Japan Things to See

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    Tuesday, May. 12, 2009

    By Maryanne Murray Buechner

    Introduction

    Tokyo is a marvelous mix of modern living and old-fashioned manners, slick high-tech gadgets

    and cutesy cartoon mascots. It's terribly crowded, yet can be strangely quiet. It's not a pretty city,

    not by conventional standards. Beauty comes in tiny packages here: You'll find it in bud vases, at

    dinner tables and on dessert plates. You'll find it also in the way superfast trains ease into

    stations, gently, precisely and on time. There is beauty in the shrines and stone lanterns and other

    traces of old Japan scattered among the skyscrapers, swanky shopping malls and sprawling mass

    transit hubs. The trick is to sample it all to do the serene garden and the massive office tower

    with a view. Here's how to see the loveliest and liveliest sides of Tokyo in one day.

    1. Tsukiji Fish Market

    You're jet-lagged and upbefore sunrise. That's the perfect time to head to Tsukiji, the busiest

    wholesale fish market in the world. As you make your way past the loading docks and mountains

    ofpolystyrene boxes, mind the motorized trolleys zipping around. (The dodginess of it adds to the

    adventure.) Make your way through the warren of seafood stalls and into the main market

    building, where the giant frozen tuna are laid out for inspection and sale, then hooked and hauled.

    Look for the big sign marked "Visitors' Passageway." This is your safe zone, and from here youcan watch the live auctions, a daily ritual that's over by 6:30 a.m. A clanging bell signals that one

    is about to start.

    Take the Hibiya line of the Tokyo Metro to Tsukiji station, exit 1.

    2. Sumo

    Forget kabuki sumo is better theater. If you happen to be in Tokyo during one of the three

    http://www.time.com/timehttp://www.time.com/timehttp://www.time.com/timehttp://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v8/3b41/0/0/%2a/j;207666582;7-0;2;17862902;3454-728/90;43005755/43023542/1;;~okv=;rsseg=10515;rsseg=10534;rsseg=10562;qc=d;aid=1897712;ch=us;ptype=content;sz=728x90;path=time;path=travel;~aopt=2/0/8/0;~sscs=%3fhttp://www.couponnetwork.com/people-magazine-coupon/bp11kxhttp://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v8/3b41/0/0/%2a/j;207666582;7-0;2;17862902;3454-728/90;43005755/43023542/1;;~okv=;rsseg=10515;rsseg=10534;rsseg=10562;qc=d;aid=1897712;ch=us;ptype=content;sz=728x90;path=time;path=travel;~aopt=2/0/8/0;~sscs=%3fhttp://www.couponnetwork.com/people-magazine-coupon/bp11kxhttp://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v8/3b41/0/0/%2a/j;207666582;7-0;2;17862902;3454-728/90;43005755/43023542/1;;~okv=;rsseg=10515;rsseg=10534;rsseg=10562;qc=d;aid=1897712;ch=us;ptype=content;sz=728x90;path=time;path=travel;~aopt=2/0/8/0;~sscs=%3fhttp://www.couponnetwork.com/people-magazine-coupon/bp11kxhttp://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v8/3b41/0/0/%2a/j;207666582;7-0;2;17862902;3454-728/90;43005755/43023542/1;;~okv=;rsseg=10515;rsseg=10534;rsseg=10562;qc=d;aid=1897712;ch=us;ptype=content;sz=728x90;path=time;path=travel;~aopt=2/0/8/0;~sscs=%3fhttp://www.couponnetwork.com/people-magazine-coupon/bp11kxhttp://www.time.com/timehttp://www.time.com/time/travel/cityguide/printout/0,31522,1897812_1897772_1897712-full,00.html#http://www.time.com/time/travel/cityguide/printout/0,31522,1897812_1897772_1897712-full,00.html#http://www.time.com/time/travel/cityguide/article/0,31489,1897812_1897772_1897712,00.htmlhttp://www.time.com/time/travel/cityguide/article/0,31489,1897812_1897772_1897712,00.html
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    grand tournaments 15-day events in January, May and September go straight from the

    Tsukiji fish market to Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo's National Sumo Hall. The box office opens at 8

    a.m., and competition begins at 9 a.m. and lasts into the evening. Bouts are brief usually just a

    few, very exciting, extremely intense seconds, with a lot of posturing in between. Try to stay long

    enough to see the start of a new round, when the rikishi parade into the arena wearing special

    aprons over their loincloths, and there's a brief ceremony in the ring.

    If it's not tournament season, try to go to one of the stables where the wrestlers live and train.

    Sessions start early and are usually over by 10 a.m., though figure 9 a.m. to be safe. (There are

    more than 50 sumo stables in Tokyo; click here for the list). Have someone who speaks Japanese

    call the stable in the afternoon on the day before you want to go, to make sure the team's in town

    and not on tour in the countryside. Some stables are more welcoming than others. Try Kokonoe-

    beya, or ask the concierge at your hotel if they have an in somewhere. Inside the stable, keep

    quiet and out of the way, and don't take flash pictures. You may be expected to make a small

    donation.

    General admission tickets for Ryogoku Kokugikan are sold as same-day seats on tournament

    days: $20 for adults, $2 for children ages 4 to 15 (kids under 4 get in free); tickets are cash only.

    Take the JR Yamanote line to Akihabara and transfer to the Sobu line for Ryogoku station; the

    stadium is next door, and Kokonoe-beya is a 5-minute taxi ride from there. The Toei Oedo line

    also stops at Ryogoku station.

    3. Meiji Shrine

    Dedicated to the late 19th-century emperor who opened Japan to the West, Tokyo's most famous

    Shinto shrine is wonderfully serene and austere, not colorful or flashy like other Asian places of

    worship, and is less of a tourist trap than Senso-ji, the big Buddhist temple across town in

    Asakusa. The 40-foot-high (12-meter) torii gate at the entrance to the 200-acre park is made of

    1,500-year-old cypress, and there's a second one like it closer to the shrine itself. Stop at the

    cleansing station where you can dip into a communal water tank and purify your hands and

    mouth before offering up a prayer. You can write wishes on little pieces of paper and tie them

    onto the prayer wall, or do as the locals do toss some yen into the offering box (it's near the

    enormous taiko drum), bow your head twice, clap twice, and bow once more.

    On Sunday mornings you are likely to see a traditional wedding procession (or two) through the

    courtyard the bride in a white kimono and hood and the groom in his formal black robe,

    walking together under an enormous red parasol, with Shinto priests leading the way and the rest

    of the wedding party trailing behind. Shrines, big or small, can get interesting on festival days.

    Check the calendar to see what's happening.

    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/entertainment/festivals.htmlhttp://www.sumo.or.jp/eng/ticket/index.htmlhttp://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/ozumo_meikan/sumo_beya/index.html
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    Meiji-jingu is open sunrise to sunset. Admission is free. Take the JR Yamanote line to Harajuku

    station.

    4. Yoyogi Park

    Yoyogi Park in Shibuya-ku is the perfect comic relief after a low-key shrine stop. With living space

    so tight in this city, parks are the places for club meetings and practice sessions and even play

    rehearsals, and Yoyogi draws all sorts of talent, from horn players to hula hoopers to hip-hop

    dancers. Some carry on as if unaware they have an audience. I love the rockabilly gangs, Elvis-

    inspired dudes with pronounced pompadours who usually gather by the park's east side entrance

    on Sundays to jam to American pop music from the '50s. You'll see them next to the sock hop of

    ladies in poodle skirts and saddle shoes. Somehow this scene is more satisfying than the Gothic

    Lolitas and Costume Play kids (fans of Japanese manga and anime dressed as their favorite

    characters) hanging out on the Harajuku bridge, but I always take my friends to see them too.

    Yoyogi Parkhas a mellower side that's also worth exploring areas to the north and west, past

    the fountain pond and central field. There's a cycling center (81-(0)3-3465-6855) northwest of the

    central field that rents bikes, including tandems, for just a few hundred yen (you're not supposed

    to go off the path, which is long and lovely) and a snack hut with tables that sells ice cream and

    beer. There is also a little dog run, so you're bound to see at least a few terriers decked out in

    rhinestones and denim or chihuahuas dressed like cheerleaders.

    Yoyogi Park is open from dawn to dusk. Admission is free. Take the JR Yamanote line to

    Harajuku, Omotesando exit, or the Chiyoda line to Yoyogi-koen, exit 4.

    5. Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

    If Yoyogi Park is the most entertaining green space in Tokyo, the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

    is the most beautiful. Ask for a map in English ("Ay-go mappoo?") as you walk in so you can besure to hit all the major gardens: English Landscape, French Formal, Japanese Traditional (with

    teahouse) and the curiously named Mother and Child Forest (Haha to Ko no Mori). There's also a

    lovely Taiwan Pavilion; go inside and look out the second-story windows.

    In late March and early April, cherry blossom season, the central lawn areas are particularly

    stunning. Consider bringing a picnic lunch. You can buy a variety of take-away items at the

    gourmet food hall in the basement level of Takashimaya department store, just south of the

    Shinjuku Station (east of the JR line tracks) and about 500 meters west of the garden's Shinjuku

    gate entrance. If you get the itch to shop, there's also a massive Tokyu Hands department store in

    the same mega-mall complex (called Times Square), selling everything from gold body stockings

    http://www.tokyo-park.or.jp/english/park/detail_03.html
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    to Japanese tea sets and stationery. Next door is a behemoth Kinokuniya bookstore. The foreign

    books floor is a good place to find Japanese manga some even suitable for kids that has been

    translated into English.

    My second favorite garden in Tokyo is Hama-rikyu (admission: $3), which was a feudal lord's

    retreat during the Edo period. There's an old-style teahouse on a tidal pond, a 300-year-old pine,

    a grove of plum trees and a peony field. The duck hunting grounds were once used by the

    Tokugawa shoguns. (The cluster of Shiodome skyscrapers just beyond makes a startling backdrop.)

    Located at the mouth of the Sumida River, Hama-rikyu is also a stop on a passenger ferry line that

    you can take up to Asakusa or out to Odaiba.

    Shinjuku Gyoen is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and closed Tuesday in

    weeks in which Monday is a national holiday. Admission is about $2 for adults, less for students

    and children. Take the JR Yamanote line to Shinjuku, south exit; walk east down Koshu Kaido, a

    main thoroughfare. Or take the Toei Shinjuku line to Shinjuku-Sanchome.

    For Takashimaya or Tokyu Hands, the entrance is across from Shinjuku Southern Terrace after

    Krispy Kreme, turn left and take the bridge over the train tracks.

    For Hama-rikyu, take the Toei Oedo line to Shiodome station. You can also take the JR

    Yamanote line or either the Ginza or Asakusa Metro line to Shimbashi, but you're looking at a

    12-minute walk from there.

    6. City Views

    There's a lot going on at and around the popular Roppongi Hills complex a garden, a cinema,

    loads of shops, cafs and restaurants but if you stay focused, you can be in and out in an hour

    and hit all the highlights. Start at Louise Bourgeois's giant spider sculpture,Maman, then move

    on to the Mori Tower for the 52nd-floor observation deck called Tokyo City View. The $15 ticket

    includes admission to the Mori Art Museum, where exhibits range from the intriguingly modernto the truly bizarre (one recent show had my kids running for the door). For an extra $3, you can

    go up to the 54th floor Sky Deck, which runs the perimeter of the rooftop heliport. There's a

    bilingual photographer on hand who will take your picture, Tokyo Tower behind you, with his nice

    camera. Purchasing the $15 print, which will be waiting for you downstairs, is entirely optional.

    If you decide to stick around for lunch, I recommend sushi at Pintokona. Take the escalators near

    the spider down two flights (follow signs for the Tokyo Metro's Hibiya station). The restaurant is

    kaiten-style, so you simply help yourself to the artfully arranged dishes as they roll by on a

    conveyor belt, or use the picture menu to let the chef know what you want. At the end of the

    http://www.mori.art.museum/html/eng/exhibition/index.htmlhttp://www.roppongihills.com/tcv/en/
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    meal, a member of the wait staff will wave a scanner at your stack of plates to tally the bill; prices

    are stored on a chip embedded in each plate, and range from $2 to $7 and up.

    Alternatively, you can see the skyline for free from the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government

    Offices building, which boasts two towers and two observation decks (on Floor 45). The TMGO

    stands at the west end of the Shinjuku skyscraper district near the Washington hotel, which,

    incidentally, is a good spot for dinner one of the hotel restaurants is Zauo Fishing Boat Cafe,

    where you can catch the fish that ultimately ends up on your plate (you use a net to scoop a live

    one out of the big tank). The Park Hyatt Tokyo, the hotel featured in the movieLost in

    Translation, is also nearby, and the money you save on the free view might just cover two drinks

    at the Hyatt's swanky New York Bar.

    If you want the after-dark view you'll get the pretty lights, but you won't see the mountains

    check the schedules: the TMGO towers are open late, until 11 p.m., only four nights a month (the

    North tower on the first and third Tuesday, and the South tower, the second and fourth Monday).

    Roppongi's observation deck is open until 1 a.m. (last entry at midnight) every night.

    Regular adult admission to the Mori Tower observation deck is $15 ($10 for students, $5 for

    children). It includes entry to the Mori Art Museum, which is open daily 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

    (Tuesday until 5 p.m.), and usually closes for two weeks between shows. If that is the case, the

    combo ticket will include admission to the separate Mori Arts Center Gallery, which normally

    costs an extra $5. To get to Roppongi Hills, take the Hibiya or Toei Oedo line to Roppongi

    station. Click here for directions.

    The TMGO towers' regular hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; to get there or to the Park Hyatt

    hotel, take the Toei Oedo line to Tochomae, the Toei Shinjuku line to Shinjuku, or the JR

    Yamanote line to Shinjuku, and exit west.

    7. Shibuya Crossing

    It would be a shame to come to Tokyo and not take a walk across the famous intersection outside

    Shibuya Station. On sunny afternoons or clear evenings, the surrounding area is packed with

    shoppers, students, young couples and commuters. When the lights turn red at this busy junction,

    they all turn red at the same time in every direction. Traffic stops completely and pedestrians

    surge into the intersection from all sides, like marbles spilling out of a box. You can observe this

    moment of organized chaos from the second-story window of the Starbucks in the Tsutaya

    building on the crossing's north side.

    After experiencing the "scramble," follow the trendy teens into Shibuya 109, a big shiny mall with

    more than 100 boutiques, for a look at the latest in disposable fashion. Or duck back into Shibuya

    http://www.roppongihills.com/en/access/
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    Station and down to the bustling Tokyu Food Show for an elegant array of gourmet eats and an

    education in local tastes: grilled eel, fried pork, tiny fish salad, octopus on a stick, seafood-and-

    rice seaweed wraps and much more. The prepared dishes and grocery items are all sold from

    immaculate counters amid a chorus of "Irashaimasen!" ("Welcome!"). There are aisles full of

    beautifully packaged treats rice crackers, mochi cakes, jellied confections but the pickle

    counter is my favorite.

    Take the JR Yamanote line to Shibuya station, Hachiko exit.

    8. Dinner and Drinks in Ebisu

    You can easily spend a fortune in this city on dinner, but it's more fun to rub elbows with

    salarymen at a standing bar and drink in some local color at a small izakaya, or Japanese bar and

    grill, on the cheap. Ebisu is full of these establishments, which specialize in grilled meat and

    vegetables, hotpot, sashimi and other casual fare, along with extensive drink menus. Many are

    located within a few blocks of the train station, and the neighborhood is easily accessible just

    one stop away from Shibuya on the JR Yamanote line, and two stops from Roppongi on the Tokyo

    Metro's Hibiya line.

    Leave the Ebisu JR station through the west exit, by the escalator and police box (koban), and

    cross Komazawa-dori, the main road. Turn left, then right, between the Wendy's and the KFC

    (don't let that deter you). Almost immediately on your right is the terrific Momotaro (open dailyfrom 5 p.m. to 6 a.m.), a "sumibi yakitori 'n wine" (charcoal grilled chicken) restaurant. The first

    name appears on signs out front only in Japanese hiragana script, but the tagline is written in

    English. Take the stairs down to the basement entrance. If you're feeling adventurous, order the

    set menu, a generous series of courses priced around $30. It includes the full range of edible

    chicken parts, from gizzards to hearts to delectably crispy skin. Go on, try it all!

    Buri (open daily from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m.), a spiffytachinomiya known for its sake menu, is a couple

    blocks down on the left, and it too serves tasty bits (try the asparagus wrapped in pork) for $2 to$3 a skewer. At the far end of this lane, before you reach the next main road, is Honoji the

    signs are all in Japanese, so look for the rather brightly lit room with food and drink prices tacked

    up on the walls (there's a big picture window in front that gives you a glimpse inside). There's no

    English menu, here, but don't worry; just say to your server, "Osusume" (oh-soo-soo-may), which

    basically means, "Whatever you recommend." One more phrase to learn: Biru, onegaishimasu

    (bee-roo roll the "r" oh-neh-guy-shee-mah-soo), which means, "Beer, please." Honoji is

    open daily for dinner (5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.), and every day except Sundays and holidays for lunch

    (11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.).

    http://japanchickenfoodservice.co.jp/shop/momotaro.htm
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    9. Karaoke

    In Japan, karaoke usually happens in a private room with your friends or colleagues, with a waiter

    delivering drinks. But at Smash Hits, with its thick catalog of English songs, there's a stage and

    stadium-style seating though its tight basement quarters keep it friendly. Cheer the salarymen

    taking turns at the mic and they'll show you love in return. Smash Hits is open Tuesday through

    Saturday nights, from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.; the $35 cover charge includes two drinks. Smash Hits is a

    5-minute walk from the Hiroo stop on the Hibiya line; take Exit 2, turn right, then round the

    corner at the wine shop and walk to the end of the block.

    If you'd rather not run into other foreigners the risk of going to Smash Hits is that it is

    occasionally overrun with expats (Brits tend to arrive in a drunken horde after midnight) try the

    red-velvet swathed Jan Ken Pon, the Japanese name for Rock, Paper, Scissors (it's actually what

    you chant while pumping your fist, right before the throw). Most nights a live band performs, and

    customers sing in between sets. Jan Ken Pon is open from 7 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Monday through

    Saturday (until 3 a.m. on Friday), and from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Sunday and holidays; the cover

    charge is $22 for men, $20 for women. Take the Hibiya Metro line or JR Yamanote line to Ebisu.

    For other forms of late-night entertainment, check out the online edition ofMetropolis, a free

    weekly English language magazine that has up-to-date listings of museum exhibitions, sporting

    events and other happenings around town, including who's playing at all the concert halls and

    clubs.

    10. Daimaru's Kimono and Yukata

    Most departing visitors leave town from Tokyo Station. Before you go, check out the Daimaru

    department store next door just outside the station's Yaesu entrance. The kimono shop on the

    10th floor is not geared to tourists; it's where Japanese ladies come to order custom-made

    ensembles. The samples on display, and the price tags attached, will take your breath away. Theshop also stocks a full range of accessories obi, hair combs, toe socks, thong sandals, purses,

    fans all nice to look at it, some even affordable. Ask the salesladies about yukata, the

    lightweight cotton robes that you'll find in the closet of every ryokan (traditional Japanese inn).

    The store stocks lovely, traditional blue-and-white geometric patterns for men and orchid and

    bamboo prints for women, in a full range of sizes, including American XL. Prices are $50 to $60,

    belt included. To buy yourself more browsing time, direct impatient friends to the samurai swords

    on display down the hall.

    Oriental Bazaar, a tourist magnet on Omotesando Street, offers a much bigger selection of yukata

    (along with all sorts of other souvenirs) and robes there go for $10 to $15 less apiece than

    http://www.daimaru.co.jp/english/tokyo.htmlhttp://metropolis.co.jp/default.asphttp://ebisu-jankenpon.com/http://www.smashhits.jp/
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    Daimaru's, but the place is a zoo on weekends. Still, if you enjoy digging through piles of fabric in

    a crowded basement, you might find a second-hand kimono at a price you can live with. The store

    is closed Thursdays.

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