Lonely Planet Tokyo Read online

  Tokyo

  Contents

  Plan Your Trip

  Welcome to Tokyo

  Tokyo's Top 16

  What's New

  Need to Know

  Top Itineraries

  If You Like...

  Month By Month

  With Kids

  Like a Local

  For Free

  Eating

  Drinking & Nightlife

  Entertainment

  Shopping

  Explore

  Neighbourhoods at a Glance

  Marunouchi & Nihombashi

  Sights

  Eating

  Drinking & Nightlife

  Entertainment

  Shopping

  Sports & Activities

  Ginza & Tsukiji

  Sights

  Eating

  Drinking & Nightlife

  Entertainment

  Shopping

  Sports & Activities

  Roppongi, Akasaka & Around

  Sights

  Eating

  Drinking & Nightlife

  Entertainment

  Shopping

  Sports & Activities

  Ebisu, Meguro & Around

  Sights

  Eating

  Drinking & Nightlife

  Entertainment

  Shopping

  Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa

  Sights

  Eating

  Drinking & Nightlife

  Entertainment

  Shopping

  Sports & Activities

  Harajuku & Aoyama

  Sights

  Eating

  Drinking & Nightlife

  Entertainment

  Shopping

  Sports & Activities

  West Tokyo

  Sights

  Eating

  Drinking & Nightlife

  Entertainment

  Shopping

  Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo

  Sights

  Eating

  Drinking & Nightlife

  Entertainment

  Shopping

  Sports & Activities

  Korakuen & Akihabara

  Sights

  Eating

  Drinking & Nightlife

  Entertainment

  Shopping

  Sports & Activities

  Ueno & Yanesen

  Sights

  Eating

  Drinking & Nightlife

  Entertainment

  Shopping

  Activities

  Asakusa & Sumida River

  Sights

  Eating

  Drinking & Nightlife

  Entertainment

  Shopping

  Activities

  Odaiba & Tokyo Bay

  Sights

  Eating

  Drinking & Nightlife

  Shopping

  Sports & Activities

  Day Trips from Tokyo

  Nikko

  Hakone

  Kamakura

  Sleeping

  Understand

  Understand Tokyo

  Tokyo Today

  History

  Pop Culture

  Arts & Architecture

  Onsen

  Survive

  Transport

  Arriving in Tokyo

  Getting Around Tokyo

  Tours

  Directory AZ

  Discount Cards

  Electricity

  Embassies

  Emergency

  Gay & Lesbian Travellers

  Health

  Internet Access

  Legal Matters

  Medical Services

  Money

  Opening Hours

  Post

  Public Holidays

  Safe Travel

  Taxes & Refunds

  Telephone

  Time

  Toilets

  Tourist Information

  Travelers with Disabilities

  Visas

  Volunteering

  Language

  Tokyo Maps

  Odaiba & Tokyo Bay Area

  Marunouchi & Nihombashi

  Ginza & Tsukiji

  Roppongi, Akasaka & Around

  Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa

  Ebisu & Meguro

  Harajuku & Aoyama

  Koenji

  Kichijoji

  Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo

  Korakuen & Around

  Akihabara

  Ueno & Yanesen

  Asakusa

  East Sumida

  Table of Contents

  Behind the Scenes

  Our Writers

  Welcome to Tokyo

  Yoking past and future, Tokyo dazzles with its traditional culture and passion for everything new.

  Sci-fi Cityscapes

  Tokyo's neon-lit streetscapes still look like a sci-fi film set – and that's a vision of the city from the 1980s. Tokyo has been building ever since, pushing the boundaries of what's possible on densely populated, earthquake-prone land, adding ever taller, sleeker structures. Come see the utopian mega-malls, the edgy designer boutiques from Japan's award-winning architects, and the world's tallest tower – Tokyo Sky Tree – a twisting spire that draws on ancient building techniques. Stand atop one of Tokyo's skyscrapers and look out over the city at night to see it blinking like the control panel of a starship, stretching all the way to the horizon.

  The Shogun's City

  Tokyo may be forever reaching into the future but you can still see traces of the shogun's capital on the kabuki stage, at a sumo tournament or under the cherry blossoms. It's a modern city built on old patterns, and in the shadows of skyscrapers you can find anachronistic wooden shanty bars and quiet alleys, raucous traditional festivals and lantern-lit yakitori (grilled chicken) stands. In older neighbourhoods you can shop for handicrafts made just as they have been for centuries, or wander down cobblestone lanes where geisha once trod.

  Eat Your Heart Out

  Yes, Tokyo has more Michelin stars than any other city. Yes, Japanese cuisine has been added to the Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage list. But that's not what makes dining in Tokyo such an amazing experience. What really counts is the city's long-standing artisan culture. You can splash out on the best sushi of your life, made by one of the city's legendary chefs using the freshest, seasonal market ingredients. You can also spend ¥800 on a bowl of noodles made with the same care and exacting attention to detail, from a recipe honed through decades of experience.

  Fashion & Pop Culture

  From giant robots to saucer-eyed schoolgirls to a certain, ubiquitous kitty, Japanese pop culture is a phenomenon that has reached far around the world. Tokyo is the country's pop-culture laboratory, where new trends grow legs. Come see the latest looks bubbling out of the backstreets of Harajuku, the hottest pop stars projected on the giant video screens in Shibuya, or the newest anime and manga flying off the shelves in Akihabara. Gawk at the giant statues of Godzilla; shop for your favourite character goods; or pick up some style inspiration just walking down the street.

  Omoide-yokochō yakitori stalls | URAIWONS / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Why I Love Tokyo

  By Rebecca Milner, Writer

  I’ve lived in Tokyo for 15 years now and am continuously surprised – sometimes on a daily basis – by something new. Such is the joy of living in a city that prides itself on constant renewal and reinvention; it seriously never gets old. Tokyo has everything you can ask of a city, and has it in spades: a rich, cosmopolitan dining scene, more cafes and bars than you could visit in a lifetime, fantastic public transport and grassy parks – plus it's clean and safe. Really, what's not to love?

  Tokyo's Top 16

  Shinjuku Night
life

  1Shinjuku is the biggest, brashest nightlife district in the land of the rising neon sun. There is truly something for everyone here, from the anachronistic shanty bars of Golden Gai, a favourite haunt of writers and artists, to the camp dance bars of Tokyo's gay quarter, Shinjuku-nichōme, and the more risqué cabarets of Kabukichō. There are sky-high lounges, all-night karaoke parlours, jazz dens and izakaya (Japanese pub-eateries) stacked several storeys high. The options are dizzying, the lights spellbinding and the whole show continues past dawn.

  Kabukichō | SEAN PAVONE / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Tokyo's Top 16

  Tsukiji Market

  2Don't mourn Tsukiji yet: while the seafood market may very well move, the lively outer market isn't going anywhere. And it's here that you can wander the stalls snacking on treats from producers that sell tamago (rolled omelettes) and kamaboko (steamed fish paste) to top Tokyo restaurants; shop for professional quality kitchen tools, such as hand-forged knives and bamboo steamer baskets; listen to the banter of the merchants and their regular customers; and bask in the energy of a storied, old-style, open-air market.

  YE CHOH WAH / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Tokyo's Top 16

  Meiji-jingū

  3Tokyo’s largest and most famous Shintō shrine feels a world away from the city. It’s reached via a long, rambling forest path marked by towering torii (gates). The grounds are vast, enveloping the classic wooden shrine buildings and a landscaped garden in a thick coat of green. Meiji-jingū is a place of worship and a memorial to Emperor Meiji, but it’s also a place for traditional festivals and rituals. If you’re lucky you may even catch a wedding procession, with the bride and groom in traditional dress.

  COWARDLION / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Tokyo's Top 16

  Dining Out

  4When it comes to Tokyo superlatives, the city's eating scene takes the cake. Wherever you are, you're rarely 500m from a good, if not great, restaurant. It's a scene that careens gracefully between the highs and lows: it's not odd for a top-class sushi restaurant to share the same block as an oil-spattered noodle joint (and the latter might be no less fawned over). Tokyoites love dining out; join them, and delight in the sheer variety of flavours the city has to offer.

  OKONOMIYAKI (SAVOURY PANCAKES) | GCONNER PHOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Tokyo's Top 16

  Tokyo Cityscape

  5There's nothing quite like gazing out over the Tokyo cityscape from a few hundred metres in the air. From this vantage point, the city is endless, stretching all the way to the horizon (where, if you're lucky, you might spot Mt Fuji). By night, Tokyo appears truly beautiful, as if the sky were inverted, with the glittering stars below. Take in the view from a stylish hotel lounge, atop one of the city's towers or from the (free!) observatories at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.

  SHIGEMI OKANO / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Tokyo's Top 16

  Shopping in Harajuku

  6Harajuku is the gathering point for Tokyo's eccentric fashion tribes. The tightly packed pedestrian alley Takeshita-dōri is a beacon for teens in kooky, colourful outfits. Omote-sandō, a broad boulevard with wide pavements and high-end designer boutiques, draws polished divas. The backstreets of Harajuku (known as Ura-Hara) form Tokyo's street fashion laboratory; here's where you'll find the trendsetters, the peacocks and the style photographers who chronicle it all – plus inspiration by the truckload. Simply put: for shopping (and people-watching) there's no better spot in Tokyo than Harajuku.

  CARL FORBES / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Tokyo's Top 16

  Roppongi Art Triangle

  7The opening of three high-profile art museums since 2003 has turned Roppongi, once known exclusively for its bawdy nightlife, into a polished gem. The area nicknamed 'Roppongi Art Triangle' includes the Mori Art Museum, a showcase for contemporary art perched atop a skyscraper; the minimalist Suntory Museum of Art, dedicated to the decorative arts; and the National Art Center Tokyo, which hosts blockbuster shows inside a curving glass structure. Within the triangle there are several smaller museums and galleries too.

  Suntory Museum of Art | TK KURIKAWA / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Tokyo's Top 16

  Sensō-ji

  8The spiritual home of Tokyo's ancestors, this Buddhist temple was founded over one thousand years before the city got its start. Today it retains an alluring, lively atmosphere redolent of Edo (old Tokyo) and the merchant quarters of yesteryear. The colourful Nakamise-dōri arcade approaching the temple complex overflows with vendors selling snacks and souvenirs. The main plaza holds a newly renovated five-storey pagoda and a smoking cauldron of incense. Altogether, Sensō-ji is a heady mix of secular and sacred, and one of Tokyo's most iconic sights.

  B. TANAKA / GETTY IMAGES ©

  Tokyo's Top 16

  Sumo in Ryōgoku

  9The purifying salt sails into the air. The two giants leap up and crash into each other. A flurry of slapping and heaving ensues. Who will shove the other out of the sacred ring and move up in the ranks? From the ancient rituals to the thrill of the quick bouts, sumo is a fascinating spectacle. Tournaments take place in Tokyo three times a year; outside of tournament season you can catch an early morning practice session at one of the stables where wrestlers live and train.

  J. HENNING BUCHHOLZ / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Tokyo's Top 16

  Cherry Blossoms in Yoyogi-kōen

  10Come spring, thousands of cherry trees around the city burst into white and pink flowers. If Tokyoites have one moment to let their hair down en masse, this is it. They gather in parks and along river banks for sake-fuelled cherry-blossom-viewing parties called hanami. Grassy Yoyogi-kōen, one of the city's largest parks, is where you'll find some of the most spirited and elaborate bacchanals – complete with barbecues and turntables. Many revellers stay long past dark for yozakura (night-time cherry blossoms).

  Blossom viewing, Yoyogi-kōen | WILLIAM ALLUM / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Tokyo's Top 16

  Ghibli Museum

  11Even those unfamiliar with the magical world of master animator Miyazaki Hayao – creator of anime (Japanese animation) classics including Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away – will find this museum enchanting. Fans won't want to leave. Miyazaki designed the space himself and, like his films, it's filled with whirring steampunk-esque machines and fairy-tale structures. And while you won't see staff cosplaying (costume playing) any characters, many of the animated characters have been cleverly worked into the designs.

  CYBERBIRD / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Tokyo's Top 16

  Shibuya Crossing

  12This is the Tokyo you’ve dreamed about and seen in movies: the frenetic pace, the mind-boggling crowds, the twinkling neon lights and the giant video screens beaming larger-than-life celebrities over the streets. At Shibuya’s famous 'scramble' crossing, all of this comes together every time the light changes. It’s an awesome sight. Come on a Friday or Saturday night and you’ll find the whole scene turned up to 11, when fleets of fashionable Tokyoites embark upon a night out on the town.

  ALESSANDRO CRUGNOLA / 500PX ©

  Tokyo's Top 16

  Tokyo National Museum

  13This is the world's largest collection of Japanese art, home to gorgeous silken kimonos, evocative scroll paintings done in charcoal ink, earthy tea-ceremony pottery and haunting examples of samurai armour and swords. Even better: it's totally manageable in a morning and organised into easy-to-grasp, thoughtful exhibitions. The Tokyo National Museum also includes the enchanting Gallery of Hōryū-ji Treasures, a hall filled with dozens of spot-lit Buddha statues dating from the 7th century, as well as art and artefacts that span the Asian continent.

  F11PHOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Tokyo's Top 16

  Kabuki-za

  14Dramatic, intensely visual kabuki is Japan's most recognised art form. Kabuki developed in Tokyo, then known as Edo, during the 18th and 19th centuries, and an afternoon at the theatre has been a favourite local pastim
e ever since. Descendants of the great actors of the day still grace Tokyo stages, drawing devoted fans. Established in 1889, Kabukiza is Tokyo’s premier kabuki theatre. Renovated in 2013, the new Kuma Kengo design preserved the showy traditional facade and includes a tower in which you’ll find a great teahouse and rooftop garden.