I can recommend Sundays as "strolling" days in Tokyo, when central thoroughfares are set aside for pedestrians, it is truly a feast for all the senses. Here are some suggestions:
Tokyo was probably just a sleepy old little village - originally known as Edo meaning "river estuary" - in the middle of some marshland on this broad Kanto plain until the end of the 1500s, when Tokugawa Ieyasu (founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shoganate) moved here and made it his centre in the vast domain that he controlled.
When he became shogun in 1603, Edo was turned into the seat of national government. Its castle was the largest in the world.
Edo rapidly expanded to accommodate Leyasu's 80 thousand retainers and families and the myriad of common people who served their daily needs. By the late 1780s the population had grown to nearly 1.4million.
The ruling elite lived the Yamanote (or "bluffs") which is on the high ground, to the west and south of the location of the castle. These tradesfolk, artisans, and providers of entertainment (reputable and not so reputable) lived in what could be termed-"downtown" on the marshlands which was reclaimed from the river in the North and East, in Tehari still known as Shitamachi.
As these two populations interacted, a unique new culture was born. Edo became the centre of power and also the centre of all that was vibrant and compelling in the arts in Japan at that time.
After 1868 that centre grew even stronger, when the The Tokugawa shogunate was overthrown by the movement known as the Meiji Restoration and the Imperial Court moved to Edo.
At this point in time the city was changed to Tokyo, which means "the Eastern Capital" in Japanese, to differentiate it from Kyoto (in the west) and then, from that moment on: all roads – political, cultural, and financial led here.
Tokyo has twice been almost totally destroyed in recent times: The earthquake of 1923 and then the subsequent fire layed waste nearly almost all remnants of the old city of Edo, and killing some 140 thousand of its inhabitants.
As it was rebuilt without any centralised plan as such Tokyo remains a city made up of many sub-cities and neighborhoods, which could be termed even "villages", each one has their own distinct look and feel.
Those used to the great capital cities of Europe and elsewhere there is no prevailing style of architecture here, certainly no civic core with old imperial victory or rememberance monuments for a new construction to harmonise or clash with.
Japan is slowly emerging from the tupor of the economic shock of '92 and the worldwide crisis of '08. Inflation is no longer negative.
Whole blocks of the city can disappear overnight, replaced in the blink of an eye by new gleaming office buildings, condos, cultural complexes, and shopping centres.
The one thing that is lacking in Tokyo is "time". Tokyo is a city full of creative and entrepreneurial energy, a lot of what goes into reinventing and developing itself. But notice: nobody “goes for a stroll” in Tokyo, and as a traveller you might find it hard to find someplace to sit down outdoors and the Edokko (people born and raised in Tokyo) go by.
The idea of a long, leisurely lunch is utterly alien. People in Tokyo are in hurry, they are not here to relax - they to want to get somewhere; maybe even if they don’t know precisely where they’re going 100% of the time.
Rev. | User | Date |
---|
Use the all modes of transport search engine to get you there.
Want a widget like this on your own website to help people get to you?
Looking for somewhere to stay near Tokyo? Here is our list of options.
Filter By Distance:
Filter By Tags:
Looking for something to do or a place to go see near Tokyo? Here is our list of options.
Looking for important things or something to do or a place to go see near Tokyo? Here is our list of options.
Filter By Tags:
The park is remarkable chiefly for the National Yoyogi Sports Center, comprising two stadiums designed by architect Tange Kenzo.
The park itself was once a parade ground for the imperial Japanese army. After World War II it was taken over by the Occupation for military housing and nick named “Washington Heights,” then redeveloped as the Olympic Village site for the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Game.
By the 1980s thanks to the broad avenues and new subway stops built for the games, this had become one of the coolest, liveliest, and place where the youngest trendiest people live, neighborhood in the city.
Street foods to try, body painting to see, the in your face-fashion, the photo opportunities; maybe on a warm spring afternoon Youyogi Park might be more fun than any other place in town!
Takeshita Street, Takeshita-dori, just across the railway bridge from Yoyogi park, continues this spirit of Avant-fashion with gangs like the cos-play-zuku, groups of mostly female youngsters in manga-inspired costumes and lemon and blue lipstick, turning the narrow street into a lively and impromptu catwalk of the new and bizarre.
Exchange rate fluctuations can have a considerable impact on your trip budget. If your home currency has appreciated in value in the recent term over the currency of your destination you are likely to find the place inexpensive.
Select your home currency from the drop down to compare it to the currency in use in Japan.
Currencies fluctuate all the time, to keep updated of rapidly devaluing currencies follow us on Twitter or Facebook , or if you have somewhere special in mind sign up for an account and plan a trip. We will then keep an eye on their currency rates, and send you an alert if their currency goes down in comparison to yours.
Do you know of anything else about the enviroment that makes you happy to come to Tokyo? If it's a city or neighbourhood are there any climatic, or microclimatic features that you could tell others about. If the location is a building or place, then can you describe it maybe as "sun-lit", or "cold in the mornings". We'd love you to contribute - why not let us know in the drop box below
Graphic showing average weather in Tokyo in Celcius and Centimeters (Change to Farenheit and Inches)
Month | Temp °C | Rainfall Cm | Temp °F | Rainfall Inches |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jan | 3.3 | 50.7 | 37.9 | 20 |
Feb | 4 | 75.3 | 39.2 | 29.6 |
Mar | 7.2 | 108.1 | 45 | 42.6 |
Apr | 12.8 | 131.8 | 55 | 51.9 |
May | 17.2 | 143.3 | 63 | 56.4 |
Jun | 21 | 174.9 | 69.8 | 68.9 |
Jul | 25.2 | 143.2 | 77.4 | 56.4 |
Aug | 26.4 | 153.4 | 79.5 | 60.4 |
Sep | 22.7 | 227.7 | 72.9 | 89.6 |
Oct | 16.6 | 205.8 | 61.9 | 81 |
Nov | 11.1 | 97.9 | 52 | 38.5 |
Dec | 5.8 | 56.4 | 42.4 | 22.2 |
Latest news from Tokyo
Do you have an event that you want to shout about? Email contact@redplanet.travel and we'll tell you how to get into this list for free!
Let us know what is happening by tweeting @redplanetters - Use this link which will make sure you #hashtag where you are!
We don't have any reviews of Tokyo at this time. If you've been recently please make a submission using the drop box at the bottom of the page, or better yet, join our community, participate and then write some reviews according to your Capacities and Reputation Score.
Been to Tokyo recently, or maybe you know something about the history of this place? We want you to tell the Red Planetter community about this place.
You don't need an account or have to sign up or anything!
You can earn Reputation score by joining our community and also enrol on the TravelTip$ program and get paid for good advice by other travellers.
Please just use the drop box for "facts" only. If you want to give your opinion (qualified by your Capacities) then please write a review (once you have enough Reputation score).
Find E-Mail easier? Send your comments about the place, or advise us if you see something that needs correcting on this page. You can attach pictures to your e-mail too (but try to keep the image size down, and no more than 16mb total).
If you are not logged in, or choose to make the drop box anonymously you can tell the community honestly what you seen without any concern. Please send images or other evidence to support your claims.
Topic Tags are what bind the Red Planet Travel site together, and are very important.
This place has been tagged:
If you think those tags are not perfect, then please let the person responsible for this page know by dropping a note in the anonymous drop box below, or better yet sign up or login and join our community, once you've got enough reputation score you can edit them yourself!
Ask any travel related question or help others with your experience
Before you apply read about the Roles on Red Planet Travel
We are looking to grow the information on this site, if you have something to contribute to any page then we'd like to hear from you.
What's more you can now earn money (paid direct via Paypal) for writing descriptions about places you know.
You will need to tell other members about yourself and your relevant knowledge and experience about what you want to contribute about.
Look below for some example page types, and types of people whose views on a place might be useful to know.
Page Type: Hotel
Tell us your job, knowledge, experience..
My Experience: Doctor
If you are the owner/manager of any place, then you can, of course, take control of your page and add relevant information other visitors might want to know
Webmasters & YouTubers - to add a video to this section just link to this page in the YouTube description on your video
Do you have any recent pictures? Please use the drop box at the bottom of the page to send them to us.
Can you help with answering any of these questions? Help other travellers with your experience and earn reputation score on this site.
Important information posted by Red Planetters that might be useful to know.