an essential winter delicacy. Go for the mixed oden (¥1,728 for two) with daikon radish, konnyaku, tofu, soft-boiled eggs with blood-red yolks, kombu seaweed, and a legion of minced and steamed fish cakes. Kamata
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Fill up on eclectic pasta...
  • Restaurants
  • Italian
  • Toranomon
  • price 1 of 4
Big eaters will love this unpretentious caff, where paying an extra ¥150 will get you a large – and we mean large – portion of any of their simple but tasty pasta dishes. Try the Daniel (¥1,050), a carbonara-style concoction served with extra-thick noodles. This one has been a popular choice ever since the restaurant's founding in 1967, so you know there's something special about it. Hungry Tiger

See the winter lights

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