Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown are two of the biggest attractions in downtown Tokyo. They sit within a kilometer of each other, begging for a comparison. However, Roppongi Hills is the big brother of the two, sitting at a higher elevation.
Hills opened in 2003 as a place where workers could live, work and relax. The development holds restaurants, movie theaters, apartments and museums.
But critics say it has a mazelike design and is not very tourist-friendly.
Also, pockets of air hit you when walking around the complex, particularly when you walk in front of Toho Cinema, one of the few area cinemas that shows movies past midnight.
Most of the restaurants were built for businessmen who work in the area, with reasonably priced lunch specials averaging $10 and prices soaring to $50 for evening fare.
The clothing stores feature mostly designer goods and carry expensive price tags. Many of the stores are tucked away and hard to find.
Hills Mori Tower stands at 781 feet, but is eclipsed by the Midtown Tower, which soars to 814 feet, making it the tallest building in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Midtown has a better layout for newcomers. You can enter and exit easily without being confused.
It holds parks, restaurants, bars and museums. But it doesn’t have a cinema.
A grocery store is open 24 hours and the parks are sprawling and neat. The upper floors of the Midtown Tower house the luxury Ritz-Carlton.
The Midtown also has cooking classes in certain shops and features displays in the open hallways.
It has taken many tourists from Roppongi Hills, a situation marked by long waits at some of the newer restaurants.
