Best Tokyo Observation Decks: Prices, Hours and Night Views
TripToJapan.com Editorial Team
Oct 12, 2023
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TripToJapan.com Editorial Team
Ask ten people in Tokyo where to watch the city light up and you'll get ten answers, most of them fiercely held. The photographer swears by a rooftop with no glass in the way. The office worker sends you to a free elevator in Shinjuku. Someone's grandmother still says Tokyo Tower, and she isn't wrong.
For most visitors, the best Tokyo observation deck is Shibuya Sky, an open-air rooftop 229 meters above Shibuya Crossing. For the highest view in the city, go to the Tokyo Skytree Tembo Galleria at 450 meters. For a free one, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku has two 45th-floor observatories that cost nothing and stay open until 10:00 p.m.
Timing matters more than the building you pick. Arrive as the light is going and you watch the streets turn gold and the towers come on floor by floor. Arrive at full dark and you're paying ¥3,400 to photograph your own reflection.
Shibuya Sky sits on top of Shibuya Scramble Square, directly above Shibuya Station. The rooftop has no glass ceiling, so you get an open view of Shinjuku's towers and Tokyo Tower, plus Mount Fuji on clear days. You enter on the 14th floor and ride up to an indoor gallery on the 46th floor before stepping outside.
Price: ¥2,700 online for entry before 3:00 p.m., ¥3,400 after, per the Shibuya Sky ticket page. Counter tickets cost ¥300 more.
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., last entry 9:20 p.m.
Getting there: the entrance is inside Shibuya Scramble Square, connected to Shibuya Station.
Book ahead: sunset slots sell out days in advance.
Weather: the rooftop closes in strong wind or rain, and the indoor floor stays open instead.
To see how it compares with the city's tallest tower, read our Shibuya Sky versus Skytree comparison.
At 634 meters, Tokyo Skytree is the tallest tower in the world according to Guinness World Records. The Tembo Deck at 350 meters has floor-to-ceiling windows and a glass floor section. The Tembo Galleria at 450 meters is a sloping glass walkway that spirals up to the highest point open to visitors.
Price: ¥1,800–3,600 for the Tembo Deck, or ¥3,000–4,800 for the combined ticket. Prices are set by date, per the official Skytree ticket page, and counter tickets cost ¥500 more.
Hours: usually 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., with earlier openings on some weekends and holidays. Last entry is one hour before closing.
Getting there: Tokyo Skytree Station on the Tobu line, or Oshiage Station.
The Skytree is in Oshiage, east of central Tokyo, so it pairs well with an afternoon in Asakusa. It is far enough out that the skyline looks wide and flat rather than close up, which suits people who want scale more than detail.
Tokyo Tower opened in 1958 and stands 333 meters tall. It is closer to the center than the Skytree, so the city around it looks denser. Its Main Deck also stays open later than any other paid deck in the city.
The Main Deck at 150 meters costs ¥1,500 for adults and stays open from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., with last entry at 10:30. The Top Deck Tour adds the 250-meter level for ¥3,300 online or ¥3,500 at the counter, according to the Tokyo Tower fee page. Akabanebashi Station on the Oedo Line is a five-minute walk.
Many travelers would rather photograph Tokyo Tower than stand in it. If that's you, the best angles are from Tokyo City View in Roppongi and from the Shiba Park side at street level.
This is the best free observation deck in Tokyo. Both observatories sit on the 45th floor in West Shinjuku, 202 meters up. The South deck stays open as late as most paid decks.
Price: free.
South Observatory: 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., closed the first and third Tuesday of the month, per the Tokyo Metropolitan Government site.
North Observatory: closes at 5:30 p.m., except on days when the South deck is closed.
Getting there: Tochomae Station is directly below, or walk about 10 minutes from the west exit of JR Shinjuku Station.
Expect a short security check and a line at sunset. The windows throw reflections after dark, so press your phone lens against the glass for cleaner photos.
Tokyo City View is an indoor deck on the 52nd floor of Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 250 meters above sea level. It has the best straight-on view of Tokyo Tower in the city. The open-air Sky Deck on the roof has been closed to the public since April 2024, so the indoor floor is now the only option.
Adult tickets cost ¥2,200 online or ¥2,400 on-site for most of 2026, and the deck is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. with last entry at 9:30, per the Roppongi Hills visitor information page. Roppongi Station on the Hibiya Line connects to the building in about three minutes.
Sunshine 60 in Ikebukuro is the cheapest paid deck in Tokyo. The observatory, called Tenbou Park, has lawn-style seating and grass underfoot. It draws far smaller crowds than Shibuya or Roppongi.
Adults pay ¥700 on weekdays and ¥900 on weekends, rising to ¥1,200 in peak periods, and the deck is open 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Weekend and holiday visits need a timed ticket booked in advance, per the Sunshine City observatory page. It's about eight minutes on foot from Ikebukuro Station's east exit.
The silver sphere on the Fuji TV building in Odaiba holds a small deck on the 25th floor, about 100 meters up, looking over Tokyo Bay and Rainbow Bridge. It closes earlier than every other deck here, so it only works for dusk in the short days of winter.
Adults pay ¥800 and school-age children ¥500. The deck opens 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with last entry at 5:30, and it closes on Mondays. Daiba Station on the Yurikamome line is a three-minute walk.
Haneda has outdoor decks in all three terminals, and no fee is listed on the airport's website. You get runways and landing lights instead of skyscrapers, with the city glowing across the bay behind them.
The Terminal 3 deck on the 5th floor is open 24 hours, and the Terminal 1 and 2 decks run 6:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., according to Haneda Airport's observation deck page. Central Tokyo is 15 to 30 minutes away on the Keikyu Line or the Tokyo Monorail.
It's the easiest stop to fit in before a late flight, though the decks close in bad weather.
We'll build a costed, pre-planned Japan itinerary you can customise to your taste.
You don't need a ticket to see Tokyo at night. Along with the Metropolitan Government Building, these spots give you skyline or waterfront views at no cost.
Rainbow Bridge links the Shibaura waterfront to Odaiba, and its lights come on about 30 minutes after sunset and stay on until midnight. The best free view is from the beach at Odaiba Seaside Park, where you see the bridge with Tokyo Tower behind it.
You can also walk across on the Rainbow Promenade, 1.7 kilometers that take 20 to 30 minutes each way. It's open 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. from April through October and closes at 6:00 p.m. from November through March, per the Port of Tokyo walkway page. It shuts on the third Monday of each month.
Tokyo Station's red-brick Marunouchi building is lit from sunset until about 9:00 p.m. For a free elevated view of it, go to KITTE Garden, the rooftop on the 6th floor of the KITTE building across the street. From the garden you look down on the station's domes and the tracks running out behind them.
The garden is free and stays open until 11:00 p.m. on weekdays and 10:00 p.m. on weekends and holidays, according to KITTE Marunouchi. The building is directly across from the station's Marunouchi south exit.
Two office towers have free sky lounges on their restaurant floors. Caretta Shiodome's 46th floor looks toward Tokyo Bay and the Hamarikyu Gardens, and Ebisu Garden Place Tower's 38th-floor lounge looks west toward Shibuya and Shinjuku.
Both are free, and opening hours follow the restaurants, so check before you go. They're smaller and plainer than the paid decks, and you'll rarely wait in line.
Four decks that once made every Tokyo list are no longer open to visitors:
World Trade Center Seaside Top (Hamamatsucho): closed in January 2021 ahead of the building's redevelopment.
Roppongi Hills Sky Deck: the rooftop closed to the public in April 2024. The indoor Tokyo City View is still open.
Bunkyo Civic Center observation lounge: closed for renovation since March 2025, with reopening planned for December 2026, per Bunkyo City.
Azabudai Hills Sky Lobby: free public access ended in April 2024.
Arrive about 30 minutes before sunset and stay for an hour. You'll see the city in daylight first and then watch the lights come on as the sky goes dark. In Tokyo, the sun sets around 4:30 p.m. in December and close to 7:00 p.m. in late June.
Winter gives the clearest air and your best chance of seeing Mount Fuji, especially at sunset from December through February. Summer evenings are often hazy. Weekday visits are calmer at every deck, and at Shibuya Sky an entry before 3:00 p.m. is ¥700 cheaper than a sunset slot.
For more ways to spend an evening, see our list of things to do after dark in Tokyo.
Pick one paid deck and one free spot in the same area so you aren't crossing the city at rush hour. Shibuya Sky at sunset pairs well with dinner in Shibuya. The Metropolitan Government Building fits an evening in Shinjuku, and Tokyo Tower and Tokyo City View are a short taxi ride apart.
If you want to see the skyline with no deck at all, a private night helicopter tour takes you over the lit city in about an hour.
For a short first visit, our four-day Tokyo itinerary for first-timers fits the city's main sights into three nights, with room for a sunset deck.
With a full week, this plan for seven days in Tokyo leaves time for both a paid deck and a free one.
