Japan Guide
Tokyo
Akasaka
Once an agricultural area where plants that produce a red dye were farmed (hence the locality's name, which means "red slope"), Akasaka developed as a high-class entertainment district in the late nineteenth century for the modern breed of politicians and bureaucrats working in nearby Nagatachō. The area still has its fair share of exclusive establishments, and their presence, along with the TBS Broadcasting Centre and some of Tokyo's top hotels, lends Akasaka a certain cachet, though prices at many restaurants and bars are no worse than elsewhere in Tokyo.