Tokyo

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