Tokyo City Network Tours

Most of the Japanese mansion will not comprise of a western style oven. However, many new Tokyo apartments coming up will have ovens and chimneys installed in them in order to cater the middle class families in Japan. Having an oven in the house is almost like a status symbol. Apartment Tokyo is well built but in many places you may find it very much packed as Tokyo is the most populated city in the world.

Japanese ovens are quite exceptional and you can make a lot of dishes in them including some delicious cookies. Most of the ovens have a fish grill and an oven mode which the Japanese use for baking anything inside the oven. The housing scenarios and the living standards of Japan have increased a lot in the past few decades. Japan’s economy even after great Tsunamis and floods has always evolved up and keeps on improving day-by-day. You can still find many very small apartments mainly in the large cities and in central Tokyo, in particular. There isn’t any such thing as a “typical” Tokyo apartment. You’ll see them in all types of shapes, amenities will vary, and flooring will be wood in some and laminate in others.
If anybody wants to experience the real Tokyo life, the Nokano area is one of the best places to live in Tokyo. There are sophisticated condominiums that will guarantee you an exciting but comfortable time in Tokyo. Surrounding the condo are shopping malls, shopping arcades, restaurants, cafes, bars, shops and the famous Nakano Broadway which is part of Japanese sub-culture. All of these places are located within only 10 minutes walk from the condominium. Access to all busy spots is very easy and you can do that while saving a lot of time living at Nokano area. You will be surprised at the quietness of the neighborhood as the condo is in a prime residential area.
Prices of Tokyo apartments vary as per the area where you’re taking the apartment, the size of the apartment, the number of amenities you get there and many other factors but these being the main ones.

In Japan, Christmas is a celebration which is celebrated a little differently than in other countries. They have their own traditions and customs which make Christmas a little more curiosity for people from outside countries living in Japan. Christmas cakes, for instance is one of the main traditions while celebrating Christmas in Japan. Christmas cake is a special cake made out of certain required ingredients.

In Japan, the customs and traditions regarding the Christmas were brought in Japan by the Christian missionaries. Usually, in Christian countries, the Christmas menu is important and varies widely from region to region, but in Japan, a Christmas menu was never established.

The Japanese Christmas cake is a kind of sponge type cake, which is decorated with white shipped cream over it and strawberries and other toppings to make it look more beautiful and taste better. Many a times, a small Santa Claus figure is also kept on the top of the cake. Such type of cake was usually sold until then as a cake for birthdays. While Christmas is not a national holiday in Japan, more and more people are taking up traditions such as decorating their home, giving presents to friends and celebrating the event with a special meal.

The traditional Christmas food – The Christmas cake is prepared by more than 73% of the people in Japan during Christmas. You can walk into a bakery in Japan and you won’t see any of these. These Japanese Christmas cakes are made by using only certain ingredients and have their own special style that specially distinguishes them from your garden variety, all-season cakes.

There are many recipes available online if you’re going to bake your own Japanese Christmas cake and here is one of the better ones but be assured of getting a delicious cake made with quality ingredients that’s not sweet as cakes bought from any other place in the world. As they say in Japan, “Merii Kurisumasu!”

You could easily spend the rest of your life touring around Tokyo and not see it all. The city is so large that its almost impossible to see everything it has to offer, especially if you take into account the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan area rather than focusing on the 23 wards alone.

So I will give you a short list of things that would be fun for a first time visitor to Tokyo.

Shinjuku: Its almost impossible to visit Tokyo without at the very least passing through Shinjuku, the station is the biggest in Japan and the busiest in the world with an average of 3.64 million people using the station daily. As you can imagine with that many people passing though each day, the area around the station is always busy, right up until the final trains at night. Shinjuku is one of my favourite places to wander around because it has so many different sides to it. From the huge Skyscrapers, down to the tiny bars for the golden-gai area. There is always something to see and hear. I highly recommend getting off at the station, picking an exit and just exploring.

Ameyoko: Located between Ueno and Okachimachi Stations this long shopping street is one of my favourite places in Tokyo, the whole Ueno area holds a special place in my heart, it is quite unlike the rest of the city, it has an old Edo period feel to me, that is hard to explain and should just be experienced. The area as an interesting history and was home to the black market after WWII. The vendors here now sell everything from fresh fish, clothing, bags, dried food and chocolate. Its one of the few places in Tokyo where people will haggle on price. Standing watching a man selling chocolate create a larger and larger pile for the same price as a single bar to entice customers is a fantastic and fun thing to see.

Asakusa: Formerly one of the most famous entertainment areas in Tokyo, it was very badly damaged during the second World War and after being rebuilt had lost its status to areas like Shinjuku and Shibuya. But the major attraction in Asakusa is an absolute must see, the Senso-ji temple. This Buddhist temple first build on the site in 645AD is the oldest temple in Japan. The temple and the grounds are beautiful, specially at night when its very quiet and the buildings are lit up. On my first visit to Japan I stayed in a guesthouse very near the temple so would often visit it at night.

Picture Sources: malias Hikosaemon terryy71

For some the idea of a specialist holiday package is an unappealing thing.  You are basically stuck to a schedule and don’t have full autonomy. However there are some huge advantages to packaged holidays, especially if you have never been to the country you wish to visit before and don’t want to spend hours online researching things to do.

Package tours allow you to fully enjoy being away from home and to make the most of your precious vacation time.

I’m sure there are a vast number of package tours of Japan available out there, though the company I want to talk about today specifically deals in tours catering to Gay friendly tours in Japan “that are most interesting to Gay travelers”. Let’s dive in and see what they offer.

Travel Options

There are currently three separate tours on offer, with some added extras available should you wish to do so.

1. Tokyo: The first package not at all surprisingly focuses on Japan’s largest and best known city. Spend 3 nights and 4 days exploring some of Tokyo’s most fascinating neighborhoods, It would be impossible to see a thousandth of what this city has to offer in this amount of time, but its just enough time to find out if the Japan/Tokyo fever will take hold of you. From US$620

2. Kyoto: Kyoto is very much the spiritual center of old Japan. This package is 5 nights and 6 days. You will start in Tokyo for 3 days and then catch the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. Traveling on the Shinkansen is an adventure in and of itself. Once you arrive in Kyoto, the difference between the two cities will become very apparent. The contrast and symbiosis between the old and the new is in my opinion one of the greatest joys in Japan.  This tour package will provide you with a perfect taste of that. From US$1,300

3.Osaka: Famous amongst the Japanese for its food. There is a saying “Dress (in kimonos) till you drop in Kyoto, eat till you drop in Osaka” (京の着倒れ、大阪の食い倒れ). Famous dishes include okonomiyaki (pan-fried batter cake), takoyaki (octopus dumplings), udon (a noodle dish), as well as the traditional battera (バッテラ) sushi. As unappealing to you as octopus dumplings might sound, they are absolutely delicious and really are a must try. Spend your 3 nights and 4 days eating until you might burst they spend the evening enjoying Osaka’s vibrant gay scene.