Tokyo (東京 — "Eastern Capital" — renamed from Edo in 1868 when Emperor Meiji moved the imperial court from Kyoto) is the largest metropolitan area on earth (37 million people in Greater Tokyo, the largest urban agglomeration in human history) and simultaneously the city with the most Michelin stars (230+, more than Paris — the result of a perfectionist culture that applies the same discipline to a three-seat sushi counter as to a ryokan in the mountains), the most vending machines per capita (5 million — one for every 23 people), and arguably the cleanest subway system of any city on earth. Tokyo is a city of extreme contrasts that somehow coexist: Shinjuku (the busiest train station in the world — 3.64 million passengers per day, 200 exits) is 15 minutes from the Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingū — the forested Shinto shrine in the middle of the city where you can watch a Shinto wedding on a weekend morning); the Tsukiji outer market (still the most exciting early-morning fish market in the world despite the inner market moving to Toyosu) is 30 minutes from Akihabara (the electronics and anime district where nine-story buildings sell only manga); and the Shibuya crossing (the world's busiest pedestrian crossing, 2,500 people crossing per light cycle) is next to Daikanyama (the most quietly stylish shopping street in Japan, where T-site is the most beautiful bookshop in the world). Tokyo's food culture requires a guidebook of its own: ramen, sushi (at a standing counter for ¥1,000 or at a 3-seat bar for ¥30,000), yakitori, tonkatsu, tempura and the extraordinary department store basement food halls (depachika).
The Tsukiji Outer Market (築地場外市場 — the maze of small shops and restaurants surrounding the former Tsukiji Inner Market (moved to Toyosu in 2018): the outer market remains fully operational and one of the greatest food markets in the world. At 6am the sushi counters (Daiwa Sushi, Sushi Dai — closed for now, but Sushi Zanmai and dozens of others) are serving the freshest tuna, salmon, sea urchin (uni) and shrimp (ama ebi) in Japan. The tamagoyaki (sweet Japanese omelette on a stick from the specialist shops, the most photographed market snack in Tokyo), the katsuobushi (the shaved dried bonito flakes), and the raw scallops eaten with a tiny spoon. Arrive by 6am for the best atmosphere.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideSenso-ji (浅草寺 — the Buddhist temple in Asakusa, founded 628 AD — the oldest temple in Tokyo and the most visited religious site in the world (30 million visitors per year): the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate — the great red lantern, the symbol of Tokyo), the Nakamise-dori (the 250m shopping street leading to the temple, lined with shops selling ningyo-yaki (small cakes shaped as the five-story pagoda), kaminari okoshi (the puffed rice cracker flavoured with peanuts and sesame, Tokyo's traditional souvenir), and the Senso-ji main hall (rebuilt 1958 after WWII bombing, containing the 18mm golden image of Kannon (Goddess of Mercy) which has been hidden from public view since the temple was founded — never displayed, considered too sacred). The incense burner (jokoro) in front of the hall: wash the smoke over the body part that is ill.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideAkihabara (秋葉原 — "Electric Town" — the district of Tokyo that grew from a post-war black market of electronic components to the global capital of anime, manga and gaming culture: the multi-story electronics shops (Yodobashi Akiba — 8 floors of every electronic component and appliance), the figure and model shops (Volks, Kotobukiya), the maid cafés (where waitresses in French maid costumes serve overpriced coffee in a theatrically deferential way), the crane games (UFO catchers), and the vintage game shops selling 1980s Famicom cartridges. An anthropological destination as much as a shopping one.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideShibuya Crossing (渋谷スクランブル交差点 — the world's busiest pedestrian crossing: 2,500 people cross from all directions simultaneously during a single light cycle, in complete order, without collision — an intersection of controlled chaos that can only exist in Tokyo. View from above at the Starbucks Shibuya Tsutaya (free, 2nd floor window) or the Mag's Park rooftop of Don Quijote (free). Then the 25-minute train to Shinjuku for ramen: the ramen alleys (Ramen Yokocho — the two rival Shinjuku alleys of tiny 8-seat ramen counters, each specializing in a different regional style (tonkotsu, shoyu, miso, shio)), the steam, the noise, the mastery of a single bowl.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideMeiji Jingū (明治神宮 — the Shinto shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji (1852–1912) and Empress Shōken, completed 1920 in the dense cedar and cypress forest of Yoyogi: the 6-minute walk from the Harajuku station through the forested path, the Ōtorii (the great cypress torii gate — 12m, the largest wooden torii in Japan), and the inner compound where on a weekend morning you may witness a Shinto wedding: the Shinto priest in white, the bride in shiromuku (white kimono), the miko shrine maidens. The sake barrel wall (the 180 barrels donated from all sake breweries in Japan, arranged in colorful rows) and the Meiji Museum Garden in the inner precinct.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideTakeshita-dori (竹下通り — the 350m pedestrian street of Harajuku that is the global center of Japanese street fashion (gal, lolita, kawaii, decora, visual kei, cosplay subcultures), with the most concentrated collection of fashion boutiques, crêpe stands and bizarre accessories shops in Japan. The crêpes are uniquely Harajuku: fresh strawberry and cream, green tea matcha and red bean, chocolate banana — gigantic, built upward in a cone like a Baroque confection. Then the 5-minute walk to Omotesando (the luxury fashion boulevard of Tokyo — the Zelkova trees forming a green canopy over the flagship stores of Louis Vuitton (Jun Aoki), Prada (Herzog & de Meuron), Tod's (Toyo Ito) and Dior.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideShinjuku Gyoen (新宿御苑 — the finest urban park in Tokyo: 58 hectares with three distinct garden styles (Japanese traditional garden with two ponds, a tea house and maples; French formal garden with the straight lawn and flowering beds; English landscape garden with the great lawns). In spring (late March–early April) the 1,000+ cherry trees make this the most popular hanami (flower viewing) location in Tokyo — families and office groups spreading blue tarps under the blossom for picnic parties.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideIzakaya (居酒屋 — the Japanese pub-restaurant where salaryman Tokyo unwinds: small plates of food ordered continuously alongside beer, sake and shochu (the clear Japanese spirit, 25% ABV). The most characteristic izakaya dishes: edamame (boiled soybeans with salt — the mandatory bar snack), karaage (Japanese fried chicken — thigh meat in soy-ginger marinade, deep-fried twice for a crispy exterior), yakitori (skewered grilled chicken — negima (breast with leek), kawa (crispy skin), tsukune (chicken meatball)), and the whisky highball (Japanese whisky (Suntory Toki or Nikka) with soda water and ice — the drink that revived Japanese whisky culture). Omoide Yokocho ("Memory Lane" — the tiny alley of charcoal yakitori stalls in Shinjuku, unchanged since the 1940s, the most atmospheric spot for izakaya culture).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideDepachika (デパ地下 — "department store basement" — the underground food halls of Japan's great department stores, the finest retail food environment in the world: Isetan Shinjuku (the most famous), Takashimaya Nihonbashi or Mitsukoshi Ginza — the basement floors of bento boxes made to order (the aesthetic presentation of the compartmentalized Japanese lunch box is a cultural art form), wagashi (Japanese traditional confections — mochi (glutinous rice cake), yokan (sweetened red bean jelly), dorayaki (two small pancakes sandwiching red bean paste)), fresh sushi prepared to order and the seasonal ingredient section (in autumn: Matsutake mushrooms at ¥80,000/kg, one of the most expensive foods in the world).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideOdaiba (お台場 — the artificial island in Tokyo Bay, built on landfill from the 1980s bubble-economy mega-project: the Rainbow Bridge (1993), the Fuji TV building (Kenzo Tange's titanium sphere), the teamLab Planets (the digital immersive art installation — ankle-deep wading pools in rooms of projected flowers, the Crystal World mirrored room, the most Instagrammed attraction in Tokyo) and the statue of Liberty replica (a gift from Paris, 1998). The view of the Tokyo skyline from Odaiba at sunset (the Rainbow Bridge, the Tokyo Tower (1958) and the Tokyo Skytree (2012) all visible) is the finest in Tokyo.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideTokyo Skytree (東京スカイツリー — 634m, completed 2012, the world's second tallest structure and the tallest tower: the Tembo Deck (350m, ¥2,100) and the Tembo Galleria (450m, ¥1,000 additional — the glass-floored spiral walkway around the outer edge of the tower at 450m with the city visible directly below through the glass floor). At sunset: Mount Fuji (3,776m) is visible on clear days to the west, the Kanto plain extending to the horizon in every other direction, and the city below lights up in waves as the sky darkens.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideIchiran (一蘭 — the ramen chain that invented the solo dining booth: each customer sits in a narrow individual booth facing the kitchen, separated from other diners by wooden partitions (hono-no-ma — "flavor concentration booth"), ordering via a paper form that specifies noodle hardness (katame/firm, futsuu/normal, yawarakame/soft), broth richness, spice level, garlic quantity and topping choices. The bamboo curtain in front of the kitchen rises: a bowl of tonkotsu (pork bone broth, white and cloudy, with straight thin noodles and a piece of chashu pork belly) appears silently. An extraordinarily Japanese experience of precision and privacy simultaneously.
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