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Japan – should you believe the hype? – Part 1: Tokyo

Sake barrells at Meiji Jinu, Tokyo, Japan

Japan – should you believe the hype? – Part 1: Tokyo

Japan is at the top of most travel lists at the moment. But should you believe the hype? In a word, yes… but not for what you’d expect. Back from a mini-sabbatical in Japan updating our country knowledge, we share our (possibly controversial) view on the what deserves the hype, and what is overrated, in Tokyo. See our blog here to review the hype on Kyoto and elsewhere.

The hype – in a nutshell:

Tokyo’s reputation as a city of lights, oddities and robotics is well-deserved. Filling two to three days in Tokyo with the truly worthwhile spots is a must for any itinerary to Japan. Given the scale of the city, careful planning will make sure you spend more time at the highlights than getting between them. Knowing which parts are really worth visiting will avoid time-consuming journeys to underwhelming or overly touristy spots.

What to see in Tokyo:

Asakusa:

Charming, low rise Asakusa, with its bustling maze of alleyways buzzing with eateries, the pagoda of Sensoji temple at twilight when the hoards have departed and the touristic stalls have closed, and the fantastic Samurai and Ninja museum, with interactive workshops presented by a 22^nd generation descendent of a genuine samurai family, is a destination not to be missed.

Akihabara:

Dubbed ‘Electric Town’, this area is good for a brief visit for children and anime enthusiasts, with its endless stacks of toy vending machines, its colourful arcades and Pokemon card stores. Seeing the ‘kawaii’ (cute) culture embodied by Tokyoites dressed in the style of anime characters as they stroll through their heartland is an experience in itself.

Panorama:

To appreciate the vastness of this metropolis, Tokyo Tower is the best option for city panoramas, with the impressive (and free) Metropolitan Government Building a close second. The Tokyo Skytree is best avoided, with long queues and crowds so dense it is hard even to reach the windows to see out.

Shinjuku:

Shinjuku is fantastic for an evening’s outing, with its illuminated billboards and inoffensive red light district Kabukicho, the characterful izakaya ‘pubs’ of Golden Gai and the cosy eateries of Omoide Yokocho’s winding passageways. It’s lively, entertaining and quirky, and vividly encapsulates the essence of the bustling capital metropolis.

Team Labs:

Team Labs Borderless and Team Lab Planets are extremely impressive. Classified as ‘art museums’, they’re museums as you’ve never experienced one before. Digital images traverse spaces through the labyrinth of passageways and cavernous spaces; light installations create magical impressions of snow, fire and storms (find the control panel to play God!); visitors’ drawings of sea creatures come to life, floating and pulsating through a virtual aquarium; and visitors pass through seemingly floorless expanses of glowing orbs.

Discover unknown Japan

Step off the Golden Route locations that get all the attention (Tokyo, Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Hiroshima) and you quickly discover a Japan that feels more real, more verdant, and more intimate. Visit the utterly beautiful Kyushu; the paddy fields, traditional villages and steeply rising conifer-clad slopes of the Japanese Alps; the gushing gorges, folkloric traditions and samurai towns of Akita; the lesser visited tropical islands of Okinawa; the fresh seafood and the volcanic heights of Hokkaido; and the unknown coastal coves and fishing villages of Izu Peninsula’s West Coast.

See our full blog series on Japan:

LiNGER longer in Japan – contact us below to plan your holiday or sabbatical in Japan.

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