What to expect from traveling to Tokyo

Tokyo is the capital of Japan and its biggest city. With over 12 million inhabitants, Tokyo is also one of the most populated cities in the world.

Despite its huge size metropolitan character, Tokyo can also be a quiet place with its many carefully cared gardens outside the vibrant central Tokyo.

Tokyo is the symbiosis between new and old. In Tokyo you can find the last high-tech developments combined with the oldest Japanese traditions. You can see a huge high-fidelity screen flashing ads in a main street, turn the corner and find a century old tea house. Japanese life turns around these two central pivots.

You might be surprised, but Tokyo is only 400 years old. It was a fisher’s village, named Edo, that was turned into a capital. It is since then, the center of business, culture and government.

If you are visiting Tokyo for the first time, you won’t find your way round in less than some months. It is terribly difficult for foreigners, especially those who don’t speak Japanese, to navigate this city. Happily, many Japanese, specially the younger generations, speak English and are eager to practice with any foreigner who might need directions. Always carry the name of the destination with you, written in Japanese and show it, to a better understanding.

What should you visit as a tourist?

A place that you can miss is central Tokyo, the centre not only of the city but of the whole country. It is the place of the Imperial Palace and of the electronics Mecca of Akihabara. In central Tokyo, you’ll find all the nightclubs and luxury hotels. Futuristic skyscrapers and giant camera stores. You’ll find the shopping district and one of the biggest train hubs in the world. Everything is connected through an excellent subway system.

A second focus of attention in Tokyo is Old Tokyo (Shitamachi in Japanese). This is the mirror image of central Tokyo. Going into this neighbourhood is like travelling into another country or another time. It is the counterpoint of the vibrant life of central Tokyo and the centre of traditional Japanese life. In it you’ll find Zen gardens, sumo rings, temples and many museums. It is surrounded by the woodlands and there are many parks encrusted within it.