Tokyo shopping, food, transport
Guide
Harajuku's Omotesando shows off plenty of super-modern, brand name stores but manages to retain a little tradition, some humour and a lot of teen madness.
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Shopping in Japan and particularly Tokyo is sensational - product quality is world-beating, creativity and variety are expansive while prices range from very competitive to pretty silly.
For trendy shopping, eating and drinking try Harajuku (Omotesando street in particular), Shibuya (unusually, within walking distance of Harajuku), Shinjuku (set design for Blade Runner was inspired
by this nightly neon-frenzy) and Tokyo's Shimo-Kitazawa suburb offer way better value and style.
Roppongi? Hmm, mainly a culture-free, after-dark watering hole with plentiful mating opportunities, though Roppongi Hills is an interesting but labyrinthine city-within-a-city.
A collection of plastic lunch/dinner set menus for around ¥1200 in Ginza, mostly of deep-fried pork or shrimp.
Japanese food, whether in supermarkets, cafés or restaurants is of top quality but nevertheless reasonably priced, just be very wary in places such as some sushi joints - and notoriously little old bars in Shinjuku's Golden Gai district - where prices are not displayed.
The easy route to comfortable eating for gaijin (foreigners) is to choose establishments where plastic replicas and prices are displayed outside.
Cherry blossom time in Tokyo's Shinjuku Gyoen park.
Japan does festivals as well as it does high quality manufacturing, and though the Kyoto and Nara region may offer the best fests Tokyo plays host to several celebrations that can be easily enjoyed by foreign tourists, not least early April's Hanami, or Cherry Blossom Festival, an event that celebrates the transient beauty of both nature and life. This is not a costume or procession festival, more of a life attitude display as Japanese people enjoy micro-moments to the full.
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Tokyo city centre map | Japan Map
Tokyo does not offer tourists an easy-to-find, lively city centre (there's no Manhattan or Leicester Square here); instead the city sports at least five distinct action zones that are not within easy walking distance of each other - apart from Harajuku and Shibuya - but the rail transportation system
is superb, clean, reliable and partly in English - if somewhat complex, totally packed at times and not cheap. The Yamanote line, for example, runs a circular route including some of Tokyo's favourite haunts and popular tourist destinations such as Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya and Akihabara.
Instead of having to buy different tickets for different train and bus lines, two universal money storage cards are available that simply need to be touched onto a blue illuminated sign to permit entry. Pasmo is the easiest pass to buy, with English instructions available on the machines and fillable in ¥1,000 units. Pasmo can also be used where Suica is indicated. Many shops will now accept payment via Pasmo.
A typical Pasmo card selling or card topping-up machine in Tokyo.
To get a reusable Pasmo travel card from a Tokyo - or any other - ticket machine, press 'English', number of travellers and amount required, insert that amount (or more), and a tourist has a multi-trip travel card. More Pasmo card information or Japan Transportation Travel Planner.
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