The city seems too distant, hot and expensive for most of us. But ignore your preconceptions. You'll have the time of your life, writes DAVID MCNEILL
TIRED OF TOKYO, tired of life: if nobody has said it yet, they should have. The planet’s largest metropolis teems with attractions. Lafcadio Hearn, the great Dublin-raised chronicler of Japan, was so beguiled by his adoptive home that he ached to be reincarnated as a Japanese baby. Yet the prospect of navigating the sprawling capital seems to give the average Irish traveller a headache: fewer than 12,000 of the roughly seven million tourists who came here in 2009 were from the Republic.
Too distant, too hot and too expensive are the most common complaints, but Tokyo is also hampered by its image as a colourless bunker city of worker bees, too uptight to compete with freewheeling Asian rivals like Bangkok or Hong Kong. The image is unfair and increasingly out of date. After years of deflation – thank the Shinto gods – Tokyo is cheaper than Dublin, and more fun.
Time and again, Irish friends come armed with bundles of cash, have the time of their lives and return with more change than they dared imagine.
Tokyo may also be the world’s safest major city, and it’s served by probably its cleanest, most efficient transport system. Tourists are spoiled rotten, tipping is verboten and for good measure it has been crowned the world’s culinary capital, trouncing Paris, London and New York.
The once-parched landscape of Tokyo travelogues is filling up with good published guides, supplemented by a ton of online information, including Tokyo's official tourist website (tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english), the Japan National Tourist Organisation (www.jnto.go.jp/eng) and tokyoessentials.com. Rather than repeat them, I offer what is essentially a personal guide to my adoptive city. Ikimasho(Let's go).
When to go
Tokyo’s summer, squeezed between the rainy season of June-July and the typhoons of September, is notoriously humid, with peak temperatures creeping well past 30 degrees. The effect is like wandering around wrapped in a warm damp blanket. The best time to come is spring or autumn, though refugees from Ireland’s grim winters will appreciate the crisp, crystal-blue skies of the off-season winter months. If you’re forced to come in the summer, stay out of the heat by riding around in the pristine air-conditioned trains.
Where to stay
Sakura Hotel(2-21-4 Kanda-Jinbocho, Chiyoda-ku, 00-81-3-32613939, sakura- hotel.co.jp) is the backpackers' choice: cheap, cheerful, clean and right in the heart of Tokyo, a quick subway ride from many of its main attractions. Singles and doubles from about €25 to €67. Nishitetsu Inn Shinjuku(7-23-2 Nishi Shinjuku Tokyo, 00-81-3-33675454) is reasonably priced, with impeccable service, a 10-minute stretch of the legs from Shinjuku Station, one of the city's main transportation hubs. Singles and doubles from €75 to €119. Hotel Okura(2-10-4 Toranomon, Minato-ku, 00-81-3-35820111, okura.com/tokyo), which offers old-school city-centre luxury, is still the preferred choice of accommodation for Yoko Ono, who stayed here with John Lennon in the 1970s. Prices from €292 to €1,085 for deluxe doubles. Granbell Hotel(15-17 Sakuragaoka-cho, Shibuya-ku, 00-81-3-54572681, granbellhotel.jp/index_e.html) is a stylish, lively boutique hotel, boasting pop-art cool, near Tokyo's teeming youth Mecca, Shibuya. From €89. Park Hyatt Tokyo(3-7-1-2 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-Ku, 00-81-3-53221234, tokyo.park.hyatt.com) was made famous by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, who grappled with cultural dislocation in Lost in Translation. Marble and granite decor, stunning views of the city below and the last word in service. From €517 to €1,217 for superior rooms.
Where to start
Tokyo can be difficult to negotiate on foot, so hop on the Yamanote Line, which loops around the city and makes a pit stop at many of its major attractions (japan-guide.com/e/e2370.html). Before you come, pick up a Japan Rail Passin Dublin. The pass comes in seven-, 14- and 21-day versions, costs from about €300, for one week, to €633, for three, and allows you to ride on most of the national railways. The main Dublin broker is AWL Travel (01-6795340, awlt.com/ie).
Make a decision: if you want to avoid packed trains, dawdle at your hotel until after the morning peak passes, at about 10am. The alternative is to sample life for the millions of people who keep this Asian hub humming, an experience I strongly recommend. Roughly the population of Ireland rides the Yamanote Line in a single day, a fair proportion before 10am. Wait at the platform as train after train arrives, stuffed to the air-conditioned rafters with people, watch in amazement as more squeeze on, then pile in yourself. (English train guides are available, and station names have been translated. Most big cities have street signs in English, Chinese and Korean. With a bit of patience and a good guide, you’ll navigate Tokyo easily.)
My suggestion on your first day is to hop off at Shimbashi Station and walk the short distance to the world's largest fish market, Tsukiji. You'll need to be up early: the market starts at the crack of dawn. And stay out of the way of the men who work there or they'll run you over with their forklifts. Then get back on the train, head the short distance to Tokyo Station and walk to the Imperial Palace, about five minutes away.
Towards the end of his life, Lafcadio Hearn tired of Japan’s lack of sentimentality for the past, writing in the tone of a spurned lover: “What is there, finally, to love except what is passing away?” Buildings are torn down and rebuilt every 30 years, which can be disorientating unless you accept it as part of Tokyo’s charm. One of the capital’s few architectural constants, however, is the Imperial Palace.
Roughly the size of New York’s Central Park, the complex dominates the heart of Tokyo, forcing traffic and trains to detour around it. The central link to Japan’s mythologised past, the reclusive family behind the moat claims an unbroken heritage dating back 2,600 years; even non-history buffs can marvel at how they have survived earthquakes, militarism, US fire-bombing, constitutional revolution and a succession crisis, all in the past century.
Then back on the train for Harajuku Station, to walk along Omotesando, Asia's premier shopping boulevard and a terrific place to sample Tokyo's eclectic youth culture, punks and hip-hoppers mixing it up with Goths and rich housewives.
The area is studded with cafes and bars; my favourites are Las Chicas(5-47-6 Jingu mae, Shibuya-ku, 00-81-3-34076865, vision.co.jp; some English spoken) and Ristorante HiRo(5-5-25 Minami-aoyama, Minato-ku, 00-81-3-34865561, r-hiro.com).
After lunch jump back on the Yamanote after checking out Meiji Shrine(japan-guide.com/e/e3002.html) and head for Akihabara. Sandwiched between the staid book-selling district of Kanda and Ueno Park, this was once the centre of Japan's electronics-retailing industry, but it has recently been transformed into a sort of nerd's paradise, selling anime characters, video games and toys. Expect the weird and colourful.
Tokyo at night
Hong Kong gets all the plaudits, but for my money Tokyo has Asia's most spectacular nightscape. Probably the best place to view it, and sample a little Hollywood glamour, is in the Park Hyatt's New York Bar, where Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray wallowed in luxurious alienation in Lost in Translation. There's a 2,200-yen (€17.50) cover charge after 8pm, but the view pays for it, and the bar offers some decent wine deals (3-7-1-2 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-Ku, 00-81-3-53221234; English spoken). If that's too pricey, take the Yurikamome Lineover the beautiful Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba, and have a beer looking out over Tokyo Bay.
Eating
Tokyo has more than four times as many restaurants as New York, and you could spend your entire stay happily sampling a fraction. Stay away from ones that don’t publish the menu and prices outside, which probably means you can’t afford them. Many restaurants display plastic mock-ups of their fare, and publish menus with full-colour pictures, so a bit of finger pointing will usually get you what you want. Expect to pay in cash, not with credit cards.
For years Tokyo's remarkable cuisine was a well-kept secret, but its cover has been blown by the Michelin Guide, which in 2010 awarded the city 261 stars, relegating Paris to a distant second. Some of these Michelin-approved restaurants are stunning – but, apart from being expensive, some won't accept foreigners without a Japanese guide.
One of the best is the three-star Sukiyabashi Jiro, a sushi institution run by imperious 81-year-old master chef Jiro Ono. The good news is that Ono-san has recently opened a foreigner-friendly branch in Roppongi Hills, an upmarket new shopping complex in central Tokyo. Expect a once-in-a-lifetime raw-fish experience, but take along €100, in cash (Roppongi Hills Residence B Tower, 2F, Roppongi 6-12-2, Minato-ku, 00-81-3-54136626; a little English spoken).
Tempura fans will want to visit the famous Ten-ichirestaurant in the glitzy Ginza district (6-6-5 Ginza, Namiki Dori, Ginza, 00-81-3-35711949, tenichi.co.jp; a little English spoken). And Hokkaido, a chain of restaurants that serve fish, tofu and other standard Japanese fare, is also a must (00-81-3-33581327).
Finally, most visitors love checking out Tokyo's offbeat street-dining culture, which means sitting at a covered stall as the owner serves up fried chicken, ramen noodles and other treats. Try the famous stalls under Yurakucho Bridge, around the corner from Yurakucho Station, also on the Yamanote Line.
Bars
Tokyo's stereotype as a bloodless city of grim-faced corporate samurai really takes a beating in its bars, which are as eccentric and bizarre as anywhere in the world. In the giant smorgasbord of eye-popping weirdness, I recommend two places for the Irish visitor. The Christon cafe-baris decorated like a church, complete with altar, statues of the Virgin Mary and crucifixes. Just don't go if you're easily offended (Oriental Wave, 5-17-13 Shinjuku, 00-81-3-52872426, http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g465406). And the Ninjais, as the name suggests, a ninja-themed bar and restaurant where waiters in black costumes interrupt your beer and nuts with martial-arts wizardry (Akasaka Tokyu Plaza, 1st Floor, Akasaka, 00-81-3-51573936; English spoken).
Next?
If you've managed all that, you might need a few days to recover before you venture out of your hotel. Once you do, the choice is vast: meet a geisha(geisha tours: 00-81-3-34356081), grapple with a wrestler(sumo tours: 00-81-3-69090601) or see the city by bicycle(halffastcycling@ hotmail.com). My only other must-do is considered eccentric by my colleagues: visit Yasukuni Shrine. Japan's memorial to its war dead is one of the most controversial pieces of real estate in Asia, resented by millions who consider it a monument to war, empire and the nation's unrepentant and undigested militarism. For me the shrine and the attached museum are crucial for understanding Japan's tortured view of the second World War, the cataclysm that so profoundly shaped this remarkable city. The shine can be reached by taking the subway to Kudanshita Station.
After that you'll need a drink and a laugh, so how about sinking beneath the streets of central Tokyo in the Dining Bar Submarine(Pocket Building B1, Kabukichuo 1-17-4, Shinjuku-Ku, 00-81-3-52853480)? This – you guessed it – submarine-themed watering hole, with portholes and a proprietor dressed up as a second World War captain, proves that when it comes to living with ambiguities the Japanese have few equals.
Go There
Japan Airlines has premium-economy seats to all major cities in Japan from Ireland from €1,606 return. 01-6610749. Virgin Atlantic (virgin-atlantic.com) offers fares to Tokyo from Dublin via London Heathrow. KLM (klm.com/ie) offers fares via Amsterdam or Paris.