Parking in Downtown Tokyo

I’ve been doing some research for an upcoming trip to Tokyo. I plan to go by car, but also want to be able to see some of the sights in Roppongi, Akasaka, Shibuya, Shinjuku, and other places. I don’t want to park too far outside of the main area, and if possible I want to go someplace within walking distance of trains, subways, and good food.

After checking tons of bulletin boards in Japanese on the internet, I’ve decided to park my car at Odaiba which is a happening port area packed with restaurants, shops, and lots of things to do. Odaiba is also known as a great place to go on a date.

Parking prices vary slightly depending on the parking lot, but in general it seems to be about 500 yen for the first hour, then 200 or 250 yen for each additional half hour. If you do over 3,000 yen worth of shopping or eating at a shop that is associated with your parking lot, you can get one or two hours of parking for free. Some of them offer more free parking time if you go over 5,000 or 10,000 yen.

I chose Odaiba also because of the great variety of restaurants to choose from. A quick lunch may cost about 3,000 yen, but on a weekday that could save you about 2,000 yen in parking fees. There’s a Sizzler and Red Lobster in Aqua City. This is my first choice for parking because of the convenience and cost, but there are several other parking areas and shopping malls built around the waterfront here.

There are other places to park in the Tokyo area, but this seems like the most convenient to me. Other people I know have parked in Chiba or other areas around Tokyo (even as far away as Shizuoka), and taken the train in, but I like the convenience of my car, and train prices both ways for two or more adults would rival parking costs anyway.

If I were stayin overnight in Tokyo, I would choose a hotel in the Tokyo area and check their parking plan to see if they allow cars to remain in the parking lot for a while after checkout. (I once did this and saved money on parking in Hiroshima.)

After I’ve put this plan into effect and tried out driving in Tokyo for the first time, I’ll be sure to post my thoughts and any new advice or suggestions that come to light.