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Time Travel to Bubble Era Tokyo at the New Shimbashi Building

Update-Date: Nov 18, 2025

Author: Sydney Seekford

Time Travel to Bubble Era Tokyo at the New Shimbashi Building

The New Shimbashi Building, with its unique design and winding halls, is a relic of the Showa era that has somehow refused to change in 5 decades. As the structure reaches its twilight years, there’s never been a better time to explore the dining, quirks, and hidden treasures of this piece of Tokyo history.

Sydney Seekford

Gourmet Creator

American living in Japan since 2022. Food writer and gourmet content creator for Japan’s most well known food media. Founder of menu translation and language support service MENUWIZ. Work history includes copywriting for booking platforms, video and media production and appearances, and consulting in F&B for household brands. Passionate about regional revitalization and slow tourism with a focus on local food culture.

Leave Shimbashi station towards SL plaza, where the iconic black steam engine, a salaryman’s hachiko, waits for slouching suits to gather. Turn to your left, and the concrete honeycomb you’ll see is the New Shimbashi Building. Upon closer inspection, the gaps in the brutalist mesh house tiny glowing light displays, signage, and even windows. Viewed from the outside, it’s hard to grasp why such a building is treated as a pilgrimage spot for Showa nostalgia. But from inside, its looping floors of bars and restaurants, offices, and quirky businesses reveal why the New Shimbashi Building is still a cultural icon.

The New Shimbashi building was completed in April, 1971. While cherry blossoms bloomed around the city, Shimbashi itself experienced a rebirth. Part of a redevelopment project, the New Shimbashi Building was built around the same time as its sibling, the Shimbashi Ekimae Building, at the opposite side of the station. Construction was carried out with the goal of replacing a slap-dash commercial center that cropped up around Shimbashi station in the post war period. Land owners hoped to turn the “black market” that developed around Shimbashi into a salary man’s paradise.

After completion, the black market vendors, which ranged from eateries to shops selling goods and services, relocated inside the New Shimbashi Building. Many of the shops have even stood largely unchanged from the early days, while professional offices moved in to fill the gaps.

The perimeter of the building is dominated by a series of entrances and contemporary chain stores, which give way to the building’s signature mesh design as the eye wanders upwards. Inside, vendors as varied as accounting offices and beauty schools, massage parlors and smoking bars fill out nonstandard storefronts. Some tenants allow their signs and tables to pour into the shopping mall-esque hallways connected by a series of escalators and staircases.

While the lower floors are still lively, today, the upper hallways are made up largely of shuttered storefronts and forgotten rooms. There are places where the detritus of long vacated office spaces have collected to avoid the inconvenience of formal disposal. Floors 5-9 are corporate offices, and above that are mostly residential.

While some might liken the scene to something from a horror game, for others, the New Shimbashi Building is a trip down memory lane (though not necessarily their own memories.) Lingering relics make the New Shimbashi Building feel something like a museum, where the Showa era decays a little more slowly than in the world outside – where we can still visit to experience the scenery of that day.

B1f - Bars and Dining

The basement floor of the New Shimbashi Building is a yokocho of sorts, but one where revelers are protected from the elements by layers of linoleum and concrete. Other than the setting itself, the gallery of izakaya, chinese food shops, and snakku bars on B1f is just like a lively drinking street found anywhere else in Japan. The patrons are almost exclusively local office workers, and you can get some idea of who arrived first based on the volume inside.

1f Variety

The first floor of the New Shimbashi building leaves an immediate impression. It shows signs of wear, but the shops are mostly bustling and lively. You get the feeling that this is the floor where people go for their daily errands before and after work. An aging fruit juice stand and newer ramen place offer quick calories.

Ticket Showa and surrounding shops

Ticket vendors, somehow not yet outmoded by online services, still sell airline tickets and travel plans to office workers trying to get a good deal for their next business trip. Actually, although they may look a little shady at first, these ticket shops are one of the iconic features of the New Shimbashi Building and a trusted resource for local salarymen. Ticket Showa, pictured top right, offers one-way tickets to Nagoya on the shinkansen for 9,600 yen, about 1,000 yen cheaper than listed.

La Mille entrance and showcase, menu

The first floor is also home to a large cafe, “La Mille” serving house-made cakes and light meals. The ambiance veers twee, embodying the image of a European tea house with its butler-style uniforms and dark wooden seating. The half-and-half set is a popular option, giving you the choice of any two cakes from the showcase, a selection of coffee or tea, and a helping of soft serve.

While the cakes are as tasty as they are beautiful, the soft serve ice cream is surprisingly delicious – more akin to something found in a devoted ice cream shop than a cafe. Best of all, it’s open late, making it a sober respite for those working overtime to stop on the way home.

Cafe La Mille Shimbashi Branch
Address: 1F New Shimbashi Building, 2-16-1 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Hours: Mon-Fri 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m., Sat 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m., Sun/Holidays 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Closed: Open daily

2f Massage parlors and More

Advancing to the second floor, visitors might be shocked to see the caliber of business that occupies most of its hallways. Women of all ages and dress inhabit storefront after storefront, calling out their “Irraishaimase” invitation in a variety of heavily accented Japanese as soon as they catch sight of a passer-by. Of course, by nature of the work, photos of the second floor massage parlors (etc.) are strongly discouraged. Still, it’s interesting to stroll the halls and see the many themes and schools on offer – some focus on pressure points in the feet, while some seem similar to the posture-correction clinics seen throughout Japan.

A selection of eateries continues to the second floor as well. Hatsu Fuji stands out as an especially attractive option. Compared to many stores within the New Shimbashi Building, Hatsu Fuji is not only brand-new looking and cleanly kept, but is impressively spacious. Three could sit in a 2-person seat at the central counter, while the rest of the restaurant features private rooms and “Western-sizes” tables.

Portion sizes are monstrous for the price. The menu includes a satisfying balance of vegetarian, seafood, and meat options. Signature items are best shared among a group, including the mountain of fried burdock chips, whole and half-roast chicken, and a sharing-size seasonal fish, salt-baked and served whole. As a solo-visitor, a couple of appetizers and a glass of shochu is more than enough.

Shimbashi Hatsu Fuji
Address: New Shimbashi Building 201, 2-16-1 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Hours: Weekdays: 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m., Sat: 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Closed: Sundays, National Holidays, and New Year’s Holidays

The second floor is also home to a retro game center, RIDO, where guests can still come to play pin-ball and arcade games of a bygone era. It’s an interesting holdover in a time when many similar games have been replaced by rhythm machines or pachinko. The New Shimbashi Building also has vendors selling old comics and retro video games from the not so distant past.

Third and Fourth Floors

As one travels upward, the lines between districts blur a little. The third floor, which is notably less lively than the lower floors, has a mish-mash of offices, massage parlors, and restaurants and bars – about half open-looking and half closed. One notable third floor establishment is Kissaten Katorea, which wasn’t operating on our visit, is a well-loved pilgrimage for Showa fans.

The fourth floor, even more sparsely populated than the third, further condenses into mostly shutters and offices. It's these floors that look particularly horror-movie-esque, but also which hide unforgettable hidden experiences with owners who are happy to have curious visitors.

Conclusion:

The New Shimbashi Building is a place where parts of Japan that might disappear soon still hold strong. Between the twisting turns and hidey-hole businesses of every caliber, a visit can be thrilling for many reasons.

For better or worse, the owners have already entered into plans for redevelopment, so it’s possible that these are the last years Shimbashi’s former black market will exist in the halls. There’s no doubt however, that what these businesses represent for Shimbashi (and Tokyo as a whole) will continue in the hearts and memories of the people who visited and ran them. It’s just as likely that many of them will move again, creating a New-New Shimbashi Building culture when they do. Until then, visit the New Shimbashi Building to discover the culture of the Showa era, still up and kicking.

New Shimbashi Building
Address: 2-16-1 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Access:
1-minute walk from Shimbashi Station (JR Yamanote Line)
1-minute walk from Shimbashi Station (JR Keihin-Tohoku Line)
1-minute walk from Shimbashi Station (Tokyo Metro Ginza Line)
6-minute walk from Shiodome Station (Toei Oedo Line)
2-minute walk from Shimbashi Station (Toei Asakusa Line)

Restaurants and Izakaya to try near the New Shimbashi Building – Reservations Open!

Sakanaya Oaji

Toyama bay, in Northwestern Japan, is one of the most respected fishing spots in Japan. Some seafood, like Toyama shiroebi (white shrimp) can only be found here. The chef of Shusaiya Oaji, Takyua Arai, fills his menu with fresh seafood directly from Toyama, where he was born and raised. This laid-back venue opens at four p.m., making it easy to stop for a late lunch or early dinner and enjoy rare Toyama specialties.

Sakanaya Oaji

Open: [Weekdays/Saturday/holidays/the day before a holiday] Normal hours 4:00 p.m.- 12:00 midnight (last order 11:00 p.m.)
Closed: None
Average price: [Dinner] 4,000 JPY
Access: 1 minute walk from Karasumori exit of Shinbashi station located at under the railway on the left
Address: 3-25-19 Shinbashi Minato Tokyo Map
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Yakitori TAKE

Those adventurous enough to dive into the nightlife or Shimbashi will surely appreciate the daring cuts of chicken available at Yakitori TAKE. Located just steps away from Shimbashi station and the New Shimbashi Building, TAKE serves Date (dah-tay) chicken yakitori from nose to tail. This restaurant believes that each farmer and rancher expresses their personality through the ingredients they create, and the best food is that which is made by communicating with the food to emphasize these elements.

Yakitori TAKE

Open: [Weekdays, Saturday] 4:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Closed: Sunday
Average price: [Dinner] 20,000 JPY
Access: 1-minute walk from Shimbashi Station on JR Yamanote Line
Address: 3F, REVERIE SHINBASHI, 4-21-8, Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Map
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Namara Umai! Sushi Michi Shinbashi

Chef Nakamura, once the chef of a sushi counter in high-end Nishi Azabu, now serves his signature nigiri and secret chef’s snacks in lively Shimbashi. The interior of his restaurant is done in the style of a classic Edomae sushi counter, complete with vertically arranged plaques that display the day’s sushi toppings. Sushi Michi offers omakase course menus that are both reasonably priced and delicious examples of proper counter-service sushi.

Namara Umai! Sushi Michi Shinbashi

Open: [Weekdays, Saturday, National Holidays, Day Before National Holidays] Dinner 5:00 pm - 10:30 pm (L.O. 9:00 pm)
Closed: Sunday
Average price: [Dinner] 10,000 JPY
Access: 3-minute walk from Karasumori Exit of Shimbashi Station on JR Yamanote Line
Address: 1F, Arai Bldg., 3-14-1, Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Map
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Disclaimer: All information is accurate at time of publication.

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