It's best to take Sunshine City's name at face value. And I don't mean that it's filled with sunshine, but that it's truly a city of its own. This enormous complex spreads across four buildings, including the Sunshine 60, which became the tallest building in Asia upon its completion in 1978.
Along with Shinjuku and Shibuya, Ikebukuro is the third and northernmost of Western Tokyo's great centers. Built around an enormous train station, this is yet another mind-blowing conglomeration of people, buildings, entertainment, shopping and chaos that could easily be its own city. And a large one, at that.
We met Akila Inouye at the entrance to Tsukiji Fish Market bright and early on Tuesday morning, and realized right away that we were going to have trouble keeping pace with him. In the market, he darted ahead of us, racing from stand to stand, comparing prices, and buying everything we were going to need later in the kitchen. It would turn out to be a long day, but Akila never once slowed down... and I don't think we ever caught up.
Apart from the Hie Shrine, the business district of Akasaka doesn't have much in the way of historic sights for tourists. But the streets which surround the metro station are fun and packed with good, cheap places to eat, and the neighborhood is so central that we visited rather frequently.
Nagatacho is the administrative center of the Japanese government. Ark Hills is a massive complex combining condominiums, shopping and entertainment. And the Hie Shrine is a peaceful place of worship on a wooded hill. We visited these three adjacent, but completely different, spots during one long day in south-central Tokyo.
Had we not lived nearby, it's unlikely that we would have visited Ningyocho even once. But although this former pleasure district doesn't have any of Tokyo's must-see attractions, we returned repeatedly, drawn by its restaurants, traditional shops and low-key, residential atmosphere.
By lunch, the historic neighborhood of Fukagawa had already provided us with a surprisingly entertaining day, and we still had a couple things to visit after eating. The Fudo-do Temple dates from 1703, and the nearby Tomioka Hachiman Shrine is famous for its connection to the world of sumo.
Across the Sumida River from Nihonbashi, Fukagawa is one of Tokyo's original fifteen wards. We spent a day wandering around its uncrowded streets, allowing the district to surprise us with an excellent museum, a tranquil garden and, for lunch, a delicious bowl of the neighborhood specialty, Fukugawa Meshi.
It's hard to imagine an experience more perfectly suited to Tokyo, and one less likely to exist anywhere else, than Shinjuku's Robot Restaurant. With a stage show that stretches the definition of terms like "elaborate" and "bizarre," the restaurant has quickly become one of the city's most popular venues.
The world's third-largest stock exchange is found in Tokyo, headquartered in the financial district of Nihonbashi. Guests are welcome to visit the complex, and watch the high-stakes action from a platform above the main trading floor.
