Adventures, anecdotes and advice from three months exploring Tokyo
The most popular spa in Tokyo is found on Odaiba Island. The Ooedo Onsen Monogatari isn't cheap, but it offers more than just hot baths. While inside, you can dine at a variety of restaurants, sleep in a capsule hotel, watch TV, or enjoy the festive atmosphere in a hall designed to evoke Old Edo.
The Maneki Neko, or "Beckoning Cat," is one of Japan's most iconic images. Thought to bring luck and prosperity to their owners, these cats are frequently found outside businesses and within homes. And in the neighborhood of Setagaya, we found the Gotoku-ji temple, where the Maneki Neko plays a starring role.
Spanning Tokyo Bay to connect Odaiba Island with the mainland, the Rainbow Bridge serves trains, cars and pedestrians along its 800-meter length. We crossed the bridge frequently with the Yurikamome Monorail, but decided to walk across on one our final days in Tokyo.
The good-looking older cousin of Harajuku, Shimokitazawa is leaning against the wall, smoking and watching bemusedly as the crowds swarm around the cute kid dressed in cosplay. He shakes his head, crushes his cigarette butt under the heel of his leather boot, and heads into the record shop. Harajuku might be more popular, but all the cool kids prefer Shimokita.
The best known of Tokyo's Shinto festivals is surely the Sanja Matsuri, based in and around the Sensō-ji Temple. For three days in late May, the streets of Asakusa transform into a wildly drunken party zone. We braved the throngs on Sunday, which is the festival's main day.
We had seen a lot of Tokyo's different faces: cute, modern, weird, beautiful, historic, confusing. But until our visit to East Shinjuku, we hadn't experienced the famously seedy side of Tokyo. The Golden Gai, Kabukicho and Piss Alley are three areas which forever changed our impression of the city. (A change for the better? I'll leave that unanswered.)
Widely considered to be one of the prettiest spots in Tokyo, the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden has long been a favorite spot for weary Tokyoites looking to escape the city's concrete jungle. However, if it's crowds you're hoping to escape, you might want to look elsewhere.
The Yomiuri Giants are the the New York Yankees of Japan. You can love them or hate them, but ambivalence is not allowed. They're by far the richest and most successful team in Japanese baseball, with 22 titles under their belts. (The Saitama Seibu Lions are in second place with 13.) We took a trip to the Tokyo Dome to see the team in action.
If you like books, you're going to love the neighborhood of Jimbocho. Hundreds of new and used bookshops line the streets of this district, dedicated to everything from manga to art, architecture, fashion and travel. The majority of the books are in Japanese, but there are plenty of foreign titles, especially in English and German. Even if you're not in the mood to buy, just browsing can make for an entertaining afternoon. But there's almost no way that you're going to walk out of Jimbocho empty-handed.
Since releasing Castle in the Sky in 1986, the magicians of Studio Ghibli have come to dominate the world of Japanese animation. Spirited Away, Porco Rosso, Howl's Moving Castle, and The Wind Rises are just some of the studio's feature films, nearly all of which have been hailed by critics and beloved by audiences the world over. We've been Ghibli fans for years, and made it a point to visit the studio's museum in Inokashira Park.
