Inside the Tokyo Edition, Ginza, the city’s sleekest new luxury hotel: with 86 rooms, a cocktail lounge, brasserie and rooftop wine bar, this Kengo Kuma-designed oasis is nestled in the heart of Tokyo

Dec 17 , 2024

Inside the Kengo Kuma-designed Tokyo Edition, Ginza, the city’s latest luxury hotel. Photo: Handout

The newest addition to the Edition line of hotels is situated in Tokyo’s bustling high-end fashion district, minutes from popular hotspots like the Dover Street Market Ginza and Ginza Music Bar

There’s a certain detachment from reality that comes with visiting Tokyo – difficult to describe in words but encapsulated by Sofia Coppola’s sleeper hit Lost in Translation (2003), which starred Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson as two lost souls who find a brief moment of connection in the Japanese capital. Though that was largely set in an entirely different hotel on the opposite side of town, the film’s iconic imagery will feel familiar to travellers stepping inside the Tokyo Edition, Ginza, for the very first time – as strangers seeking a safe haven from the chaotic, bustling metropolis, in search of whatever fateful encounters may await them.

The Tokyo Edition, Ginza, is designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma. Photo: @editionginza/Instagram

One gets the sense this isn’t a hotel designed for typical tourists looking to kick back, relax and unwind, and that being said, it’s worth keeping in mind that Ginza isn’t the kind of destination designed for your typical tourist anyway. The area is Tokyo’s most famous luxury shopping district, rivalled only by the likes of New York’s Fifth Avenue; a fitting location for the Edition brand’s latest boutique hotel concept in the city.

A keen eye for culture and appreciation of the arts is always key to enjoying the full Edition experience, and given that Tokyo contains multitudes of each, expectations of even what is arguably the world’s sexiest hotel brand were bound to be high when the Ginza outpost opened earlier this year. As sister hotel to Edition’s first Tokyo property, located in the nearby business district of Toranomon, the Ginza Edition keeps a different sort of traveller in mind, fulfilling the needs of savvy urbanites seeking a cultural reset and recharge before hopping right into the middle of the action.

The Tokyo Edition, Ginza, is located just off Chuo-dori. Photo: @editionginza/Instagram

With only 48 hours in Tokyo and plenty of places and faces to see during my short stint here, I certainly fit the bill. At first glance, I could’ve mistaken the sleek 14-storey hotel for a low-rise luxury flat, given its discreet yet elegant exteriors – an impression that is likely by design, courtesy of esteemed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.

The building blends in well with its busy immediate surroundings, sitting nice and pretty on a block of similarly glossy boutiques and department stores just off Ginza’s main shopping thoroughfare, Chuo-dori. That’s surely appealing to Edition’s target audience: if-you-know-you-know jet-setters who want to blend in with the local cultural scene as much as they like to stand out in style.

The Tokyo Edition, Ginza, has 86 guest rooms, including 10 suites. Photo: @editionginza/Instagram

I am welcomed into the pristine, hushed lobby – at once intimately inviting and also the slightest bit intimidating – by several courteous (and sharply dressed) attendants, and met with a cosy fur throw laid out on the white couch – an Edition signature – as well as a coffee table book of photography by Kishin Shinoyama, best known for shooting John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s album covers. The space feels small and settled in the best way possible; after spending over an hour navigating Tokyo’s expansive public transit system on my way into the city from Narita Airport – surrounded by hordes of other tourists looking for directions – the last thing I want is to feel alienated by my environment again.

A standard room at the Tokyo Edition, Ginza, is 41 square metres. Photo: @editionginza/Instagram

It’s a far cry from the lush, jungle-like lobby of other Edition hotels, including Toranomon, which is grander in size and scale but appears comparatively dystopian due to its largely corporate skyscraper surroundings. With just over 80 hotel rooms and suites – equating to fewer than 10 rooms per floor – the vibes and views of the Tokyo Edition, Ginza, are friendlier to guests who want to feel more like a resident and live like a local. Standard rooms are on the smaller side at 41 square metres, but still large by Tokyo standards and no less luxe, with cosy windows perfect for people watching, offering snapshots of daily life on the streets below.