Home to TBS, Akasaka remains one of Tokyo's six hanamachi, with residential streets up the slope
The closest neighborhoods in the same city.
People often describe Akasaka as "downhill is the entertainment district, uphill is the residential area": restaurants cluster in the low-lying parts, while homes sit on the high ground on either side of Akasaka-dori. The ticket gates at Akasaka Station on the Chiyoda Line connect by passage directly to Sacas, home to TBS's broadcast center; in the broadcasting industry, saying "Akasaka" means TBS. Akasaka is also a hanamachi, a geisha district; at its peak it had 400 geisha, and it remains one of Tokyo's six hanamachi today.
All of Akasaka falls under the ujiko, the parish, of Hikawa Shrine; the giant ginkgo tree on its grounds is a natural monument designated by Minato City, and the shrine holds its annual Reitaisai festival every September 15.
The chome vary a lot: Chome 5, home to TBS, has only 875 residents. Chome 6, home to Hikawa Shrine, has 4,029 residents, the most in the whole neighborhood. In this neighborhood, 95% of homes are apartments, and mid-rise apartments of six to ten stories make up about 40%, higher than Minato City overall.
Public transit ranks 51st among Tokyo's 395 neighborhoods.
The Sacas plaza covers about 1,800 square meters; as of 2020 it had a permanent lawn and wooden deck, and an ice skating rink has been set up there in winter.
This neighborhood is mainly offices and commerce: as of 2020, the daytime population was about 86,000, while only about 16,000 people actually live here. That works out to about 144 residents per hectare.
Daily shopping ranks only 105th, and healthcare ranks 152nd—the two lowest-ranked categories in this neighborhood's livability.
Real estate magazine articles often say that living on the high ground means being prepared for the slopes up and down. Sanbun-zaka, the slope behind TBS, is especially steep; in the Edo period, pushing a cart up it cost an extra three bu of silver in wages.
In 1730, Tokugawa Yoshimune ordered Hikawa Shrine moved to its current site, and the shrine hall standing today was built at that time. During the Edo period, the high ground was home to daimyo and hatamoto (samurai directly under the shogun); after the Meiji era it became home to the residences of officials, military officers, and wealthy families, while the rest of the area had houses, shops, and ryotei restaurants.
From the latter half of the 1950s to around 1980, this area ranked alongside Ginza as a high-end entertainment district, packed with ryotei restaurants, nightclubs, and clubs.
In the Akasaka 2-chome and 6-chome area, a redevelopment project led by Mitsubishi Estate and TBS broke ground in March 2024 and is scheduled for completion in 2028. Both buildings will have office floors, and the west block will additionally include a theater, a concert hall, and a hotel.
A plaza totaling about 4,900 square meters, connecting from B2 up to ground level, will also be built, leading directly to Akasaka Station.
Compared with the 395 Tokyo neighborhoods in this guide (scores 0–10)
Hospitals with inpatient beds (2020 data), public elementary and junior high schools whose catchment covers this area, high schools and universities within 1 km, stations, parks of 1 ha or more, and large shopping malls and department stores. Many Tokyo junior high students attend private schools, so junior high catchments are only a guide.
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