Are you considering travelling to Japan? Listed here are 7 stuff you (probably) didn't learn about Tokyo that might help you plan the next trip.
1. Funds are King
For its high-techness and contemporary architecture, Tokyo is surprisingly old-school. Anticipate seeing women in kimonos shopping in stores. A lot of companies still use faxes. And cash is much more popular than EFTPOS or credit cards. Also, most bank ATMs don't accept foreign cards. What's promising: most convenience stores such as FamilyMart or 7-Eleven have 'international' ATMs to withdraw cash, and many are open 24/7.
2. It’s Cafe Crazy
Japan is a nation of coffee-drinkers. Isn't? With no city is much more cafe-obsessed than Tokyo. Exhibit A: The earth's largest Starbucks opened captured in Nakameguro, southern Tokyo, developed by certainly one of Japan's best-known architects, Kengo Kuma. This Tokyo roastery is really a vast coffee wonderland complete with cold brew bar, tea lounge and Milanese bakery. Japan also offers its Starbucks, called Tully's, along with plenty of specialist cafes like the five-seat Little Nap in Yoyogi and Koffee Mameya in Shibuya, where every pour-over coffee is made to order by passionate baristas. (Unless it is a caffeine emergency, prevent the canned coffee available hot or cold from vending machines; it may be cheap however it tastes awful. And when you need to do succumb, drink it at that moment; eating or drinking when you walk is a no-no in Japan.)
3. It’s Watery
Tokyo's former name is really a giveaway. Until 1868, if this became the capital, Japan's largest city was called Edo, meaning 'estuary', as it is built in the confluence in excess of 100 rivers where they flow into Tokyo Bay. Presently there are manmade canals too and it's not unusual to determine Tokyoites paddling kayaks in the summertime months. Guided kayaking tours give a fresh undertake the town, particularly during spring when you are able paddle under blossoming cherry trees, water covered in fallen pink petals. Or cruise the rivers and Tokyo Bay around the futuristic bubble-boat designed by anime artist Leiji Matsumoto with glass ceilings to help you to lookup at Tokyo's buildings.
4. It’s Affordable
Tokyo quietly slipped from the Economist's '10 priciest cities' list a year ago (replaced by Osaka, the 5th most expensive on earth) and it is surprisingly reasonable for visit. Just one ticket around the Tokyo Metro subway could cost less than 140 yen (less than $ 2). Even with more Michelin-starred restaurants than almost every other city in the world, Tokyo is loaded with lots of cheap eats: street food for example takoyaki (octopus balls) and matcha gelato, cheeryizaka bars, gourmet department store food halls like Tokyu Food Show, the world's first Michelin-starred ramen joint, Tsuta, to obtain a bowl of world-class noodles for approximately $10. There's also lots of free things to see and do inside the city, from shrines and sumo practice sessions, to free museums and public art. You'll find affordable stays too, for example luxurious, high-ceilinged 'pods' at the new Hotel Zen Tokyo in Ningyocho.
5. Tokyo Does ‘Busy’ Well
You might expect among the world's most densely populated cities to feel oppressive and sure, certain places at times do get super-crowded, for example Harajuku's Takeshita Street on Saturday mornings and Shinjuku Gyoen park during cherry blossom season. However, here's the thing: 'busy' isn't unpleasant in Tokyo. People just have knowledge of how you can happily coexist, during close proximity, and obey certain unwritten rules for instance not talking loudly in public places. Plus, Tokyo includes a lower crime rate than possibly every other large city
in the developed world, so congested places never feel unsafe.
6. It's Subtropical Islands
To know how wild and natural areas of Tokyo are, it will help to first realize that this is no ordinary city. Produced in 1943 once the City of Tokyo merged while using western a part of Tokyo Prefecture, Tokyo Metropolis now includes 23 wards, 26 cities, five towns and eight villages – adding to 30 subtropical islands, south from the city. These islands lie within the Izu and Ogasawara groups however some are volcanic, with hot springs, others look as if they have been transplanted from Fiji utilizing their aquamarine waters and rice-white sandy beaches.
7. Cycling is Big
One of the things that surprises first-timers to Tokyo is when lots of people, of every age group, ride bicycles – to work, to college and university, to the shops, to restaurants and cafes. Cycling may be the city's third-most popular mode of transport after trains and, actually. Tokyo's electric-assisted bike-share scheme is extremely visitor-friendly, with one-day passes available. You will find guided bike rides around Tokyo, too, which let you go through the city with all your senses – and match the locals.
