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Tokyo, Japan - Travel information, Places of attraction
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About Tokyo, Japan
[Tokyo] ( Tōkyō) is the enormous and wealthy capital of Japan, overflowing with culture, commerce and, most of all, people. The core of the most populated urban area in the world, Tokyo is a fascinating and dynamic metropolis that brings high-tech visions of the future side by side with glimpses of old Japan. From modern electronics and gleaming skyscrapers to cherry blossoms and the Imperial Palace, this is a city that represents the entire sweep of Japanese history and culture. Tokyo truly has something for every traveller.
The bulk of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Shinjuku
Huge and varied in its geography, with over 2,000 square kilometers to explore, Tokyo Metropolis (東京都 Tōkyō-to) spans not just the city, but rugged mountains to the west and subtropical islands to the south. This article concentrates on the 23 central wards near the bay, while the western cities and the islands are covered in a separate article.
The geography of central Tokyo is defined by the JR Yamanote Line (see Get around). The center of Tokyo mdash; the former area reserved for the Shogun and his samurai mdash; lies within the loop, while the Edo-era downtown (下町 shitamachi) is to the north and east. Sprawling around in all directions and blending in seamlessly are Yokohama, Kawasaki and Chiba, Tokyo's suburbs.
Central Tokyo
Old Tokyo (Shitamachi)
Over 500 years old, the city of Tokyo was once the modest fishing village of Edo (江戸). The city only truly began to grow when it became the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603, who decided to set up a new seat of power far away from the intrigues of the imperial court in Kyoto. After the Meiji restoration in 1868, during which the Tokugawa family lost its influence, the emperor and the imperial family moved here from Kyoto, and the city was renamed to its current name, Tokyo, literally the Eastern Capital. The metropolitan center of the country, Tokyo is the destination for business, education, modern culture, and government. (That's not to say that rivals such as Osaka won't dispute those claims.)
Tokyo is vast: it's best thought of not as a single city, but a constellation of cities that have grown together. Tokyo's districts vary wildly by character, from the electronic blare of Akihabara to the Imperial gardens and shrines of Chiyoda, from the hyperactive youth culture mecca of Shibuya to the pottery shops and temple markets of Asakusa. If you don't like what you see, hop on the train and head to the next station, and you will find something entirely different.
The sheer size and frenetic pace of Tokyo can intimidate the first-time visitor. Much of the city is a jungle of concrete and wires, with a mass of neon and blaring loudspeakers. At rush hour, crowds jostle in packed trains and masses of humanity sweep through enormous and bewilderingly complex stations. Don't get too hung up on ticking tourist sights off your list: for most visitors, the biggest part of the Tokyo experience is just wandering around at random and absorbing the vibe, poking your head into shops selling weird and wonderful things, sampling restaurants where you can't recognize a single thing on the menu (or on your plate), and finding unexpected oases of calm in the tranquil grounds of a neighbourhood Shinto shrine. It's all perfectly safe, and the locals will go to sometimes extraordinary lengths to help you if you just ask.
The cost of living in Tokyo is not as astronomical as it once was. Deflation and market pressures have helped to make costs in Tokyo comparable to most other large cities. Visitors from San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, London, Paris, Sydney, Toronto and Dublin will not find it any more expensive than back home. Travellers should budget a similar amount of money for their stay in Tokyo as they would for any other great city in Europe, North America or Australia. Locals will know the bargains, but experienced cheapskates from anywhere in the world can get by with a little ingenuity. Tokyo is one of the most popular places to live in Japan. Rent for a single's apartment could range from USD500 to USD1,000 a month. Tokyo is so overwhelmingly crowded that many people live in apartments no bigger than 16 square meters (175 square feet).
Tokyo is classified as lying in the humid subtropical climate zone and has five distinct seasons.
- Spring kicks off with plum blossoms in late February, followed by the famous cherry blossoms ( sakura) in March–April. Parks, most famously Ueno, fill up with blue tarps and sozzled salarymen.
- Rainy season ( baiu or tsuyu) in late May to June means a month of overcast skies and drizzle punctuated with downpours, with temperatures in the twenties.
- Summer really kicks off in July, with clear skies but temperatures peaking into the high thirties and brutal steam bath humidity. Even a short walk outside will leave you drenched in sweat, so this is probably the worst time of year to visit, and is best avoided if you have a choice. The one bright spot is the plethora of fireworks, most notably the epic pyrotechnic extravaganza of the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival on the fourth Saturday in July.
- Fall from September onwards means cooler temperatures and fall colors. While southern Japan is regularly battered by typhoons this time of year, they mostly (but not always) veer clear of Tokyo.
- Winter is usually mild, with temperatures generally ranging from 0-10 °C, though occasional cold spells can send temperatures plummeting below zero at night, and indoor heating can leave much to be desired. Snow is rare, but on those rare occasions once every few years when Tokyo is hit by a snowstorm, much of the train network grinds to a halt.
Get in
In Japan, all roads, rails, shipping lanes and planes lead to Tokyo.
By plane
Tokyo has two large airports: Narita for international flights, and Haneda for (mostly) domestic flights.
Note that if you are traveling from Seoul, Beijing or Shanghai then direct flights to Haneda are much more convenient for getting into Tokyo.
Narita Airport
Tokyo's main international gateway is Narita Airport (成田空港) (IATA:NRT) [http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/], located in the town of Narita nearly 70 kilometers northeast of Tokyo and covered in a separate article.
A brief summary of options for getting there and away:
Haneda Airport
[Haneda Airport] (羽田空港 IATA:HND) , officially known as Tokyo International Airport, in Ota is the busiest airport in all Asia despite a majority of flights being domestic.
Domestic Terminal 1 houses the JAL group including Skymark and Skynet, while Domestic Terminal 2 is home to ANA and affiliate Air Do. In 2010, Haneda opened a brand new International Terminal Building along with a new runway. International flights operate into Haneda from a growing number of cities, though many of these land and depart during the late evening or early morning hours. Free shuttle buses run every 6 minutes between 05:00 and 24:00, connecting the International terminal with both Domestic terminals.
The easiest and most scenic way from Haneda to the city is the [Tokyo Monorail] running to Hamamatsucho for ¥490, from where you can connect to almost anywhere in Tokyo on the JR Yamanote line. The monorail has a station at each of Haneda's three terminals. From the International Terminal, trains reach Hamamatsucho in as little as 14 minutes on the nonstop services; the domestic terminals are about 5 minutes farther down the line. JR East maintains a Travel Service Center for foreigners in the International Terminal (open daily 7:45-18:30) where vouchers can be exchanged for the Japan Rail Pass and JR East Rail Pass, and where JR Kanto Area Passes can be purchased. The Tokyo Monorail is fully covered with any of these passes.
The other alternative is the private Keikyu (京急) line, which has two train stations at Haneda: one for the International Terminal and one serving both Domestic terminals. Keikyu trains run to Shinagawa (15 min, ¥410) and Yokohama (30-35 min via Airport Express [エアポート急行], ¥450). Some Keikyu trains from Haneda continue on to the Toei Asakusa Line, providing one-seat rides to the Ginza district (30-35 min to Higashi-Ginza, ¥560) and Asakusa (40-45 min, ¥610). Note that Keikyu fares quoted here are from the International Terminal station.
JR Passes are not valid on Keikyu Trains. If your final destination is somewhere along the Tokaido Shinkansen (i.e. Odawara, Atami, Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka) then it will be easier to take the Keikyu Line to Shinagawa to pick up the shinkansen, even if you have a Japan Rail Pass. Using the Tokyo Monorail will require you to take an additional train, the Yamanote Line, to either Tokyo station or Shinagawa.
Limousine Buses connect Haneda Airport with Narita Airport (90 minutes, ¥3,100). Most Airport Rapid Express [エアポート快特] trains on the Keikyu Line also run all the way to Narita Airport's terminals; these services are much cheaper than the bus (105 minutes, ¥1,750), but buses operate more frequently. Note that the Airport Terminal 2 station that pops up in some route search engines refers to terminal 2 at Narita Airport, not Haneda!
Normal metered taxis to central Tokyo will cost anywhere from ¥4,000 to ¥10,000, plus a 20% surcharge between 22:00 and 05:00. An alternative is Anzen Taxi's [http://anzentaxi.co.jp/reserve/haneda_fee.html] fixed fare service for ¥6,000 (¥8,000 at night) to most of central Tokyo, including Shinjuku and Shibuya.
If you arrive on a late flight or need to catch an early flight, beware that there are no trains between 23:59 and 05:00 on either the monorail or the Keikyu line. Some limousine buses do operate after midnight, but such trips incur an additional night surcharge.
Ibaraki Airport
Ibaraki Airport (茨城空港 IATA:IBR) [http://www.ibaraki-airport.net/] in Omitama, Ibaraki, some 85nbsp;km north of Tokyo, is an upstart aimed squarely at low-cost carriers. Skymark currently operates domestic flights to Sapporo, Kobe and Okinawa, and Spring Airlines operates daily service to Shanghai.
The best way to travel between Ibaraki Airport and Tokyo is by bus service, operated by Kantetsu Bus several times a day. The trip takes about 2 1/2 hours and costs ¥500 for air passengers and ¥1000 for non-air passengers. Reservations are required, and free English reservations [http://www.kantetsu.co.jp/reserve/reserve.cgi?lang=en] are available online. The fare is payable when boarding the bus.
Even if you intend to use a Japan Rail Pass, there are no exchange offices in the immediate vicinity. It will be best to take the bus to Tokyo Station and visit the exchange office there.
Chōfu Airfield
Chōfu Airfield (調布飛行場 Chōfu hikōjō) serves only some turboprop flights to the Izu Islands south of Tokyo. The nearest railway station is Nishi-Chōfu on the Keiō Line, a 15-minute walk away. Alternatively, you can take a bus from Chofu or Mitaka stations.
By train
Tokyo is the nerve centre of railways in Japan, highspeed Shinkansen services arrives at Tokyo Station (東京駅 Tōkyō-eki) which is located in the Chiyoda ward. For all trains on the northern route, you can get off at Ueno, while trains on the western route calls at Shinagawa. Most non-Shinkansen services usually stops at Shibuya and Shinjuku stations as well. Ueno and Ikebukuro stations connect you to the northern suburbs and neighboring prefectures.
On the western route there are departures every 10–15 minutes from Kyoto and Osaka with two types of shinkansen trains, Nozomi is the fastest cutting the journey time down to 2:20 hours while the slightly slower Hikari trains adds an extra twenty minutes.
The northern route connects with Aomori, Fukushima and Sendai, the fastest services are with the Hayabusa and Hayate trains.
Although Japan is dominated by fast shinkansen trains there are still a few sleeper trains left. Sunrise Izumo (サンライズ出雲) runs daily to Tokyo from Izumo while Sunrise Seto (サンライズ瀬戸) connects with Takamatsu, the largest city on the Shikoku island. From nearby Ueno station, the luxurious Cassiopeia (カシオペア) overnight train offers an direct route from the northern city of Sapporo three times a week. Fares starts at ¥27,000 with a journey time of 16½ hours.
By car or thumb
While you can drive into the city, it's really not recommended as the city can be congested, signs may be confusing and parking fees are astronomical.
Hitchhiking into Tokyo is pretty easy, but hitchhiking out is considerably more difficult. It's definitely possible for determined cheapskates though, see Hitchhiking in Japan for a detailed list of tested escape routes from the city.
By bus
Highway bus services link Tokyo to other cities, resort areas and the surrounding prefectures. There are JR and private bus companies. Bus service may be cheaper, but the train is probably more convenient. If you have a JR pass, then you should generally stick with the trains.
Long-distance buses use a number of terminals scattered throughout the city, but the main JR depot is at Tokyo Station's Yaesu-minamiguchi (八重洲南口) exit, while Keio and some other private companies use the Shinjuku Highway Bus Terminal (新宿高速バスターミナル), opposite Yodobashi Camera near the West Exit. JR Bus also uses the Shinjuku Station JR Highway Bus Terminal (新宿駅JR高速バスターミナル), which is actually located closer to Yoyogi station on the Yamanote Line than it is to Shinjuku station.
- [The JR Bus Group]. A major operator of bus services to and from Tokyo. Seat reservations for JR Buses can be made at JR Bus counters in Tokyo and Shinjuku stations, and in JR train stations at the same Midori-no-Madoguchi ticket windows used to reserve seats on trains.
- [Willer Express]. A company that has nightly bus services to and from Tokyo. Its bus services link many cities in Japan. Online booking available in English.
- Kokusai Kogyo Bus [(Japanese Website)].
- Keisei Bus [(Japanese Website)].
- Keikyu Bus [(Japanese Website)].
- Keio Bus [(Japanese Website)].
- Kanto Bus [(Japanese Website)].
- Nishi Tokyo Bus [(Japanese Website)].
- Odakyu Bus [(Japanese Website)].
- [Odakyu Hakone Bus].
- Seibu Bus [(Japanese Website)].
- Tobu Bus [(Japanese Website)].
- Tohoku Kyuko Bus [(Japanese Website)].
By boat
One of the great ports of the world, Tokyo also has domestic ferry services to other points in Japan. However, none of the regular international ferries to Japan call at Tokyo.
The main long-distance ferry terminal is [Ariake Ferry Terminal], located on an artificial island adjacent to Odaiba in Tokyo Bay. The nearest station is Kokusai-Tenjijo-Seimon on the Yurikamome line, but it's still a bit of a hike. You can also take a direct bus from Shin-Kiba station on the Metro Yurakucho line. The main services from this terminal are:
Ferries to the Izu and Ogasawara Islands leave from Takeshiba Terminal (竹芝客船ターミナル), adjacent to Takeshiba station on the Yurikamome line. Cruise liners tend to use the Harumi Terminal (晴海客船ターミナル), best accessible on bus 都05 (To-05) from Tokyo station Marunouchi South Exit or 東12(Tou-12) from Tokyo station Yaesu exit. International ferries and cargo ferries that also take passengers can leave from other terminals too, enquire with your shipping company.
- Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen
, phone: +81 03-3528-0718
This ferry has no passenger facilities, so it can only be used if you have a car
- Ocean Tokyu Ferry
http://www.otf.jp/, phone: +81 03-5148-0109
Get around
By train and subway
Tokyo has one of the most extensive mass transit systems in the world and is the most used subway system in the world in terms of annual passenger rides. It is clean, safe and efficient ndash; and confusing. The confusion arises from the fact that several distinct railway systems operate within Tokyo ndash; the JR East network, the two subway networks, and various private lines ndash; and different route maps show different systems. Avoid rush hours if possible; trains get overcrowded very easily.
The defining rail line in Tokyo is the JR Yamanote Line (山手線 Yamanote-sen), which runs in a loop around central Tokyo; being inside the Yamanote loop is synonymous with being in the core of Tokyo. Almost all inter-regional JR lines and private lines start at a station on the Yamanote. JR's lines are color-coded, and the Yamanote is span style=color:green;light green/span. The JR Chuo ( span style=color:#F15A22;orange/span, 中央線 Chūō-sen) and Chuo-Sobu ( span style=color:#FFD400;yellow/span, 中央総武線 Sōbu-sen) lines run side-by-side, bisecting the Yamanote loop from Shinjuku on the west to Tokyo on the east. JR's other commuter lines, the Saikyo and Keihin-Tohoku, run off the rim of the Yamanote loop to the north and south. JR East has a good English information line, 050-2016-1603 or 03-3423-0111.
Tokyo has an extensive subway network with frequent trains, and these are primarily useful for getting around within the Yamanote loop. The [Tokyo Metro] runs nine lines: Ginza, Marunouchi, Hibiya, Tozai, Chiyoda, Yurakucho, Hanzomon, Namboku and Fukutoshin lines. [Toei] operates the Asakusa, Mita, Shinjuku, and Oedo lines. While the JR Yamanote Line is not a subway line, due to its importance as a major transportation artery in downtown Tokyo, it is usually featured on subway maps. In addition, there is a largely underground Rinkai Line, a private line which is operated by Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit [http://www.twr.co.jp] (web-site only in Japanese) or TWR, that passes through the island of Odaiba.
Announcements and signs are usually bilingual in Japanese and English, though in some areas frequented by tourists, signs in Korean and Chinese can also be seen.
A number of private commuter lines radiate from the Yamanote loop out into the outlying wards and suburbs, and almost all connect through directly to subway lines within the loop. The private lines are useful for day trips outside the city, and are slightly cheaper than JR. Among these, the most important to visitors is arguably the [Yurikamome] which offers great views on the way to the island of Odaiba.
Fares and hours
Most tickets and passes are sold from automated vending machines. Keep in mind that [JR trains are free with a Japan Rail Pass].
Prepaid fare cards are convenient and highly recommended because they allow you to ride trains without having to read the sometimes Japanese-only fare maps to determine your fare. There are two brands of prepaid fare cards, JR East's Suica, and PASMO, offered by private (non-JR) lines. Functionally they are completely interchangeable and can be used on just about every subway, train and bus line in Tokyo (with the noted exception of JR's Shinkansen and limited express trains).
The fare cards are rechargeable smart cards: you simply tap your card on the touch pad next to the turnstile as you go in, and do the same when going through to exit. There is an initial ¥500 deposit that you must pay when purchasing a fare card, but up to ¥20,000 in value can be stored on each card.
The older Passnet cards are not accepted anymore. If you still own some of these, you can exchange them for a PASMO or Suica card.
There are also some special tickets that allow unlimited travel, but most are unlikely to be useful to tourists unless you're planning to spend half your day on the train.
- The Tokunai Pass (都区内パス) is a one-day pass good for travel on JR lines anywhere in the 23 wards of Tokyo (including the entire Yamanote Line and many stations surrounding it). It costs ¥730, making it economical if you plan to make five or more train hops in one day. A variant is the Tokunai Free Kippu (都区内フリーきっぷ), which also includes a round-trip into Tokyo from stations in the surrounding prefectures. The Monorail And Tokunai Free Kippu, which is good for two days and includes a round-trip from Haneda Airport to central Tokyo, is also sold for ¥2,000.
- The Tokyo Free Kippu (東京フリーきっぷ) covers all JR, subway and city bus lines within the 23 wards. It costs ¥1,580 for one day, and covers a number of areas that are not served by JR, such as Roppongi and Odaiba.
- The Holiday Pass (ホリデーパス) covers the entire JR network in the Tokyo metropolitan area, including Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama and west Tokyo. It costs ¥2,300 for one day, and is only available on weekends, national holidays and during summer vacation (July 20 through August 31).
If you're paying à la carte, subway and train fares are based on distance, ranging from ¥110 to ¥310 for hops within central Tokyo. As a general rule of thumb, Tokyo Metro lines are cheapest, Toei lines are most expensive, and JR lines fall somewhere in the middle (but are usually cheaper than Metro for short trips, i.e. no more than 4 stations). Many of the private lines interoperate with the subways, which can occasionally make a single ride seem unreasonably expensive as you are in essence transferring to another line and fare system, even though you're still on the same train. E.g. changing between Metro subway line and Tokyu private line amounts to paying the sum of each fare: minimum fare Metro ¥160 + minimum fare Tokyu ¥120 = ¥280. In addition, several patterns of transfer are listed as Transfer Discount, and the most famous one is ¥70 discount, that applies to a transfer between Tokyo Metro and Toei subway lines. When using Suica or PASMO, you can get all transfer discounts automatically. At some transfer stations, you may need to pass through a special transfer gate (both for paper tickets and PASMO/Suica) which is coloured orange ndash; passing through the regular blue gate will not get you your transfer discount and if you have a paper ticket, you won't get it back. At some transfer points (e.g. Asakusa station) you may actually need to transfer on street level as the two stations (Metro Ginza Line and Toei Asakusa Line) are not physically connected and are about one block apart.
It pays to check your route beforehand. The [Tokyo Transfer Guide] by the Tokyo Metro and Toei subway companies, is an online service that allows you to plan subway and train travel from point A to point B, based on time, cost, and transfers. This guide provides information for Tokyo only, and there are other sites which additionally cover the whole country, see the Japan page. Some major stations have terminals providing information similar to the Tokyo Transfer Guide.
If you can't figure out how much it is to the destination, you can buy the cheapest ticket and pay the difference at the Fare Adjustment Machine ( norikoshi) at the end. Most vending machines will let you buy a single ticket that covers a transfer between JR, subway and private lines, all the way to your destination, but working out how to do this may be a challenge if you are not familiar with the system. When transferring between systems, whether paying with tickets or smart cards, use the orange transfer gates to exit. Otherwise, you'll be charged full fare for both separate parts of your trip, instead of the cheaper transfer fare.
Most train lines in Tokyo run from around 05:00 to 01:00. During peak hours they run about once every three minutes; even during off-peak hours it's less than ten minutes between trains. The only night when regular passenger services run overnight is for the New Year's Holiday on select lines.
For additional information for train travel in Japan generally, refer to the By rail section in the Japan article.
By taxi
Taxis are very pricey, but may be a value for groups of three or more. Also, if you miss your last train, you may not have another choice.
Fares generally start at ¥710 for the first two kilometers and can add up rapidly. A 20% night surcharge is tacked on from 22:00-05:00. As a rule of thumb, a daytime trip across the city from Tokyo station to Shinjuku station will cost approximately ¥3000, while a daytime trip from Tokyo station to Haneda Airport costs around ¥6200. These examples are based on standard routing and traffic conditions, so your actual fare may vary in relation to the estimated fare.
Taxi rear left passenger doors are operated by the driver and open and close automatically. Don't open or close them yourself.
Do not count on your taxi driver speaking English—or knowing more than the best-known locations, though most taxis have GPS car navi systems installed. The best and easiest thing to do is to prepare a map marked with where you want to go, and point it out on the map to the taxi driver. If you are staying at a hotel, they will provide a map. If possible, get a business card, or print out the address in Japanese of any specific places you wish to go. However, because in Japan streets are often unmarked, if the taxi driver does not have GPS he may not be able to do more than take you to the general vicinity of where you want to go. Also, note that taxis can get caught in traffic jams. No tips are expected or given.
[Nihon Kotsu] has a 24-hour English telephone number, 03-5755-2336, to call for a Nihon Kotsu taxi within Tokyo. There is a ¥400 booking fee for each reservation, payable to the driver at the end of the trip. The English receptionist will inform you about your assigned taxi by color, company name and taxi number. If you already have a destination (or a few) in mind, the receptionist will electronically transmit the information to the driver so that you don't have to tell the driver yourself.
By car
Tokyo is a gigantic warren of narrow streets with no names, with slow-moving traffic and extremely limited and expensive parking. In this city with such an excellent mass transit system, you would need a good reason to want to drive around instead. While renting a car can make sense in Japan in some contexts (e.g., visiting a rural onsen resort), in general it is neither convenient nor economical to rent a car to get around metro Tokyo. Taxis are much more convenient if your budget allows it; walking or public transportation is much less expensive and given the difficulties of navigation and finding parking in popular areas, probably easier too.
If you do decide to plunge in and drive around by car, the main expressway serving Tokyo is the Shuto Expressway, abbreviated to Shutoko (首都高) [http://www.shutoko.jp/english/]. The C1 Loop Line forms a circle around central Tokyo, similar in fashion to how the Yamanote Line does it by rail. But whereas the Yamanote Line charges ¥130-250 for a single trip, driving a car onto the Shutoko in Tokyo entitles you to pay a nominal entry fee of ¥700 every time you enter the system, with additional tolls (¥300 or ¥500) collected at various other locations.
Driving on the Tokyo Expressway at night can be a pleasant and beautiful experience as you whiz through and around the Tokyo nightlife. When driving at night you should exercise caution and obey speed limits: Street racing over the Shutoko at night became popular in the 80's and 90's and still happens today, albeit on a less frequent basis. Street racers often concentrate their driving on the C1 Loop Line and the Bayshore (more popularly known as the Wangan) Line. Competitors sometimes hang out at parking and service areas on the Shutoko, especially the large Daikoku Parking Area at the intersection of the Bayshore Line and the K5 Daikoku Line in Yokohama.
By bus
The few areas within Tokyo that aren't easily accessible by train are served by various bus companies. Buses operating within 23 wards of Tokyo have a fixed fare regardless of distance (¥200 on Toei buses [http://www.kotsu.metro.tokyo.jp/english/bus_op.html] and ¥210 on other private bus companies), which is paid upon boarding from the front door. The fares are not transferable; however most buses do accept Suica or PASMO fare cards (see above). If you use a Suica or PASMO card to board a Toei Bus, you will receive a ¥100 discount on your next Toei Bus ride as long as it is within 90 minutes of the previous ride. Compared to the trains, the buses run much less frequently, carry fewer passengers, and are much slower. This makes them amenable to the elderly residents of Tokyo, but rather inconvenient for travelers, who will also have to deal with lack of information in English and sometimes very well hidden bus stops. Bus routes can be fairly complicated and are often not listed in detail at the bus stops; signs on the buses themselves often list only two or three main stops in addition to the origin and destination. Inside the bus the next stop is usually announced several times, sometimes by a taped voice and sometimes by a mumbling driver. Recently taped announcements in English are used on some lines, but are still rare. Nevertheless, north-south routes are useful in the western side of the city since train lines (Odakyu, Keio, Chuo, and Seibu) tend to run east-west.
In an attempt to provide some information about their buses to foreign visitors/residents, Toei Bus now has a [web site] that shows some of the main bus routes used to go to certain destinations in Tokyo. This information is provided in English and several other languages.
Sky Hop Bus
Willer Express operates a hop-on, hop-off bus service called the [Sky Hop Bus], which bills itself as the first open-top double decker bus in Japan. At a charge of yen;1800 for a 24-hour pass and yen;2500 for a 48-hour pass (children half price), you can ride these buses and hop on and off as often as you wish. There are three bus routes that operate, all from the Marunouchi Building next to Tokyo Station: One route serves Asakusa and Tokyo SkyTree, the second runs to Roppongi and Tokyo Tower, and the third runs to Odaiba. Service only runs hourly, with departures from the Marunouchi Building between 10:20 and 18:30.
By ferry
The Tokyo Cruise Ship Company operates a series of Water Bus [http://www.suijobus.co.jp/english/] ferries along the Sumida River and in Tokyo Bay, connecting Asakusa, Hinode, Harumi and Odaiba. The ferries feature a recorded tour announced in English as well as Japanese and a trip on one makes for a relaxing, leisurely way to see the waterfront areas of Tokyo. Of particular note is the super-futuristic Himiko ferry [http://www.suijobus.co.jp/english/cruise_e/index_asa_line.html] designed by anime and manga creator Leiji Matsumoto, which runs on the Asakusa-Odaiba Direct Line. You might want to arrive well before the departure time just in case tickets on the Himiko sell out!
By bicycle
Bicycles are very commonly used for local transport, but amenities like bicycle lanes are rare, drivers pay little heed to bikes and traffic can be very heavy on weekdays, so if you use a bicycle, do not be afraid to cycle on the sidewalk (everyone does). Keep in mind, however, that parts of Tokyo are surprisingly hilly, and it's a sweaty job pedaling around in the summer heat. Central Tokyo can still be covered fairly comfortably by bike on the weekends. Tokyo Great Cycling Tour [http://www.tokyocycling.jp] offers a one day guided tour for biking around major tourist spots in Tokyo, like Marunouchi, Nihonbashi, Tsukiji, Odaiba, Tokyo tower, Imperial palace and so on.
Renting a bike is possible from some youth hostels, particularly around Asakusa, although it's not common. However, buying a simple single-speed roadster is fairly cheap, and comes complete with a built-in bicycle wheel lock system (this is what most Tokyoites use). An imported multiple-geared bike will be much more expensive so get a good lock, as bike theft is a common threat, although the problem is nowhere near as serious as in other countries.
By foot
In this large city with such an efficient public transportation system, walking to get from point A to point B would seem a bit stupid at first glance. However, as the city is extremely safe even at night, walking in Tokyo can be a very pleasant experience. In some areas, walking can be much shorter than taking the subway and walking the transit (the whole Akasaka/Nagatacho/Roppongi area in the center is for instance very easily covered on foot). If you have the time, Shinjuku to Shibuya via Omotesando takes roughly one hour, Tokyo Station to Shinjuku would be a half a day walk, and the whole Yamanote line Grand Tour takes a long day.
It's possible for English speakers to navigate their way around Tokyo without speaking any Japanese. Signs at subway and train stations include the station names in romaji (Romanized characters), and larger stations often have signs in Chinese and Korean as well. Though most people under the age of 40 have learnt English in school, proficiency is generally poor, and most locals would not know more than a few basic words and phrases. Some restaurants may have English menus, but it does not necessarily mean that the staff will speak much English. Reading and writing comes much better though, and many people can understand a great deal of written English without actually knowing how to speak it. That being said, staff at the main hotels and tourist attractions generally speak an acceptable level of English. While it is possible to get by with only English, it will nevertheless make your trip much smoother if you can learn some basic Japanese.
Tokyo has a vast array of sights, but the first items on the agenda of most visitors are the temples of Asakusa, the gardens of the Imperial Palace (in Chiyoda) and the Meiji Shrine (明治神宮 Meiji-jingū, in Harajuku).
Tokyo has many commercial centres for shopping, eating and simply wandering around for experiencing the modern Japanese urban phenomenon. Each of these areas have unique characteristics, such as dazzling Shinjuku, youthful Shibuya and upmarket Ginza. These areas are bustling throughout the day, but they really come into life in the evenings.
If you're looking for a viewing platform, Tokyo has plenty of options:
- The Tokyo SkyTree is Tokyo's latest attraction, not to mention it's also the second-tallest structure in the world, soaring to more than 2000 feet above the ground.
- The more familiar Tokyo Tower is still around, though not as expensive as its newest rival.
- For a view that's light on your wallet, head to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government buildings (in effect, Tokyo's City Hall) in Shinjuku. Its twin towers have viewing platforms that are absolutely free, and offer a great view over Tokyo and beyond.
- The World Trade Center Building (10:00-20:00, or 21:00 in July and August, ¥620) at JR Hamamatsucho station offers stunning views of Tokyo Tower and the waterfront due to its excellent location, especially at dusk.
- The Rainbow Bridge linking Tokyo to Odaiba is another good option, if you don't mind traffic noise and smell. The bridge's pedestrian walkways (open until 20:00 at night) are free, and the night-time view across Tokyo Bay is impressive.
- The Bunkyo Civic Center next to the Tokyo Dome, dubbed by one newspaper as a colossal Pez candy dispenser, has a free observation deck on the 25th floor offering an iconic view of Shinjuku against Mt. Fuji on a clear day.
The city is dotted with museums, large and small, which center on every possible interest from pens to antique clocks to traditional and modern arts. Many of the largest museums are clustered around Ueno. At ¥500 to ¥1,000 or more, entrance fees can add up quickly.
Riding [Sky Bus Tokyo], an open-top double-decker operated by Hinomaru Limousine (every hour between 10:00 and 18:00), is a good option to take a quick tour around the city center. The 45 minutes bus ride on the T-01 course will take you around the Imperial Palace via Ginza and Marunouchi district, showing the highlight of Tokyo's shopping and business center. The fare is ¥1,500 for adults of 12 years old and over, and ¥700 for children between 4 and 11 years old. You can borrow a multi-language voice guide system free of charge upon purchasing a ticket, subject to stock availability. Four other bus courses are offered, including a night trip to Odaiba, but those trips are conducted in Japanese with no foreign language guidance.
Other tour companies catering to foreign tourists offer bus tours with English guidance ndash; JTB is an excellent example.
- Tokyo City View
In Roppongi Hills has an observation deck ndash; admission is a steep ¥1500, but includes admission to the Mori Art Museum.
- Eat a sushi breakfast at the Tsukiji Fish Market.
- Take a boat ride on the Sumida River from Asakusa.
- Lose yourself in the dazzling neon jungle outside major train stations in the evenings. Shibuya and east Shinjuku at night can make Times Square or Piccadilly Circus look rural in comparison — it has to be seen to be believed.
- Enjoy a soak in a local sento or public bath. Or one of the onsen theme parks such as LaQua at the Tokyo Dome ( Bunkyo) or Oedo Onsen Monogatari in Odaiba.
- Go to an amusement park such as Tokyo Disney Resort, which consists of Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea which are Asia's most visited and second most visited theme parks respectively, or the more Japanese Sanrio Puroland (in Tama), home to more Hello Kitties than you can imagine.
- Join and bar hop or pub crawl along with events groups in Roppongi,
- Check out the hip and young crowd at Harajuku's Takeshita-Dori (Takeshita Street) or the more grown up Omotesando.
- In the spring, take a boatride in Kichijoji's lovely Inokashira Park, and afterwards visit the Ghibli Studios Museum (well known for their amazing movies, like Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke), but you will need to buy tickets for these in advance at a Lawson convenience store.
- Take the Yurikamome elevated train across the bay bridge from Shimbashi station to the bayside Odaiba district, and go on the giant ferris wheel — the largest in the world until recently.
- Watch a baseball game, namely the Yomiuri Giants at the Tokyo Dome, or the Tokyo Yakult Swallows at Jingu Stadium. Nearby Chiba hosts the Chiba Lotte Marines.
- Take a stroll through the Imperial Palace's East Gardens (open to the public daily at 09:00, except Fridays and Mondays).
- Have a picnic in a park during the cherry blossom (Sakura). Unfortunately Sakura only lasts for about a week in Spring. But be warned, parks are usually very crowded during this time.
- Join a local for a short lunch or dinner homestay with Nagomi Visit's [http://www.nagomivisit.com/] home visit program or participate in their cooking classes.
- Sanja Matsuri (三社祭), third weekend in May. Tokyo's largest festival, held near Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, this three-day extravaganza sees up to 2 million people turn out to watch the parade of portable shrines ( mikoshi) with music, dancing and geisha performances.
- Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival (隅田川花火大会 Sumidagawa Hanabi Taikai), fourth Saturday in July. Huge fireworks competition that sees up to a million people line the banks of the Sumida River.
The curious can study traditional culture such as tea ceremony, calligraphy, or martial arts such as Karate, Judo, Aikido and Kendo. There are also many language schools to help you work on your Japanese. Several universities in Tokyo cater to international students at the undergraduate or graduate level.
- Keio University (慶應義塾大学 Keiō Gijuku Daigaku), [http://www.keio.ac.jp]. Japan's top private university (unless you ask a Waseda student). Established in the samurai days of yore and has a stuffier rep than Waseda, with alumni including former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi. Main campus in Mita.
- Sophia University (上智大学 Jōchi Daigaku), [http://www.sophia.ac.jp]. A prestigious private, Jesuit university well known for its foreign language curriculae and large foreign student population. Main campus in Yotsuya.
- Tokyo Institute of Technology (東京工業大学 Tōkyō Kōgyo Daigaku), [http://www.titech.ac.jp/home.html]. Tokyo's top technical university. Main campus in Ookayama.
- University of Tokyo (東京大学 Tōkyō Daigaku), [http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/index_e.html]. Japan's uncontested number one university, especially strong in law, medicine and literature. For locals, passing the entrance exams is fiendishly difficult, but exchange students can enter much more easily. Five campuses are scattered around the city, but the main campus is in Hongo.
- Waseda University (早稲田大学 Waseda Daigaku), [http://www.waseda.jp]. Japan's top private university (unless you ask a Keio student), famous as a den of artists and partiers. Former prime minister Yasuo Fukuda is an alum. Main campus in Waseda.
Teaching English (or to a lesser extent, other foreign languages) is still the easiest way to work in Tokyo, but the city also offers more work options than other areas of the country: everything from restaurant work to IT. Certain nationalities are eligible for working holiday visas: for others, work permits can be very hard to come by without a job offer from a Japanese company. Consult your local Japanese consulate/embassy as far in advance as possible.
If it is for sale anywhere in the world, you can probably buy it in Tokyo. Tokyo is one of the fashion and cosmetic centers in the Eastern world. Items to look for include electronics, funky fashions, antique furniture and kimono, as well as specialty items like Hello Kitty goods, anime and comics and their associated paraphernalia. Tokyo has some of the largest electronic industries in the world, such as Sony, Panasonic, and Toshiba etc.
Cash payment is the norm. Most Japanese ATMs do not accept foreign cards, but post office, 7-Eleven and Citibank ones do and usually have English menus as well (more recently, Mitsubishi-UFJ has opened its ATMs to UnionPay and Discover card users, while Mitsui-Sumitomo allows the use of UnionPay cards for a ¥75 surcharge regardless of time of day). Although credit cards are more and more widely accepted, they are far less widespread than in most other developed countries. The crime rate is very low, so don't be afraid of carrying around wads of cash as the Japanese do. The average Japanese citizen will carry a month's worth of expenses on them (around ¥40,000 give or take). See Buy under Japan. for general caveats regarding electronics and media compatibility.
There are numerous convenience stores throughout Tokyo, which are open around the clock and sell not only food and magazines, but also daily necessities such as underwear and toiletries. Supermarkets are usually open until 22:00, while drugstores and department stores usually close at 21:00.
Anime and manga
Akihabara, Tokyo's Electric Town, is now also the unquestioned center of its otaku community, and the stores along Chuo-dori are packed to the rafters with anime (animation) and manga (comics).
Another popular district for all things manga/anime is the Nakano ward and its Broadway Shopping arkade. Check out the mandarake shop for loads of used and rare mangas.
In recent years there has been an otaku boom in Akihabara. A lot of attention in particular was paid to the town thanks to the popular Japanese drama Densha Otoko, a (true) love story about an otaku who saves a woman from a molester on a train and their subsequent courtship.
Akihabara was previously known for its many live performances and cosplayers, some of which had drawn negative attention due to extremist performers. These have become increasingly scarce following the Akihabara massacre in 2008, although girls in various maid costumes can still be seen standing along the streets handing out advertisement fliers to passers by for Maid Cafes.
Serious collectors should head for the Antique Mall in Ginza or the Antique Market in Omotesando, which despite the rustic names are collections of small very specialist shops (samurai armor, ukiyo-e prints, etc.) with head-spinning prices. Mere mortals can venture over to Nishi-Ogikubo, where you can pick up scrolls of calligraphy and such for a few thousand yen.
The Antique Festival (全国古民具骨董祭り) [http://www.kottouichi.jp/heiwajima.htm] is held over the weekend about 5-6 times a year at the Tokyo Ryutsu Center, on the Tokyo Monorail line, and is well worth a visit.
Jinbocho is to used books what Akihabara is to electronics. It's clustered around the Jinbocho subway stop.
The Blue Parrot is another shop located at Takadanobaba on the Yamanote line, just two stops north of Shinjuku.
Cameras and electronics
Ever since Sony and Nikon became synonymous with high-tech quality, Tokyo has been a favored place for buying electronics and cameras. Though the lines have blurred since the PC revolution, each has its traditional territory and stores: Akihabara has the electronics stores, including a large number of duty-free shops specializing in export models, and Shinjuku has the camera stores. Unfortunately, local model electronics are not cheap, but the export models are similar to what you'll pay back home. you can sometimes find cheap local models if you avoid big shops and check smaller retailers. It's also surprisingly difficult to find certain things e.g. games machines.
Shibuya and neighboring Harajuku are the best-known shopping areas for funky, youthful clothes and accessories. Note that, almost without exception, clothes are sized for the petite Japanese frame.
Department stores and exclusive boutiques stock every fashion label imaginable, but for global labels prices in Tokyo are typically higher than anywhere else in the world. The famous Ginza and Ikebukuro's giant Seibu and Tobu department stores (the largest in the world) are good hunting grounds. Recently, Roppongi Hills has emerged as a popular area for high-end shopping, with many major global brands. Other department stores in Tokyo are Mitsukoshi, Sogo, Marui (OIOI), and Takashimaya. Mitsukoshi is Japan's biggest department store chain. Its anchor store is in Nihonbashi. Marui Men store in Shinjuku has eight floors of high-end fashion for men only.
The district for this is Kappabashi Street near Asakusa, also known as "Kitchen Town." The street is lined with stores selling all kinds of kitchen wares — this is where the restaurants of Tokyo get their supplies. It's also a great place to find cheap Japanese ceramics, not to mention plastic food!
Ochanomizu is to the guitar what Jinbocho is to used books. There, you'll find what must be the world's densest collection of guitar shops. Plenty of other musical instruments (though not traditional Japanese ones) are also available.
For touristy Japanese knickknacks, the best places to shop are Nakamise in Asakusa and the Oriental Bazaar in Omotesando, which stock all the kitschy things like kanji-emblazoned T-shirts, foreigner-sized kimonos, ninja outfits for kids and ersatz samurai swords that can be surprisingly difficult to find elsewhere. Both also have a selection of serious antiques for the connoisseur, but see also Antiques above.
Street markets
Bustling open-air bazaars in the Asian style are rare in Tokyo, except for Ueno's Ameyoko, a legacy of the postwar occupation. Yanaka Ginza in the Shitamachi Taito district, a very nice example of a neighborhood shopping street, makes for an interesting afternoon browse.
There are often small flea and antique markets in operation on the weekend at major (and minor) shrines in and around Tokyo.
The sheer quantity and variety of food in Tokyo will amaze you. Department stores have food halls, typically in the basement, with food which surpasses top delicatessans in other world cities. Some basements of train stations have supermarkets with free taste testers. It's a great way to sample some of the strange dishes they have for free.
Tokyo has a large number of restaurants, so see the main Japan guide for the types of food you will encounter and some popular chains. Menus are often posted outside, so you can check the prices. Some shops have the famous plastic food in their front windows. Don't hesitate to drag the waiting staff out to the front to point at what you want. Always carry cash. Many restaurants will not accept credit cards.
Tokyo has literally tens of thousands of restaurants representing more or less every cuisine in the world, but it also offers a few unique local specialties. Within Japan, Tokyo cuisine is best known for 3 dishes: sushi, tempura, and unagi (freshwater eel). Nigirizushi (fish pressed onto rice), known around the world around simply as sushi, in fact originates from Tokyo, and within Japan is known as Edo-mae zushi (Edo-style sushi). Another is monjayaki (もんじゃ焼き), a gooey, cabbage-filled version of okonomiyaki that uses a very thin batter to achieve a sticky, caramelized consistency. It is originally from the Tsukishima area of Chuo and today there are many restaurants near Asakusa offering monjayaki.
- Hot Pepper Available in various editions, by region, around Tokyo, this free magazine offers a guide to local restaurants in Japanese but provides pictures and maps to the restaurants. Some restaurants even offer coupons. Most restaurants within this magazine are on the mid-range to high end scale.
Go to a convenience store ( konbini), there is one on every second corner. Really, the options may surprise you. You can get rice balls ( onigiri), bread-rolls, salads, prepared foods (like nikuman and oden), and drinks (both hot and cold) for ¥100-150, bentō lunch boxes for around ¥500 and sandwiches for ¥250-350. At most convenience stores, microwaves are available to heat up your food for no additional cost. Supermarkets ( sūpā) are usually cheaper and offer a wider choice, but are more difficult to find. (Try Asakusa and the sidestreets of Ueno's Ameyoko market for local—not big chain—supermarkets.) Also, ¥100 shops ( hyaku-en shoppu) have become very common, and most have a selection of convenient, ready to eat items. There are ¥100 shops near most minor train stations, and usually tucked away somewhere within two or three blocks of the big stations. In particular, look for the 99 and Lawson 100 signs; these chains are essentially small grocery stores.
Also, look for bentō shops like Hokka-Hokka-Tei which sell take-out lunch boxes. They range in quality and cost, but most offer good, basic food at a reasonable price. This is what students and office workers often eat.
Noodle shops, curry shops, and bakeries are often the best option for people eating on the cheap. They are everywhere. The noodle bars on every corner are great for filling up and are very cheap at ¥200–1000. You buy your meal ticket from a vending machine at the door with pictures of the dishes and hand it to the serving staff. The one question you will typically have to answer for the counterman is whether you want soba (thin brown buckwheat) or udon (thick white wheat) noodles. Some offer standing room only with a counter to place your bowl, while others have limited counter seating. During peak times, you need to be quick as others will be waiting.
Fast food is available just about everywhere, including many American chains like McDonald's and KFC. But if you are visiting Japan from overseas, and wish to sample Japanese fast food, why not try MOS Burger, Freshness Burger, Lotteria, or First Kitchen? If you're looking for something more Japanese, try one of the local fast food giants, Matsuya, Yoshinoya, and Sukiya, which specialize in donburi: a giant bowl of meat, rice, and vegetables, sometimes with egg thrown in for good measure, starting at below ¥300 for the flagship gyūdon (beef bowl). Another good option is oyako don (chicken and egg bowl, literally "mother and child bowl"), which the somewhat smaller chain Nakau specializes in. Drinking water or hot ocha (Japanese green tea) is usually available at no extra cost. There are also a number of tempura chains, with some budget options. More upscale but still affordable and rather more interesting, is Ootoya, which serves up a larger variety of home-style cooking for under ¥1000.
Raw fish enthusiasts are urged to try kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi), where the prices can be very reasonable. Prices do depend on the color of the plate, however, and some items are very expensive, so be sure to check before they start to pile up.
A great option for a quick bite or for groups is yakitori (grilled chicken) – individual skewers are often below ¥100.
Many of the larger train and subway stations have fast, cheap eateries. Around most stations, there will be ample choices of places to eat, including chain coffeeshops (which often serve sandwiches, baked goods, and pasta dishes), yakitori places, and even Italian restaurants.
There are a great many excellent and affordable lunch choices in busier neighborhoods like Shibuya and Shinjuku, especially during the week – expect to spend about ¥1000 (without drinks) for a meal.
By tradition the basement of almost any department store, including Mitsukoshi, Matsuzakaya, or Isetan, is devoted to the depachika (デパ地下), a huge array of small shops selling all kinds of prepared take-out food. You can assemble a delicious if slightly pricey picnic here – or, if you're feeling really cheap, just go around eating free samples! The very largest department stores are Tobu and Seibu in Ikebukuro, but Shibuya, Ginza and in fact any major Tokyo district will have their fair share. Shinjuku Station is home to several famous department stores, such as the Keio and Odakyu department stores. Many stores begin discounting their selections at about 19:00 each night. Look for signs and stickers indicating specific yen value or percentage discounts. You will often see half-price stickers which read 半値 ( hanne). This discounting is also common at supermarkets located at the smaller stations, although the quality may be a notch or two down from the department stores, it's still perfectly edible.
The ubiquitous izakaya, a cross between a pub and a casual restaurant, invariably serve a good range of Japanese dishes and can be good places to fill up without breaking the bank: in most, an evening of eating and drinking won't cost more than around ¥3000 per person. See Drink for details.
There is a great variety of restaurants serving Tokyo's world-famous sushi at every price point, with fish fresh from Tsukiji, the world's largest fish market. It is possible to get sushi for as little as ¥100/piece or less (at chain stores), or spend upwards of ¥10,000 yen (at elegant Ginza restaurants), but a typical spend is ¥3000–¥4000, depending on selection (drinks extra). Usually omakase (chef's choice) gives a good deal and selection, to which you can add a piece or two a la carte if desired. A popular choice with tourists is a sushi breakfast at Tsukiji, particularly for one's jet-lagged first morning, or after a night out partying. Most sushi shops in the outer market of Tsukiji open at 8 or 9 am, though there are some 24-hour shops, and particularly popular are two small stores in the inner market that open before 6 am and feature market ambience and very long queues; see Chuo: Mid-range dining.
The best-known tempura chain is Tsunahachi, where depending on the store you can pay from below ¥1000 for lunch to over ¥6000 for dinner.
A classic modern Japanese dish is tonkatsu ("pork cutlet"), and there are good Tokyo options; the fattier loin (ロース "roast") is generally considered tastier than the leaner fillet ( hire ヒレ). The most famous restaurant is Tonki, right by Meguro station (1-1-2 Shimo-Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo), serving a standard meal at about ¥1600, dinner only (from 4 pm). While it is an institution with a loyal clientele (and frequent lines), and decidedly has atmosphere (similar to an established New York deli), the food gets mixed reviews, and is less succulent than other options – an interesting experience, however. Next most famous is the chain [Maisen] (まい泉), which serves delicious if somewhat expensive tonkatsu (various varieties and seasonal options) at [many locations in Tokyo], most notably at their flagship shop in Aoyama by Omotesandō station (Jingumae 4-8-5, closing at 7 pm). The top-end dish is Okita Kurobuta (Berkshire pork by Mr. Okita), at ¥3,800 for a meal, though they have cheaper options. A modern option is [Butagumi], at Nishi-Azabu 2-24-9 (west of Roppongi station), serving a variety of premium pork brands expertly prepared.
Tokyo also has a large number of Korean restaurants, generally midrange, and many yakiniku (grilled meat) restaurants are Korean-influenced.
Tokyo has the world's highest number of Michelin-starred restaurants, with prices to match. For upmarket Japanese eats, Ginza is guaranteed to burn a hole in your wallet, with Akasaka and Roppongi Hills close behind. Top-end restaurants are primarily Japanese, with a few French. Beyond sushi, Japanese contemporary, and tempura, kaiseki and kappō cuisine are also high-end specialities. You can limit the damage considerably by eating fixed lunch sets instead of dinner, as this is when restaurants cater to people paying their own meals instead of using the company expense account.
There are currently four 3-star sushi restaurants in Tokyo, of which the most famous internationally is Sukiyabashi Jiro ( [home]), due to the movie Jiro Dreams of Sushi; reservations must be made on the 1st day of the preceding month, as they book up that day, and dinner is from ¥30,000. The cheapest of these top sushi restaurants is Saitō Sushi (03 3589 4412), where a small lunch can be had for as little as ¥5,000.
The party never stops in Tokyo (at least in the karaoke bars), and you will find good little bars and restaurants everywhere.
The most Japanese way to spend a night out as an individual or in a small group would be at Japanese-style watering holes called izakaya (居酒屋), which offer food and drink in a convivial, pub-like atmosphere (see Japan for details). Cheaper chain izakaya like Tsubohachi (つぼ八) and Shirokiya (白木屋) usually have picture menus, so ordering is simple, even if you don't know Japanese ndash; but don't be surprised if some places have Japanese only touchscreen ordering systems.
Another common option, which is often unbelievable to non-Japanese ears, is "all you can drink" ( nomihōdai, 飲み放題), where you can drink all you want from a fixed menu for 90 minutes or 120 minutes. This is aimed at group parties, and is generally paired with a meal, often "all you can eat" ( tabehōdai, 食べ放題), often in a private room. There are also a number of cheap bars where you can get a drink for ¥300 or even cheaper.
Tokyo's most distinctive drink is Hoppy ( hoppi, ホッピー), a virtually non-alcoholic beer-flavored drink (0.8% alcohol), which is drunk by mixing with shōchū (at 25%) at a 5:1 ratio, yielding an about 5% alcohol drink, essentially a substitute beer. This is available in older izakaya and has experienced a retro revival of late, though it is not particularly tasty. Another distinctively Tokyo drink is Denki Bran (電気ブラン, "electric brandy"), a herb-flavored brandy available (to drink in or in bottles) at the Kamiya bar (神谷バー) in Asakusa, right at the main intersection by the metro station.
The major brands of beer are widely available, typically ¥500–¥800 per glass or bottle, but microbrews and foreign beer are only rarely available and often very expensive. You're generally better off getting bottles of microbrews at speciality stores. [Popeye] in Ryōgoku is a rare exception, with 70 beers on tap! Another popular choice is Beer Station at Ebisu, serving a variety of Yebisu beers and matching German food.
For a splurge on a beverage or two, Western Shinjuku's Park Hyatt Tokyo houses the New York Bar on level 52. Providing stunning views day and night across Tokyo, it was also the setting for the movie Lost in Translation. Cocktails here start around ¥1400 – single malt whiskies are upwards of ¥2000. Amazing cocktails, served in "tasting flights" of 4 or 6 drinks, are made by [Gen Yamamoto] at his bar in Azabu-Jūban, at about ¥6000 for 6 drinks (a la carte cocktails are available in larger pours for ¥1600–¥1800).
Visiting clubs and western-style night spots can get expensive, with clubs and live houses enforcing weekend cover charges in the ¥2000–5000 bracket (usually including a drink coupon or two).
If you're new in town, Roppongi has establishments which specialize in serving foreigners ndash; but it's also overflowing with foreigners, hostesses, and 'patrons' who will continually hassle you to visit their gentlemen's clubs, where drinks cost ¥5000 and up. Many Japanese and foreigners avoid this area, preferring the clubs and bars in Shibuya instead, or trendy Ginza, Ebisu, or Shinjuku.
[The Hub], a chain of British-style pubs, has branches in Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Roppongi (as well as near most major stations) and is reasonably priced and popular among foreigners and Japanese alike. Other British/Irish pubs can be found in Roppongi, Shinjuku and Shibuya. Expect to pay around ¥1000 a pint, although happy hours can reduce this by a few hundred yen.
In Shibuya, the bar area behind 109 (not 109-2) and next to Dogenzaka (Love Hotel Hill) has a large number of clubs. Unlike those in Roppongi and Shibuya's Gas Panic, these clubs have entrance fees, but clubs without entrance fees often hassle you all night to buy drinks which ends up just as expensive and without people who are actually there to enjoy the music. Shinjuku is home to Kabukicho, Japan's largest red-light district. Also in Shinjuku is the gay bar district of Shinjuku-nichome. A little further from the city center are Shimokitazawa, Koenji and Nakano, full of good bars, restaurants and live houses offering underground/indie music popular with students and 20/30-somethings.
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Free Wifi
- 7 SPOT [ (Japanese Website)] Seven-Eleven convenience stores and Dennys restaurants offer Free Wifi service. 7SPOT to take advantage of member registration (free) can be used for up to 60 minutes per one login is required, you can access up to three times a day. [ Registration Page(Japanese)]
- [FreeSpot] FreeSpot offering free wireless Internet access, check out their maps of service areas
Paid Wifi
- [HOTSPOT] NTT Communications WiFi Service. ¥500/24h
Internet cafe
Good connections are available at Internet cafes everywhere. Expect to pay ¥400-¥500 per hour. Gera Gera is a popular chain. Paid WiFi service is also taking off in Tokyo with reasonable coverage ndash; at a price. WiFi services are probably not convenient for those just visiting.
If you bring your own computer with a WLAN card, it is possible to find wireless connections in fast food outlets like McDonald's or Mos Burger. You also have a good chance to find a connection in one of the numerous coffee shops. Just look for a wireless connection sign in the front window or computers within the shop. Note that free wireless is not nearly as prevalent in Japan as it is in the West.
Stay safe
Tokyo is probably one of the safest big cities you will ever visit, and Japan in general is one of the safest places to visit in the world. Most people, including single female travellers, would not encounter any problems walking along the streets alone at night. Street crime is extremely rare, even late at night, and continues to decrease. However, little crime does not mean no crime, and common sense should still be applied as anywhere in the world. Often the biggest risk is travellers taking Japan's visibly apparent lack of crime too close to heart and doing things they would never do back home.
The most common crime is sexual harassment on crowded trains, pressed up against each other, hands wander. This is more of a local problem as westerners are considered more aggressive and would stick up for themselves. The best way to deal with any wandering hands is to yell Chikan! which is the Japanese term for pervert.
Small police stations, or kōban (交番), can be found every few blocks. If you get lost or need assistance, by all means go to them; it's their job to help you! They have great maps of the surrounding area, and are happy to give directions. They may, however, have difficulties with English, so some knowledge of the Japanese language helps.
Take the usual precautions against pickpockets in crowded areas and trains. Also be aware that theft is more likely to occur in hangouts and bars popular with travellers and non-residents.
The red-light and nightlife districts can be a bit seedy, but are rarely dangerous. Note some small, back-street drinking establishments in red-light districts have been known to charge extortionate prices. Similar problems exist in the seedier upscale clubs in Roppongi, where it may be wise to check cover charges and drink prices in advance.
Still in a jam? Call [Tokyo English Life Line], tel. 03-5774-0992, daily 09:00-23:00.
If you make it as far out as the Izu Islands, note that visitors to Miyakejima Island are currently required to carry a gas mask, due to volcanic gases. Those in poor health are advised against travelling to the island.
Healthcare centres
- Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Medical Information Center
http://www.himawari.metro.tokyo.jp/qq/qq13enmnlt.asp, phone: +81 (0)3-5285-8181
Information about medical institutions as well as about the medical and health insurance system in Japan.
- Emergency Translation Services
, phone: +81 (0)3-5285-8185
Interpretation service through phone is also available for foreign patients visiting a hospital if their treatment is not going to be carried out smoothly because of language difficulty. (for medical purpose.English/Chinese/Korean/Thai/Spanish)
- chezvous
- Kinder-Network
http://www.kinder-network.com/english.html, email: firstname.lastname@example.com, phone: +81 (0)3-6415-8271
- Babysitters
http://www.babysitters.jp/, email: firstname.lastname@example.com;, phone: +81 (0)45-507-1888
- Afghanistan
2-2-1 Azabudai Minato-ku, http://www.afghanembassyjp.org/en/, phone: +81 3 5574-7611
- Albania
6-4-8 Tsukiji Chuo-ku, http://emb-al.jp/, phone: +81 3 3543-6861
- Algeria
2-10-67 Mita Meguro-ku, http://www.algerianembassy-japan.jp/algeria_japan_association.php?view=part3lang=en, phone: +81 3 3711-2661
- Angola
2-10-24 Daizawa Setagaya-ku, http://www.angola.or.jp/english/index.php, phone: +81 3 5430-7879
- Antigua Barbuda
8F 2-19-3 Nishi-Gotanda Shinagawa-ku, , phone: +81 3 3779-1341
- Argentina
2-14-14 Moto-Azabu Minato-ku, http://www.ejapo.mrecic.gov.ar/, phone: +81 3 5420-7101/5
- Armenia
1-11-36 Akasaka Minato-ku, http://japan.mfa.am/, phone: +81 3 6277-7453
- Australia
2-1-14 Mita Minato-ku, http://www.australia.or.jp/, phone: +81 3 5232-4111
- Austria
1-1-20 Moto-Azabu Minato-ku, http://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/embassy/tokyo.html, phone: +81 3 3451-8281/2
- Azerbaijan
1-9-15 Higashigaoka Meguro-ku, , phone: +81 3 5486-4744
- Bahrain
1-11-36 Akasaka Minato-ku, http://www.bahrain-embassy.or.jp/en/, phone: +81 3 3584-8001
- Bangladesh
4-15-15 Megro Meguro-ku, http://www.bdembjp.com/, phone: +81 3 5704-0216
- Belarus
4-14-12 Shirogane Minato-ku, , phone: +81 3 3448-1623
- Belgium
5-4 Nibancho Chiyoda-ku, http://www.diplomatie.be/tokyo/, phone: +81 3 3262-0191
- Belize
4-9-7 Nishi-Shinjuku Shinjuku-ku, , phone: +81 3 5365-3407
- Benin
4F 1-2-2 Hirakawa-cho Chiyoda-ku, , phone: +81 3 3556-2562
- Bhutan
3-2 Kanda-nishiki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, , phone: +81 3 3295-9288
- Bolivia
804 4-12-24 Nishi-Azabu Minato-ku, http://www.embassyofboliviainjapan.org/, phone: +81 3 3499-5442
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
5-3-29 Minami-azabu Minato-ku, , phone: +81 3 5422-8231
- Botswana
6F 4-5-10 Shiba Minato-ku, http://www.embassy-avenue.jp/bots/index.html, phone: +81 3 5440-5676
- Brazil
2-11-12 Kita-Aoyama Minato-ku, http://www.brasemb.or.jp/, phone: +81 3 3404-5211
- Brunei
6-5-2 Kitashinagawa Shinagawa-ku, http://www.bruemb.jp/, phone: +81 3 3447-7997
- Bulgaria
5-36-3 Yoyogi Shibuya-ku, http://www.mfa.bg/en/76/, phone: +81 3 3465-1021
- Burkina Faso
Hiroo Glisten Hills 3F 3-1-17 Hiroo Shibuya-ku, http://www.embassy-avenue.jp/burkina/index.html, phone: +81 3 3400-7919
- Cambodia
8-6-9 Akasaka Minato-ku, http://www.cambodianembassy.jp/, phone: +81 (0)0-5412-8521/2
- Cameroon
3-27-16 Nozawa Setagaya-ku, http://www.cameroon-embassy-jp.org/eng/index.html, phone: +81 3 5430-4985
- Canada
7-3-38 Akasaka Minato-ku, http://www.canadanet.or.jp/english.shtml, phone: +81 3 5412-6200
- Central African Republic
4-38-9 Nakamachi Setagaya-ku, , phone: +81 3 3702-8808
- Chile
Nihon Seimei Akabanebashi Bldg. 8F 3-1-14 Shiba Minato-ku, http://www.chile.or.jp/, phone: +81 3 3452-7561/2
- China
3-4-33 Moto-Azabu Minato-ku, http://www.china-embassy.or.jp/chn/, phone: +81 3 3403-3380
- Colombia
3-10-53 Kami-Osaki Shinagawa-ku, http://www.colombiaembassy.org/, phone: +81 3 3440-6451
- Congo (Democratic Rep)
1-2F 5-8-5 Asakusabashi Taito-ku, http://www.ambardcongo.com/, phone: +81 3 5820-1580/1
- Costa Rica
No.38 Kowa Building 9F 901 4-12-24 Nishi-Azabu Minato-ku, , phone: +81 3 3486-1812
- Cote D'Ivoire
2-19-12, Uehara, Shibuya-ku, http://www.ahibo.com/ambaci-jp/, phone: +81 3 5454-1401/2/3
- Croatia
3-3-10 Hiroo Shibuya-ku, http://jp.mfa.hr/?mv=2806mh=481, phone: +81 3 5469-3014
- Cuba
1-28-4 Higashi-Azabu Minato-ku, http://www.embassy-avenue.jp/cuba/index.html, phone: +81 3 5570-3182
- Cyprus
Hibiya Marine Bldg 7F 1-5-1 Yurakucho Chiyoda-ku, , phone: +81 3 3592-0611
- Czech Republic
2-16-14 Hiroo Shibuya-ku, http://www.embassy-avenue.jp/czech/index.htm, phone: +81 3 3400-8122/3/5
- Denmark
29-6 Sarugaku-cho Shibuya-ku, http://www.ambtokyo.um.dk/da, phone: +81 3 3496-3001
- Djibouti
5-18-10 Shimo-Meguro Meguro-ku, http://www.djiboutiembassy.jp/, phone: +81 3 5704-0682
- Dominican Republic
No.38 Kowa Building 904 4-12-24 Nishi-Azabu Minato-ku, , phone: +81 3 3499-6020
- Ecuador
No.38 Kowa Building 806 4-12-24 Nishi-Azabu Minato-ku, http://www.ecuador-embassy.or.jp/e/index.html, phone: +81 3 3499-6020
- Egypt
1-5-4 Aobadai Meguro-ku, , phone: +81 3 3770-8022/3
- El Salvador
No.38 Kowa Building 803 4-12-24 Nishi-Azabu Minato-ku, , phone: +81 3 3499-4461
- Eritrea
401 4-7-4 Shirokanedai Minato-ku, http://www.eritreaembassy-japan.org/visa_en.html, phone: +81 3 5791-1815
- Estonia
2-6-15 Jingu-mae Shibuya-ku, http://www.estemb.or.jp/index.html?lang=4, phone: +81 3 5412-7281
- Ethiopia
Takanawa Kaisei Bldg. 2F 3-4-1 Takanawa Minato-ku, http://www.ethiopia-emb.or.jp/e-front/, phone: +81 3 5420-6860/1
- Finland
3-5-39, Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-8561, http://www.finland.or.jp, email: firstname.lastname@example.com, phone: +81-3-5447 6000, fax: +81-3-5447 6042
- Iceland
4-18-26 Takanawa Minato-ku, http://www.iceland.is/iceland-abroad/jp/, phone: +81 3 3447-1944, fax: +81 3 3447-1945
- Indonesia
5-2-9 Higashi Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, http://www2.indonesianembassy.jp/, email: email@example.com, phone: +81 3 3441-4201, fax: +81 3 3447-1697
- Ireland
2-10-7 Kojimachi Chiyoda-ku, http://www.irishembassy.jp/, phone: +81 3 3263-0695
- Malaysia
20-16 Nanpeidai-Cho Shibuya-Ku, http://www.kln.gov.my/web/jpn_tokyo/, email: firstname.lastname@example.com, phone: +81 3 3476-3840, fax: +81 3 3476-4971
- Netherlands
3-6-3 Shibakoen, Minato-ku, http://japan.nlambassade.org//, phone: +81 3 5776-5400, fax: +81 3 5776-5535
- New Zealand
New Zealand Embassy, Tokyo, 20-40 Kamiyama-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0047, http://www.nzembassy.com/japan/about-embassy/contact-us, email: firstname.lastname@example.com, phone: +81 (03) 3467-2271, fax: +81 (03) 3467-2278
- Pakistan
4-6-17 Minami-Azabu, MInato-ku, http://www.pakistanembassyjapan.com/, phone: +81 3 5421-7741, fax: +81 3 5421-3610
- Panama
4-12-24 Nishi Azabu, Minato-ku, http://www.embassyofpanamainjapan.org/, email: firstname.lastname@example.com, phone: +81 3 3499-3741, fax: +81 3-5485-3548
- Poland
2-13-5 Mita, Meguro-ku, 153-0062, http://tokio.msz.gov.pl/en/, email: email@example.com, phone: +81 3 5794-7020, fax: +81 3 5794-7024
- Portugal
Kamiura Kojimachi Bldg. 4F, 3-10-3, Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083 Japan (Cultural and Consular); Burex Kojimachi 901, 3-5-2, Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083 Japan (Comercial Section), Kamiura Kojimachi Bldg. 5F 3-10-3, Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083, http://www.embaixadadeportugal.jp/pt/, email: firstname.lastname@example.com, phone: +81-(03)5212-7322, fax: +81-(03)5226-0616
- Singapore
http://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/overseasmission/tokyo.html, email: firstname.lastname@example.com, phone: +81 (3) 3586-9111/2, fax: +81 (3) 3582-1085
- Spain
1-3-29 Roppongi Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032, 1-3-29 Roppongi Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032, http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Embajadas/TOKIO/en/Pages/inicio.aspx, email: firstname.lastname@example.com, phone: +81 (3) 3583-8531/2
- Switzerland
5-9-12 Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-8589, http://www.eda.admin.ch/tokyo, email: firstname.lastname@example.com, phone: +81 3-5449-8400
- Tajikistan
1-4-43 Nishi-Azabu Minato-ku, http://www.tajikistan.jp/, phone: +81 3 6804-3660/1
- Tanzania
4-21-9 Kamiyoga Setagaya-ku, http://www.embassy-avenue.jp/tanz/index.html, phone: +81 3 3425-4531
- Thailand
2-2-1 Kudan-Minami Chiyoda-ku, http://www.thaiembassy.jp/rte2/, phone: +81 3 3222-4101
- Turkey
2-33-6 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, http://tokyo.emb.mfa.gov.tr/, phone: +81 3 6439-5700
- Uganda
9-23 Hachiyama-cho Shibuya-ku, http://www.uganda-embassy.jp/, phone: +81 3 3462-7107
- Ukraine
3-5-31 Nishi-Azabu Minato-ku, http://www.mfa.gov.ua/japan/en/, phone: +81 3 5474-9770
- United Arab Emirates
9-10 Nanpeidai-cho Shibuya-ku, http://www.uaeembassy.jp/, phone: +81 3 5489-0804
- United Kingdom
1 Ichiban-cho, Chiyoda-ku, http://ukinjapan.fco.gov.uk/en/, phone: +81 3 5211-1100
- United States
1-10-5 Akasaka Minato-ku, http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/, phone: +81 3 3224-5000
- Uruguay
No.38 Kowa Building 908 4-12-24 Nishi-Azabu Minato-ku, , phone: +81 3 3486-1888
- Uzbekistan
5-11-8 Shimomeguro Meguro-ku, , phone: +81 3 3224-5000
- Venezuela
No.38 Kowa Building 703 4-12-24 Nishi-Azabu Minato-ku, , phone: +81 3 3409-1501/4
- Vietnam
50-11 Moto-yoyogi-cho Shibuya-ku, http://www.mofa.gov.vn/vnemb.jp/, phone: +81 3 3760-5625
- Yemen
No.38 Kowa Building 807 4-12-24 Nishi-Azabu Minato-ku, http://www.yemen.jp/, phone: +81 3 3499-7151/2
- Zambia
1-10-2 Ebara Shinagawa-ku, http://www.zambia.or.jp/contacts1.html, phone: +81 3 3491-0121/2
- Zimbabwe
5-9-10 Sirokanedai Minato-ku, , phone: +81 3 3280-0331/2
Go next
From Tokyo, the entire surrounding Kanto region is your oyster. Particularly popular destinations nearby include:
- Hakone mdash; for hot springs and views of Mount Fuji
- Kamakura mdash; home to dozens of small temples and one Big Buddha
- Nikko mdash; grandiose shrine and burial site of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu
- Odawara mdash; houses the only Japanese castle in greater Tokyo area
- Tokyo Disney Resort mdash; with Tokyo Disneyland (just like the ones everywhere else) and Tokyo Disney Sea (an only-in-Japan theme park which includes some unique rides and some imported rides from Disney parks outside of Japan)
- Yokohama mdash; Japan's second-largest city and a suburb of Tokyo
The Tokyo area also has some less-famous destinations that are easy day trips from central Tokyo:
- Ashikaga mdash; historical hometown of a famous shogun clan
- Hachioji mdash; a refreshing climb up Mt. Takao through a forest to a shrine and beer garden
- Kawasaki mdash; home to the Nihon Minka-En park with 24 ancient farmhouses (more interesting than it sounds), not to mention the annual Festival of the Iron Penis (Kanamara Matsuri)
- Kinugawa mdash; home to Edo Wonderland, a kitschy theme park recreating 1800's Japan
- Fujino mdash; a small town popular with locals and foreigners alike interested in the arts. Beautiful scenery and very refreshing after the bustle of Tokyo.
And don't forget the islands to the south of Tokyo:
- Izu Islands mdash; easily accessible seaside and hotspring getaways
- Ogasawara Islands mdash; 1000nbsp;km away from big-city bustle, for whale watching, diving and those who want to get away from it all
A list of contributors is available at the original Tokyo article at Wikivoyage.
Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 licence.


text:
With the announcement that Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode is coming to Borderlands 2 it has become necessary to update the mission infobox template to accommodate the third level and rewards. As a result of this all mission articles can now be considered a stub article in need of infobox updates, whether they are currently tagged as stubs or not.
To update pages simply add the new fields
| level3 = | rewards3 =
... to the infobox below the level 2 entries, but only if you have the data to supply, or are updating a Borderlands 2 mission article for some other reason - we don't need extra page edits just to add blank fields.
I look forward to seeing the data roll in.
Additionally I have updated the level 2 entries to display "True Vault Hunter Mode" instead of "Playthrough 2" based on which game is listed in the "Game" field.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Rumors were rife in the past that Alcatel had been preparing to launch its new 2K resolution smartphone later this fall. But today, a strange rumor has surfaced on the internet, and it's not even related to a 2K resolution Android-powered handset.
A Tablet-News report claims that Alcatel will release its first ever 2K resolution supported tablet shortly. Apparently the supposed 8-inch tablet device has passed Wi-Fi certification over the past week, reports Tablet-News. The specs sheet also shows a plethora of details that we didn't yet know about.
Recommended: Top 5 Xiaomi Mi3 Accessories Now Available in India
The alleged D802X tablet will most likely be called OneTouch Hero 8. It will reportedly be powered by a 1.9GHz MediaTek MT6595 processor, paired with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of on-board storage. The device would also feature an 8-inch display having a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440-pixels. The slate also got an 8MP rear-facing camera. The forthcoming tablet will run on the latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat mobile OS.
What's more, the new tablet is expected to be made available in China under TCL brand name and Alcatel OneTouch Hero 8 globally.
Well, the specs sheet of the supposed Alcatel OneTouch Hero 8 has already blown our mind. Notably, these leaks seem to be extremely sketchy, at least at this point of time. We'll just have to wait and watch what is and isn't accurate. Stay tuned to GizBot for more updates!


text:
A companion to the 'Customs Modernization Handbook', this book provides case studies on customs modernization initiatives in seven countries: Bolivia, Morocco, Mozambique, Peru, the Philippines, Turkey, and Uganda. The initiatives in each of these countries show similarities as well as differences in their approach and design. Some have relied on a model of independent revenue authorities (Uganda and Peru), others have called upon private sector service providers to initiate the modernization process (Mozambique), others have taken the drastic step of a complete overhaul of their customs staff (Bolivia and Mozambique), others introduced new information technology to streamline customs processes and to integrate other members of the trading community into an electronic network (Ghana), while still others have approached the modernization process as a pragmatic, well-focused, result-oriented process.
Format: ePUB
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 146
Published: 1st August 2004
Publisher: World Bank


text:
How can I learn construction details the best. There is a bunch of them... From floor details to roof details + knowing where to place screens etc on the construction...
If anybody have tips please let me know! :)
Most Helpful Guy
I assume you mean actually doing the construction, not the design like an architect would do.
Mostly you learn from doing it. There are some schools and books on it, but they are very limited. It's the kind of thing you have to do hands-on to really learn it.
The best thing is to do remodeling work because you get involved in a lot of different aspects of construction. In new construction you normally only work in one specialized area, so you don't learn the other trades as well. However in the rare cases when one person is involved in all phases of new construction, that would be the best of all.
Much of construction work is common sense, assuming you are relatively handy to start with. It's something that a person with no experience can do *IF* they take their time to study things ahead of time, think things through very well, and are very organized and systematic.
Another thing that helps is to spend lots of time at home improvement stores. Spend lots of time walking through various kinds of stores that sell construction supplies. For example hardware stores, plumbing supplies, kitchen and bathroom supplies, lumber, etc. Just seeing all the variety of things available will allow you to think of things that you might otherwise never think of. You also have a chance to see things and try to figure out what they are, and what the differences are between similar things.
And of course, talk to people and ask questions. Even professionals do that constantly. Nobody can be an expert in all areas of construction, so talking to specialists in other fields is always part of doing construction.00|00|0


text:
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text:
Like if you were blindfolded and dropped off at a random place would you be able find your way home?
- I know it like the back of my handVote A
- I know some parts but not allVote B
- I have no idea where i am right nowVote C
Most Helpful Girl
I live in a town with less than 2000 people. That's how small it is, and most people live out in the valley. It would be extremely easy to find my way around.
I grew up there. Although I haven't seen every nook and cranny, it's impossible to get lost.00|00|0
Although, if I was dropped off in a different city, I might get lost. I've only been to 5 cities in my state, so I don't know it that well.
Most Helpful Guy
I've been here for nearly 4 years now, don't know it so well but I think I could find my way home (without using gps) wherever you put me, I'd just walk towards the biggest road I could find and then I'm sure I could find a metro station or bus station somewhere. I used to get lost a lot when I first moved here and i didn't have a smartphone so I used this tactic to find my way (or asked someone how to reach the metro if I got really lost)00|00|0


text:
Thailand (Again) – Part 1
You might know that I visited Thailand for two weeks in the beginning of October. You might also know that I also visited Thailand in 2010 shortly after I started this blog. When I told people that I was planning to visit Thailand again their response was always, "But, why go again? There are other places to see in the world.". Yes, there are many other places to visit but I loved Thailand so much when I first visited that I knew that I would some day visit again. I felt like I had unfinished business in Thailand. So, I went again. What made this trip even more special was that my best friend of 20 years, Janine, joined me.
Travelling with Janine was on my bucket list. We tried to plan trips before but something always came up. It was hard to synchronise our schedules. Janine nonchalantly whatsapped me to say that she might be able to join me on my Thailand trip and I didn't really believe her but I went with it. A couple of whatsapp messages later and we booked out flights! Just like that! Spontaneous trips are the best trips. Three short weeks later we were meeting at the airport nervous about saying goodbye to her baby girl Riley. It went well and off we went.
Our Thai adventure started in Bangkok. Janine had to acclimatize to the unique smell of everything in the city. For some reason unknown to me, the smells didn't affect me as much as they did during my first visit. We had our first meal at MBK Center and that sparked our love affair with Thai food. Man, the food was good in Bangkok! We looked forward to every meal and could not stop praising the food. Janine sometimes struggled to choose only one dish and would then order a few which she could not finish of course.
The rest of the trip was naturally filled with shopping for me. Janine spent some time at the temples which is where the lovely temple pics below come from. The shopping was not as easy for me as it was during my last trip. Mostly because I am one size bigger than I was when I visited in 2010. This made finding clothing more difficult but I found enough to fill my suitcase to the brim including gifts of course. If I could add one more place to my Shopping in Bangkok guide I would add Siam. I am not talking about the many malls in the area, which are great by the way. I am talking about the many stalls on the street outside the malls. These stalls stock the most beautiful clothing for so so cheap. I was so overjoyed to visit the Chatuchak Market again. I have been dreaming about it since my last trip. It was an awesome as I remember it bar a few changes.
Another Bangkok highlight for us was clubbing! Janine and I go clubbing from time to time. We both love dancing and we were so eager to experience clubbing in Bangkok. We both packed very minimally for out trip so we were without shoes to go clubbing in. We tried to buy shoes beforehand but we could not find anything and this how I ended up going to a club in Birkenstocks! To be honest, this made the night even more fun. Not only was it a first to go clubbing in Bangkok but also a first to go clubbing in ugly shoes and not give a ****. We had an amazing time and throughly enjoyed taking a tuk tuk back to our hotel in the early hours of the morning.
I enjoyed being back in Bangkok and not feeling the need to do anything specific or feeling forced to take pictures. I did what I felt like doing and just enjoyed myself. I can't possibly write about everything that happened in Bangkok but all in all we had an amazing memorable time. I am so grateful that I got to experience Bangkok with my bestie. Like I said, I didn't take many pics but here are some of my favourites. You can also find more pics on my Instagram account under the the tag #embracingthailand.


text:
more than one million people in the united states get cancer a year.Cancer is a class of diseases characterized by out-of-control cell growth. There are over 100 different types of cancer, and each is classified by the type of cell that is initially affected.
Cancer harms the body when damaged cells divide uncontrollably to form lumps or masses of tissue called tumors. Tumors can grow and interfere with the digestive, nervous, and circulatory systems, and they can release hormones that alter body function. Tumors that stay in one spot and they can spread.
the most known ways that people get cancer is by smoking, drinking, hpv, and sun rays


text:
Volume 16 - Article 2 | Pages 27–58
A new perspective on population aging
|Date received:
|02 Aug 2006
|Date published:
|16 Jan 2007
|Word count:
|aging, historical demography, life expectancy, median age, population forecasting, prospective age
In Sanderson and Scherbov (2005) we introduced a new forward-looking definition of age and argued that its use, along with the traditional backward-looking concept of age, provides a more informative basis upon which to discuss population aging. Age is a measure of how many years a person has already lived. In contrast, our new approach to measuring age is concerned about the future.
In this paper, we first explore our new age measure in detail and show, using an analytic formulation, historical data, and forecasts, that it is, in most cases, insensitive to whether it is measured using period or cohort life tables. We, then, show, using new forward-looking definitions of median age and the old age dependency ratio, how combining the traditional age concept and our new one enhances our understanding of population aging.
Author's Affiliation
Warren C. Sanderson - Stony Brook University, United States of America
Sergei Scherbov - Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, VID/ÖAW, WU), Austria
Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research
Differences by union status in health and mortality at older ages: Results for 16 European countries
Volume 35 - Article 19
Does selection of mortality model make a difference in projecting population ageing?
Volume 34 - Article 2
Quantifying policy tradeoffs to support aging populations
Volume 30 - Article 20
Very long range global population scenarios to 2300 and the implications of sustained low fertility
Volume 28 - Article 39
Significance of life table estimates for small populations: Simulation-based study of estimation errors
Volume 24 - Article 22
Projection of populations by level of educational attainment, age, and sex for 120 countries for 2005-2050
Volume 22 - Article 15
Marriage in Russia: a reconstruction
Volume 10 - Article 2
Period Fertility in Russia since 1930: an application of the Coale-Trussell fertility model
Volume 6 - Article 16
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Cited References: 23
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text:
Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia's restructuring plan
Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia Oyj is cutting 10,000 more jobs and selling off its luxury handset unit Vertu, in a bid to keep the company alive in the face of a weakening market share and cash position.
Following is a summary of the company's announcements on Thursday:
Plans to reduce up to 10,000 jobs globally by the end of 2013. The cuts will come from a wide range of segments including IT, corporate and support functions, and research and development. Cuts in research and development include closure of facilities in Ulm, Germany and Burnaby, Canada. The company will also close its plant in Salo, Finland, although research there is due to continue.
Aims to reduce its devices and services non-IFRS operating expenses to an annualized run rate of 3.0 billion euros ($3.8 billion) by the end of 2013.
Expects additional charges of around 1.0 billion euros related to restructuring activities in devices and services by the end of 2013. This is in addition to charges related to previously announced restructuring activities.
Sees restructuring-related cash outflows to be around 650 million euros in 2012 and 600 million in 2013.
Says industry competition more harsh than expected in the second quarter and expects that to continue through the third quarter.
Expects second-quarter non-IFRS operating margin to be below the negative 3.0 percent reported in the first quarter.
Plans to divest Vertu to EQT VI, a European private equity firm. The value of deal was not disclosed. Nokia will retain a 10 percent stake.
Plans to buy assets from Sweden-based Scalado, which specialises in mobile imaging technology.
Marketing chief Jerri DeVard, basic phone unit chief Mary McDowell and sales chief Niklas Savander to leave.
Juha Putkiranta will take over as head of operations, Timo Toikkanen as head of basic phone business, Chris Weber as head of sales, Tuula Rytila as chief of marketing and Susan Sheehan as chief of communications.
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Mugged by Mr. Badwrench: An Insider's Guide to Surviving the Shark-Infested Waters of Buying, Maintaining, and Repairing Your Car
In straightforward, honest language, Sal Fariello guides the consumer through the treacherous waters of car repair, from getting free repairs out of warranty to spotting lousy car dealers. He exposes common rip-offs and provides average car owners with the tricks of the trade.
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"Blood test"
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