The fact is that centuries-long experience of organizing itself to cope with the daily demands of millions of inhabitants has made Tokyo something of a model metropolitan environment. Trains run on time and to practically every corner of the city, crime is hardly worth worrying about, and shops and vending machines provide everything you could need (and many things you never thought you did), 24 hours a day.
With so much going on, first-time visitors should be prepared for a massive assault on the senses – just walking the streets of this hyperactive city can be an energizing experience. It need not be an expensive one, either. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how affordable many things are. Cheap-and-cheerful izakaya – bars that serve food – and casual cafés serving noodles and rice dishes are plentiful, the metro is a bargain, and tickets for a sumo tournament or a kabuki play can be bought for the price of a few drinks.
1. Eat at Robot Restaurant
Seeing is believing at Tokyo’s newest and zaniest attraction, Robot Restaurant. It all starts at the entrance foyer, where there’s nary an inch of regular, boring space – everything glistens, shines, flashes or reflects. There’s far more of the same heading down the stairs to the trippy, video-screen-lined hall where you’ll be sat with other excited tourists and locals, and given a bentō set to scoff before the carnage commences.
YouTube clips will give you a great idea of what to expect, but the performances are far more fun if you have no idea what’s coming – for now, suffice it to say that dozens of robots, scantily dressed girls, more LEDs than anyone could ever count, and a wall of roaring music are on the cards.
2. Stay in a capsule hotel
Catering mainly to drunken salarymen who have missed their trains home, capsule hotels are made up of floors lined with two levels of tiny rooms, each containing a thin mattress, a comfy blanket, and (in most) a TV and radio built into the plastic surrounds.
A metre wide, a metre high and two metres long, the rooms are just about big enough to stand in, but not much else. However, the clichéd description of them as being “coffin-like” is rather wide of the mark: while claustrophobics and anyone over 2m tall should give them a miss, most actually find these minuscule rooms surprisingly comfortable – and there’s no more characteristic Japanese sleeping experience.
3. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum claimed the top spot for the second consecutive year on Trip Advisor Japan’s list of the most popular sightseeing spots for foreign tourists. It’s a touching memorial that has moved countless visitors to tears and reminds the world to never let such an atrocity happen again, prompting one Trip Advisor user to describe it as “sad, informative and a must-see.” Let’s take a look at the other sightseeing spots on Trip Advisor Japan’s list for 2013.
Harajuku Culture and Trends
These days, Japan is as known for offbeat trends as it is for sushi. For the country that gave the world Tamagotchi digital pets, maid cafes and honey dolls, hordes of teenagers dressed up as anime characters and caricatures of Western culture memes are par for the course. The hub of this youth-oriented, street-fashion craze is the area surrounding Harajuku Station in Tokyo.
And it’s not a new trend. Harajuku culture got its start during the postwar Allied occupation of Japan, when American soldiers and civilians lived in the area. Curious Japanese youths came to experience a different culture and browse the Western goods in local stores catering to the Americans. Eventually, fashion designers and their entourages settled in the area, calling themselves “the Harajuku tribe.” The movement got a boost when the 1964 Tokyo Olympics brought in waves of tourists and shops that catered to them.
Today, the Harajuku area is not just the center for fashion-forward Japanese youth. It’s also one of the world’s fashion centers. Omotesando, one of the main streets, has been compared to Paris’s Champs-Elysees, with Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Prada recently setting up shop. The district's other main drag, Takeshita Street, is the focal point for gatherings every Sunday by Japanese youth dressed in the many different styles of Harajuku culture. These styles constantly change; as some are abandoned, others evolve and many are often combined. But these are some of the more popular and enduring styles you may see on any given Sunday:
With so much going on, first-time visitors should be prepared for a massive assault on the senses – just walking the streets of this hyperactive city can be an energizing experience. It need not be an expensive one, either. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how affordable many things are. Cheap-and-cheerful izakaya – bars that serve food – and casual cafés serving noodles and rice dishes are plentiful, the metro is a bargain, and tickets for a sumo tournament or a kabuki play can be bought for the price of a few drinks.
1. Eat at Robot Restaurant
Seeing is believing at Tokyo’s newest and zaniest attraction, Robot Restaurant. It all starts at the entrance foyer, where there’s nary an inch of regular, boring space – everything glistens, shines, flashes or reflects. There’s far more of the same heading down the stairs to the trippy, video-screen-lined hall where you’ll be sat with other excited tourists and locals, and given a bentō set to scoff before the carnage commences.
YouTube clips will give you a great idea of what to expect, but the performances are far more fun if you have no idea what’s coming – for now, suffice it to say that dozens of robots, scantily dressed girls, more LEDs than anyone could ever count, and a wall of roaring music are on the cards.
2. Stay in a capsule hotel
Catering mainly to drunken salarymen who have missed their trains home, capsule hotels are made up of floors lined with two levels of tiny rooms, each containing a thin mattress, a comfy blanket, and (in most) a TV and radio built into the plastic surrounds.
A metre wide, a metre high and two metres long, the rooms are just about big enough to stand in, but not much else. However, the clichéd description of them as being “coffin-like” is rather wide of the mark: while claustrophobics and anyone over 2m tall should give them a miss, most actually find these minuscule rooms surprisingly comfortable – and there’s no more characteristic Japanese sleeping experience.
3. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum claimed the top spot for the second consecutive year on Trip Advisor Japan’s list of the most popular sightseeing spots for foreign tourists. It’s a touching memorial that has moved countless visitors to tears and reminds the world to never let such an atrocity happen again, prompting one Trip Advisor user to describe it as “sad, informative and a must-see.” Let’s take a look at the other sightseeing spots on Trip Advisor Japan’s list for 2013.
Harajuku Culture and Trends
These days, Japan is as known for offbeat trends as it is for sushi. For the country that gave the world Tamagotchi digital pets, maid cafes and honey dolls, hordes of teenagers dressed up as anime characters and caricatures of Western culture memes are par for the course. The hub of this youth-oriented, street-fashion craze is the area surrounding Harajuku Station in Tokyo.
And it’s not a new trend. Harajuku culture got its start during the postwar Allied occupation of Japan, when American soldiers and civilians lived in the area. Curious Japanese youths came to experience a different culture and browse the Western goods in local stores catering to the Americans. Eventually, fashion designers and their entourages settled in the area, calling themselves “the Harajuku tribe.” The movement got a boost when the 1964 Tokyo Olympics brought in waves of tourists and shops that catered to them.
Today, the Harajuku area is not just the center for fashion-forward Japanese youth. It’s also one of the world’s fashion centers. Omotesando, one of the main streets, has been compared to Paris’s Champs-Elysees, with Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Prada recently setting up shop. The district's other main drag, Takeshita Street, is the focal point for gatherings every Sunday by Japanese youth dressed in the many different styles of Harajuku culture. These styles constantly change; as some are abandoned, others evolve and many are often combined. But these are some of the more popular and enduring styles you may see on any given Sunday: