Lunch in the Tokyo Government Staff Canteen

Many visitors ride up to the free observation decks of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Far fewer know that the same building has a staff canteen on the 32nd floor, and that people who do not work there may eat in it.

This is not a tourist restaurant. It is an ordinary canteen where the people who run Tokyo eat their lunch. That is exactly what makes it interesting.

Anyone May Eat There — But You Must Register First

The official page of the foundation that runs the canteen states it plainly: people who are not staff may use it, but they must complete the building entry procedure first.

You do this on the first or second floor of the building, at a small self-service terminal. You can also complete the form on the official website beforehand and show the QR code it issues at the visitor reception counter.

You do not need this to visit the observation decks. It is required only if you want to go up to the canteen. Confusing the two means being turned back before the 32nd floor.

Please Remember This Is Not an Attraction

This matters, so it comes before you decide to go.

This is a canteen for people at work. They have a short lunch break, and they need to eat and return to their desks. Please observe the following.

• Avoid 12:00 to 12:45. The official page notes that the hour from 12:00 to 13:00 is when use is concentrated and the canteen is more crowded than at other times. Around 11:00, or after 13:00, is far more comfortable
• Do not take a seat without eating, and do not bring your own food. Both are declined in the official guidance
• Do not linger after your meal, especially when it is busy
• If you photograph anything, photograph your own tray only, and keep other diners out of the frame
• Group reservations are not accepted. Please do not arrive as a large party

The building is open to the public at no charge, but if visitors make it harder for staff to eat their lunch, the doors will eventually close. That is the outcome worth avoiding.

What You Can Eat

Set meals, Japanese noodles, Chinese noodles, curry and pasta — that is the official description. On the day of these photographs it was a set meal, served with rice, miso soup and a small side dish.

Prices are not published on the official site, so they are not printed here. It is a government canteen, so it is gentler on the wallet than a restaurant in the street, but please check the actual figures when you arrive. Both cash and cashless payment are accepted.

The View From the Window

The 32nd floor is high enough that some seats look straight out over the city. It is not the full panorama of the 45th-floor observatories, but there are not many places where you can eat an everyday lunch at this height.

The Café Counter

Next to the canteen there is a café and shop counter with drinks, pastries and yoghurt. The one thing you will not find elsewhere is the Tocho Lemonade, made with fruit-lemon jam from Hachijojima. It was marked at 380 yen when these photographs were taken.

Hachijojima is one of the Pacific islands that belong to Tokyo — far to the south of Shinjuku, and still the same metropolis. A drink made from Tokyo island lemons, sold in the Tokyo government building: it becomes a rather satisfying purchase once you know that.

Prices change. Please check the display on the day of your visit.

Practical Information

• Where: 32nd floor, Main Building No. 1, Tokyo Metropolitan Government (there is a second canteen on the 4th floor of Main Building No. 2)
• Lunch: 11:00–14:00, on days the government offices are open
• Café: 8:00–17:00 (Main Building No. 1, 32nd floor)
• Closed: Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and the New Year period
• Busiest: 12:00–13:00
• Payment: Cash and cashless
• Required: Visitor registration on the 1st or 2nd floor
• Nearest station: Tochomae (Toei Oedo Line), directly connected; or about 10 minutes on foot from the west exit of JR Shinjuku Station
• Official site: Tokyo Metropolitan Government Personnel Support Foundation (Japanese)

It is closed at weekends. The observatories are open then, so if your plan is “the canteen after the observation deck,” you must come on a weekday. This is the easiest mistake to make.

Getting There

One Building, One Whole Day

Lunch on the 32nd floor, the observatories on the 45th, and after dark a projection mapping show on the wall of the same building. It is all in one place — see the guide to the observatories and the projection mapping.

One More Thing in Shinjuku

Lunch here ends at 14:00. If you want something in the same district later in the day, there is a sumo show in Shinjuku — a demonstration bout with retired wrestlers, a drink, and a photograph afterwards.

Taking the View Home

One of the towers you can see from the canteen window — the cocoon-shaped Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower — appears in the LEGO Architecture Tokyo set, alongside Tokyo Skytree, Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Big Sight, the Shibuya crossing and the cherry trees of Chidorigafuchi.

There is more about the set in the LEGO Architecture Tokyo article.

Note: Opening hours, closing days, menus and prices may change. Please check the official site before your visit.

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