This is the largest and busiest fish market in the world. Visitors try to get here by at least 5 am to see the hustle and bustle of the tuna auction.
Access is partially restricted to visitors, but the outer region of the market has plenty to see as well. Tokyo is famous for Anime, electronics, manga, and video games. Akihabara is the epicenter if it all. It becomes a jungle of electric lights and colors at night, providing a sensory overload for visitors. Getting lost, window shopping, and photography are top activities here. This ancient temple is the oldest and most significant in Tokyo.
Next to it are the Shinto and Asakusa shrines, together making up one of the top temples in Japan. It receives 30 million visitors every year, making it the top spiritual site in the world. If your only experience of karaoke is a ropey microphone and TV set up in a dodgy backroom bar then you really must give karaoke in Tokyo a try. Karaoke is a billion-dollar industry in Japan and the bars are often an impressive 10 stories high and packed with hundreds of futuristic pod-like rooms.
Book a room and sing your heart out accompanied by a sound-activated laser show and then order food and drink using the high-tech touch screen remote control. An experience not to missed even if it is to hear a hundred Japanese men murder a Bonnie Tyler song…. Japan is famous for its harmony-loving culture and the Asian country is often thought to have one of the most polite societies in the world.
Customs and social etiquette are very important here and the extreme politeness of the people will probably leave quite an impression on you. If you happen to be taking a stroll around Harajuku in your normal casual weekend attire you might feel more than a little under-dressed amid all the gothic rock stars, lolitas, french maids and shiny video game characters.
Love hotels cater to just about everyone and anyone who feels the need for a pay by the hour or a night hotel. Rooms are quirkily themed and decked out to look like anything ranging from a subway train carriage to a prison cell. Other rooms are cuter and more light-hearted and in open-minded Tokyo not all Love Hotels have a seedy reputation. The Japanese take their trains and their train network systems very seriously. The Japanese are polite, welcoming and follow a rigid etiquette that you should try to uphold too.
Tokyo people follow the same etiquette. Bowing when saying hello and thank you is the norm, as is giving and receiving items and gifts with both hands.
Guesthouse owners go out of their way for you and shop workers are some of the cheeriest people you will meet. It is a beautiful thing to encounter daily in Tokyo and beyond, so these Japan tips for first-timers might come in handy to prepare you for the new cultural nuances. No matter how many times I walked past one of these shops, I still went in them, even though they all look the same.
Take the famous Shibuya Crossing as an example — hundreds of people in Tokyo cross at any one time in a calm and orderly way. In places like Shinjuku, some uniformed men help ease the people traffic flow on the thick, white lines that line many parts of the many roads out here.
Crossing the road in Tokyo is less chaotic than it looks. What is Tokyo without its quirks and oddities? There are cat, robot and Super Mario cafes, Vampire, Ninja and Alice in Wonderland restaurants, and many more besides.
I decided to have dinner at the Alcatraz ER restaurant, where you sit behind prison bars and bang on them with a metal rod to call attention to the waiter. My cocktail was made with syringes and my food served by eccentric doctors and nurses—crazy times. A Futuristic Foodie Experience. Themed cafes and restaurants in Tokyo are a highlight of travel here. Were these people real? Little Boo Peeps, Goths, best friends who wear the same outfit head to toe and the trend of wearing a bath towel around your neck all exist here.
Throw in funky hairstyles, doll makeup and a few traditional yukatas kimonos , and you would think this is a giant fancy dress party at a shopping district. I love architecture — from grandiose skyscrapers to local houses with style, made of a tin shack. In Tokyo, and throughout Japan, the majority of the residential buildings here are compact and neat. They are either small and very square or tall and rectangular thin, exist in varying shades of coffee, caramel and grey and neatly placed together.
It makes Tokyo look like it was only built ten years ago by someone obsessed with a passion for beige. Although Tokyo has its area of skyscrapers and modern architecture, the overwhelming feeling here is for design to be functional and straightforward, rather than used as a showpiece.
Residential areas in Tokyo are an exciting contrast to the high rise buildings. A sign on the front of a shop or other outlet is not enough here. Instead, signs protrude from the sides of buildings, overwhelming you in a sea of choice and Japanese characters. In the areas like Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ginzo, where facilities have more than one floor, there may be as many as six signs denoting the different uses of each floor including restaurants, bars, beauty salons etc.
Which means many signs — up, down and all around. And nothing is more impressive than when night comes in, and all the symbols light up like a psychedelic version of Times Square. The Tokyo metro is something special. And, there are even mirrors at some platforms, just in case you need to make sure you fit in with the style of the Tokyo crowd. The only downside here is the long walks between the lines, but the cheesy tune puts a smile right back on your face.
Looks confusing, right? But the Tokyo metro system is ordered despite its size. Japan is a country of expert timekeeping and Tokyo, despite its frantic city status, still adheres to the rule. A local informed me that if a train is late, then you can request a ticket from the platform inspector, which states how many minutes the train was late. You can then present it to your employer. However, it can be a panic when you have to meet a Japanese friend.
I was nearly 10 minutes late meeting somebody at a station to be fair, I got lost , and I felt terrible — tardiness is not at all respected. Plastic food in Tokyo and wider Japan for a preview is one of the best inventions ever created, especially in a country where there is a huge language barrier for us visitors. It reminds me of when I was a kid and used to play with this material that you shaped and put in the oven to harden.
I got to make food for my Barbie dolls, but this is far more skilled than that. If you are not sure what to order or are curious as to what your dish contains, fear not — the plastic food mock-up will show you precisely what you will be purchasing.
It looks scarily similar. Plastic food dishes are placed casually out the front of the restaurants or lined up in the shop windows. Plastic fantastic. Plastic food displays in Japan have you covered. If you were to ask what Japan looks like, vending machines would likely make the description list. The Japanese LOVE vending machines, and you will see them on every street corner, train and bus stations and even near shines and public parks.
The same goes for Tokyo. As you roam this trendy area, keep your eyes peeled for modern landmarks like The Iceberg and the Prada Building. Then, dive into the backstreets to find a myriad of charming boutiques and vintage stores.
There are also four jam-packed stories of toys at Kiddy Land, while the Omotesando Hills shopping mall offers a host of international fashion labels. Akihabara is another must-visit neighborhood for those who love anime, manga, video games, and electronics.
Anime fans must spend a few hours exploring the manga and rare collectibles at Mandarake and Radio Kaikan. Exploring this part of Tokyo is simple from Narita International Airport. Take the Keisei Skyliner service to Nippori Station. Then, change to the Yamanote Line to reach stations for Harajuku and Akihabara.
However, this famous destination is also surrounded by numerous department stores primed for an enviable shopping spree. Close to Shibuya Station, travelers will find towering havens like Shibuya and PARCO teeming with people on the hunt for top-notch brands and the latest fashion trends.
With several stores offering tax-free benefits for international visitors, finding a bargain is easy as you make your way from one floor to the next. Just around the corner, Loft is a popular spot for those who love quirky stationery and household items.
As one of the newest and most exciting developments in the area, Scramble Square is a mixed-use skyscraper soaring above Shibuya Station. Opened in , there are shops and restaurants offering every delight imaginable.
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