On the edge of the Orient,
TOKYO
- the last great conurbation before
the yawning chasm of the Pacific
Ocean - is one of the world's most
perplexing cities. On the one hand,
gaudily hung about with
eyeball-searing neon and messy
overhead cables, plagued by
seemingly incessant noise, often
clogged with bumper-to-bumper
traffic and packed with twelve
million people squashed into minute
apartments, it can seem like the
stereotypical urban nightmare. Yet
behind the barely ordered chaos lie
remnants of a very different way of
life. Step back from the frenetic
main roads and chances are you'll
find yourself in a world of tranquil
backstreets, where wooden houses are
fronted by neatly clipped bonsai
trees; wander beyond the high-tech
department stores, and you'll find
ancient temples and shrines. In this
city of 24-hour shops and vending
machines, a festival is held
virtually every day of the year,
people regularly visit their local
shrine or temple and scrupulously
observe the passing seasons. And, at
the centre of it all, is the
mysterious green void of the
Imperial
Palace - home to the emperor and
a tangible link to the past.
In many ways Tokyo is also
something of a modern-day utopia.
Trains run on time; the crime rate
is hardly worth worrying about;
shops and vending machines provide
everything you could need (and many
things you never thought you needed)
24 hours a day; the people wear the
coolest fashions, eat in fabulous
restaurants and party in the hippest
clubs. It's almost impossible to be
bored here and first-time visitors
should be prepared for a massive
assault on the senses - just walking
the streets of this hyperactive city
can be an energizing experience.
You'll also be surprised how
affordable many things are.
Cheap-and-cheerful izakaya
(bars that serve food) and noodle
shacks far outnumber the big-ticket
French restaurants and high-class ryotei
, where geisha serve
minimalist Japanese cuisine, while
day-tickets for a sumo tournament or
a Kabuki play can be bought for the
price of a few drinks. Many of the
city's highlights are even free: a
stroll through the evocative Shitamachi
(low city) area around Asakusa and
the major Buddhist temple Senso-ji
; a visit to the tranquil wooded
grounds of Meiji-jingu , the
city's most venerable Shinto shrine,
and the nearby teenage shopping
mecca of Harajuku ; the
frenetic fish market at Tsukiji
; the crackling, neon-saturated
atmosphere of the mini-city Shinjuku
- you don't need to part with lots
of cash to explore this city.
Even if you don't arrive in
Tokyo, chances are you will end up
here or pass through on your way to
other parts of Japan, since the
capital is the major transport
hub . Every day, scores of
Shinkansen (bullet trains) speed up
to the far north of Honsho or south
to Kyushu, while flights, buses and
ferries connect Tokyo to the
far-flung corners and islands of the
Japanese archipelago.
The only time Tokyo is best
avoided is during the steamy height
of summer in August and early
September, when the city's humidity
sees its citizens scurrying from one
air-conditioned haven to another.
October and November, by contrast,
are great months to take in the
spectacular fireburst of autumn
leaves in Tokyo's parks and gardens.
Temperatures dip to freezing in the
winter months, though the crisp blue
skies are rarely disturbed by rain
or snow showers. April is the month
when Tokyoites love to party beneath
the flurries of falling cherry
blossoms - one of the best months to
visit the capital. Carrying an
umbrella is a good idea during tsuyu
, the rainy season in June and
September, when typhoons
occasionally strike the coast.
Legend says that a giant catfish
sleeps beneath Tokyo Bay, and its
wriggling can be felt in the
hundreds of small tremors that
rumble the capital each year. Around
every seventy years, the catfish
awakes, resulting in the kind of
major earthquake seen in 1995
in Kobe. There is a long-running,
half-hearted debate about moving the
Diet and main government offices out
of Tokyo, away from danger. Yet,
despite the fact that the city is
well overdue for the Big One, talk
of relocating the capital always
comes to nothing. Now, more than
ever before, Tokyo is the centre of
Japan, and nobody wants to leave and
miss any of the action.
