The mistake most first-time visitors make in Tokyo is treating it as a list of sights joined by train rides. The city rewards the opposite approach: choose a district, walk it for half a day, eat there, and let the specifics accumulate.
Yanaka — pre-war Tokyo
One of the few areas to survive both the 1923 earthquake and the 1945 firebombing, Yanaka is low wooden houses, a large cemetery full of cats, and a shopping street with almost no chain stores. Walk it in the morning, continue into Nezu for a 1,900-year-old shrine and a tunnel of small torii gates that costs nothing and has no queue.
Shimokitazawa — second-hand everything
Twelve minutes from Shibuya and a different city entirely: vintage clothing, record shops, tiny theatres and coffee. Best in the afternoon, when the shops are all open and the streets are still calm.
Kagurazaka — the quiet slope
A hillside of stone-paved alleys, former geisha houses and an unusually high concentration of French bakeries, thanks to the nearby Institut français. Good for an evening; the alleys off the main slope hide restaurants with six seats.
Kiyosumi and Kuramae — the east side
Across the Sumida river, the old warehouse districts have filled with coffee roasters, leather workshops and stationery makers. Kiyosumi Garden is one of the best strolling gardens in the city and sees a fraction of the visitors of the more famous ones.
Shibuya and Ebisu — the obvious one, done well
Cross the scramble once, then leave it. The interesting parts are the drinking alleys of Nonbei Yokochō, the hill up to Daikanyama, and Ebisu one stop south, which has the density of good restaurants without the crowd.
Day trips that are worth the train
- Kamakura — an hour south. Temples, hiking trails between them, a giant bronze Buddha and a beach.
- Nikkō — two hours north. Lavishly carved shrines in cedar forest, plus waterfalls and a lake above.
- Yokohama — 30 minutes. Chinatown, a waterfront and a very good ramen museum.
Eating
Tokyo's food is defined by specialisation. A shop makes one thing, for decades. Follow the queue at lunchtime, be prepared to order from a vending machine at the door, and don't linger once you have finished — the counter turns over fast and everyone knows it.
For the wider trip, see the complete Japan travel guide and the Tokyo destination guide.