Azabudai Hills
By Andrew Liyan · Last updated: August 28, 2026 · Facts verified: August 28, 2026
- Area
- Azabudai / Minato
- Best For
- Architecture, Shopping & Dining, Photography
Visiting Azabudai Hills
Azabudai Hills is Mori Building's newest large-scale urban development in Minato, Tokyo, opened to the public on November 24, 2023. Mori Building calls it a "Modern Urban Village," a deliberate mix of office towers, residences, shops, restaurants, gardens, and cultural space rather than a single conventional building. Its centerpiece is Mori JP Tower, a 330-meter, 64-floor tower that is currently Japan's tallest building. Four low-rise Garden Plazas designed by Heatherwick Studio surround the tower, connected by plazas, terraces, and green space.
Azabudai Hills is not the same thing as Roppongi Hills, an older Mori Building complex a short ride away built around Mori Tower, the Mori Art Museum, and the Tokyo City View observation deck. The two share a developer and similar branding, which causes real confusion, but they are separate complexes in separate locations. Azabudai Hills is also not the same thing as teamLab Borderless. The museum reopened inside Garden Plaza B's basement on February 9, 2024, and it's the complex's single biggest visitor draw, but it is a distinct, separately ticketed attraction occupying one part of a much larger site.
Most of what there is to do at Azabudai Hills costs nothing to see. The grounds, gardens, Garden Plazas, and public art are free to walk through, and roughly 150 shops and restaurants fill the complex, including the Azabudai Hills Market food hall and a cluster of luxury boutiques known informally as the complex's Luxury Street. The Azabudai Hills Gallery hosts changing exhibitions with its own separate admission, and the Sky Lobby on the tower's 33rd floor once offered a free public view but no longer does, covered in detail below.
Azabudai Hills rewards visitors who enjoy architecture, design, and unhurried browsing more than a single must-see moment. It works well paired with a teamLab Borderless booking, as a calmer alternative to Roppongi Hills for shopping and dining, or as a stop for anyone curious about Japan's tallest building. Travelers with very limited time in Tokyo choosing between one headline landmark and this complex may find Azabudai Hills a lower priority, since its appeal is mostly atmospheric rather than one defining activity.
Things to Do at Azabudai Hills
Architecture and the Garden Plazas
Mori JP Tower is the visual anchor of Azabudai Hills, a 330-meter, 64-floor tower that is currently Japan's tallest building. Around it sit four low-rise Garden Plazas, A through D, designed by Heatherwick Studio with terraced, planted facades rather than flat glass walls.
Walking between the plazas and the tower's base is largely free and unstructured. Most visitors treat this as the core of an Azabudai Hills visit rather than a single ticketed activity, taking in the architecture, the plaza-level shops, and the wayfinding through the district at their own pace.
Central Green, the rooftop orchard, and The Cloud
The Central Green is Azabudai Hills' main open lawn and garden space, complemented by a rooftop orchard and planting worked into the Garden Plazas' terraces. It's a genuine differentiator from most central Tokyo commercial complexes, which rarely build this much green space into a retail and office district.
Cherry blossoms bloom in and around the Central Green roughly February through early May, and "The Cloud," a suspended canopy structure over part of the complex, is a popular photography subject alongside the greenery.
Shops, dining, and the Azabudai Hills Market
Azabudai Hills has roughly 150 shops and restaurants spread across Tower Plaza and the four Garden Plazas, including the Azabudai Hills Market specialty food hall and a cluster of luxury boutiques known informally as the complex's Luxury Street.
Individual tenant hours generally fall within a 10:00 AM/11:00 AM to 8:00 PM/9:00 PM window, but vary shop by shop. The exact current roster of specialty shops changes over time, so check the official site for a specific store before making it the reason for your visit.
The Azabudai Hills Gallery
The Azabudai Hills Gallery hosts rotating exhibitions with admission priced per show rather than a single fixed fee, so don't expect one durable ticket price. Check the operator's current ticketing page for the exhibition running during your visit before budgeting for it.
teamLab Borderless
teamLab Borderless, the digital art museum inside Garden Plaza B's basement, is the complex's single biggest visitor draw. It reopened here on February 9, 2024, after its original Odaiba venue closed in 2022, with reworked and expanded installations.
It operates on advance, timed-entry booking as a separately ticketed attraction, not something you can wander into as part of the free complex. Full ticket pricing, booking, and visitor-experience detail live on its own dedicated guide, since it functions as a distinct museum rather than an included feature of Azabudai Hills.
The Sky Lobby view
The Sky Lobby on the 33rd floor of Mori JP Tower offered a free public view when Azabudai Hills opened, but that free access ended on April 18, 2024. Several older "top things to do" articles online still describe or imply a free observation floor here; that information is out of date.
Since April 18, 2024, reaching the Sky Lobby view requires a paid visit to Sky Room Cafe & Bar, Dining 33, or Hills House membership access, typically a cover charge in the roughly ¥500 to ¥1,100 range (commonly around ¥600) plus a required drink order. A late-afternoon or evening visit suits this option well, given the drink-purchase requirement.
How to Get to Azabudai Hills
Azabudai Hills sits between Kamiyacho and Roppongi-itchome stations in Minato, with two direct underground connections into the complex.
Kamiyacho Station is the primary, officially recommended route. Roppongi-itchome is an equally strong alternate, and Roppongi and Azabu-juban stations are further options a short walk away.
Nearest Stations
Kamiyacho Station, on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line, connects directly into Azabudai Hills via Exit 5. Roppongi-itchome Station, on the Tokyo Metro Namboku Line, connects directly via Exit 4. Both are the fastest, no-walking routes into the complex.
From Roppongi and Azabu-juban
Roppongi Station, on the Hibiya and Toei Oedo lines, is about a 10-minute walk, the same route many visitors already use for Roppongi Hills. Azabu-juban Station, on the Toei Oedo and Namboku lines, is about a 10 to 11-minute walk. Onarimon Station, on the Toei Mita Line, is about 11 minutes.
From Tokyo Station or Central Tokyo
From Tokyo Station, take a connecting line toward a Hibiya Line transfer point and ride to Kamiyacho Station. The full journey typically takes about 20 to 25 minutes including the transfer.
From Shibuya or Shinjuku
From Shibuya, take the Hibiya Line or a connecting line toward Kamiyacho Station, typically around 20 minutes. From Shinjuku, the trip runs about 25 to 30 minutes with one transfer onto the Hibiya or Namboku Line.
From the Airports
From Haneda Airport, take the Tokyo Monorail or Keikyu Line toward central Tokyo, then transfer onto the Hibiya Line for Kamiyacho Station, roughly 30 to 40 minutes total. From Narita Airport, take the Narita Express or Skyliner into central Tokyo, then transfer onto the Hibiya Line, roughly 90 minutes total.
Parking and Driving
Azabudai Hills has four on-site parking garages (P1, P2, P5, P6), open 24 hours, priced at roughly ¥200 per 15 minutes with shopping discounts available up to 4 hours, plus EV charging. Central Tokyo traffic and parking costs make the train the more practical choice for most visitors, though driving is reasonable outside rush hour.
Best Time to Visit Azabudai Hills
Daytime for the gardens and architecture; late afternoon or evening for a Sky Room Cafe & Bar visit if pursuing the paid Sky Lobby view; February through early May for cherry blossoms in the Central Green.
Entry Fee & Hours
Nearby Attractions
Combine with Azabudai Hills on the same day
teamLab Borderless
Roppongi Hills
Tokyo Tower
Mori Art Museum
Zojoji Temple
Frequently Asked Questions
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