Tokyo City Guide

Tokyo, the capital city of Japan embodies the phrase ‘bright lights, big city’ like no other city in the world. This exciting and densely populated city is renowned the world over for being a leading financial center that is on par with cities like New York and London.

Aside from being a business hub, Tokyo is known for its excellent restaurants (Tokyo has the highest number of Michelin starred restaurants in the world) ancient sights, fashion forward fashion trends and futuristic technological innovations. Besides all this, it is also a choice vacation destination. Tokyo is home to nearly 12 million people and has the reputation of being an extremely safe city and a low crime rate. All these various favorable factors have rendered Tokyo a top notch vacation destination that is visited by nearly four million tourists every year.

Tokyo offers a wide array of hotels that range from super-luxury and luxury hotel properties of the world’s most popular hotel brands and a wide array of business hotels.

The neighborhood of Shinjuku is populated by many towering skyscrapers and it is home to many hotels. Shinjuku is a popular accommodation choice for tourists as it is home to Kabuki-cho one of Japan’s most famous nightlife districts, great shopping in the form of the huge Takashimaya Shinjuku complex and the verdant Shinjuku Gyoen Park.

Tokyo’s Ginza district is the most up market shopping area in all of Japan. The Ginza is home to many department stores, boutiques, great restaurants, art galleries, hotels, clubs and bars and is a great favorite with visitors on a vacation in Tokyo.

Shibuya is a neon lit famed shopping district of Tokyo that is home to numerous diverse stores. Shibuya also functions as an important commuter hub in the city and is often referred to as the Times Square of Tokyo. If you love to shop, then perhaps the many hotels in Shibuya could get your vote for accommodation in Tokyo.

The Imperial Palace is often described as the heart and soul of Tokyo. This former abode of the Tokugawa Shogunate was constructed during the eighteenth century and is today home to the emperor of Japan. The palace itself doesn’t have public access but its grounds, which include the Higashi Gyoen or East Garden and the site of the Edo Castle, can be visited by the public for free. On certain days like the day after New Year’s Day and the day before Christmas Eve, visitors can gain access to the inner grounds to witness the Japanese Royal family make public appearances.

The Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates the Japanese war dead, lies to the north of the Imperial Palace, the shrine consists of a simple Worship Hall that is housed in a Shinto style building. The Yushukan Museum contains wartime memorabilia and is also located close by to the shrine and contains relics from Japan’s ill-fated role in World War II.

In recent years, Tokyo’s district of Harajuku; located around Tokyo’s Harajuku Station on the city’s Yamanote Line; has received much world-wide acclaim. This enclave is the favored hang out of the city’s teenagers who sport the most outlandish and avant-garde fashion styles that serve as inspiration for designers from all over the world.

The main concentration for this teen trendsetter scene is along Takeshita Dori and its side streets, which are lined with fashion boutiques, vintage clothing stores and numerous fast food outlets catering mainly to this young, stylish population of the city. Harajuku is also home to Omotesando avenue, which is a wide tree lined avenue littered with shops, cafes and restaurants that is often likened to Champs Elysees in Paris. In addition to its myriad shopping and dining, facilities, Harajaku also offers few historic sites like the Meiji Shrine, the Yoyogi Park and the Ota Memorial Museum of Art.

If you are on a vacation in Tokyo with your children, the attractions of Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea should be considered a must-do on your list. While Tokyo Disneyland offers many of the attractions of the original Disneyland like Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean etc, Disneysea is a theme park that is unique to Tokyo. Disneysea features rides and attractions based on marine legends and myths like the Tower of Terror, Mysterious Island, Mermaid Lagoon, Lost River Delta and more.

One of prime tourist attractions in Tokyo is its Tsukiji Central Wholesale Market, which is actually a wholesale market for the distribution of fish, meat, produce and flowers in Tokyo. The Tsukiji Central market, however, is largely known as a fish market due to the popularity of its tuna auctions.

The Japanese are the biggest consumers of seafood in the world and the market handles 450 kinds of sea food. It is renowned for its blue fin tuna auctions. The blue fin tuna, which is now an endangered species of fish, is a highly coveted delicacy in Japan. It is for this reason that the tuna auctions that are routinely held in the Tsukiji market attract much worldwide attention and draw hordes of tourists who wake up at the crack of dawn on their vacation in Tokyo to be on hand for the auctions. After the auctions, most tourists usually have breakfast at one of the many food stalls that are located in and around the market.

Tokyo has an extreme climate, which is characterized by hot humid summers that extend from the months of June to August. Daytime temperatures during Tokyo summers usually range from 70F to 80F (20C to 30C). The city also experience harsh, cold, snow-filled winters during which temperatures are often known to plummet below 32F(0C).

The best seasons to visit Tokyo are spring and autumn, especially the season of spring when the temperatures are mild and the city’s many parks are covered with their world famous cherry blossom blooms.

Tokyo is served by its Narita International Airport, which is located 40 miles or 66 kilometers to the north of Tokyo and is its chief international gateway. The city also has a second airport, the Haneda Airport (Tokyo International Airport), which handles mainly domestic flights but is on course to handle more international connections. Getting to Tokyo from anywhere in the world is thus extremely easy. In fact, Fare Buzz periodically offers flight deals for Tokyo and if you are in the market for cheap air tickets to Tokyo then you may want to explore the cheap air flights that Fare Buzz has to offer.

Tokyo is well served by an excellent and efficient transport system that is made up largely of surface and underground trains, which are operated by companies like East Japan Railway Company (JR trains), Tokyo Metro and Tokyo Bureau of Metropolitan transportation; the last named organization also operates bus routes in addition to train services. A visitor on vacation or business in Tokyo should invest in a Suica card to access the city’s public transport system.

Taxis in Tokyo are prohibitive and a taxi from Tokyo's Narita Airport to the center of the city can cost you nearly $400; not to mention the hours you can be stuck in gridlocked traffic. The best way to get to the center of Tokyo, where your hotel will be probably located is to use one of the methods of excellent public transport available from the airport. There are two fast train services available from the arrival terminals at Narita; these are The Narita Express and the Keisei Skyliner.

Yet another option for travel from the airport to your hotel is the Airport Limousine Bus. These buses serve most of the top hotels in Tokyo and are available outside the terminal buildings at Tokyo airport. Tickets are available at desks located outside baggage claim and the desk clerk will be able to tell you which bus to take depending on your destination. Tickets for the Airport Limousine Bus cost around 3000 yen and the buses have ample storage for your luggage too.

Tokyo is home to several shopping districts. The Ginza is Tokyo’s premier upscale dining, entertainment and shopping district. The Ginza is located in the heart of Tokyo and is populated by numerous department stores, boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, night clubs and cafes. This district also contains some of the most expensive real estate in the world, which hosts outlets of all the major global luxury brands along with several iconic buildings like the Sony Building and the Ginza Wako. Also located here are some of Tokyo’s most popular department stores like Mitsukoshi, Matsuya, Hankyu and Matsuzakya. The Ginza is especially lively on the weekend. Its central main thorough fare, Chuo Dori is closed to traffic and becomes a huge pedestrian zone.

Yet another popular shopping district in Tokyo is Akihabara, which is the city’s electronic wonderland. This district, which is located west of Akihabara Station, is filled with more than 250 retail stores that sell all sorts of electronics and electrical appliances like computer hardware, software, telecom, audio, video and various other kinds of equipment. These stores offer visitors on vacation in Tokyo many duty-free shopping opportunities and thus are extremely popular with tourists.

Tokyo is home to nearly 80,000 restaurants of all grades and types. These restaurants include ramen shops, coffee shops, sushi bars, American fast food restaurants, French bistros, Italian trattorias and ethnic restaurants that serve foods from South and South East Asia. Tokyo is known to have the best restaurants in the world and some of its best known and highly ranked eateries include establishments like Sushi Takumi Okabe in the city’s Asakusa neighborhood, Kondo and Rokukakutei, in Ginza, Restaurant Kinoshita, Bird Land and Nobu Tokyo.

Tokyo’s nightlife scene is renowned the world over. Geisha bars, hostess bars, nightclubs, drinking establishments, Tokyo offers them all and more. If you are fond of clubbing and enjoy exploring the local nightlife scene on your travels then you must pencil in the Tokyo areas of Ginza, Kabuki-cho in Shinjuku, and Roppongi as must-dos on your visit to Tokyo.