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Shinjuku Dori
in downtown, Tokyo
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There is probably no way a couple of sentences could describe the
city. An ultramodern cosmopolitan metropolis with a history on its
own, and over ten million people simultaneously altering its present,
the capital of Japan, an economic and cultural juggernaut. One of
the most notable places on the face of the earth that everyone knows
something about. It has as many sides to it as many faces you see
on the streets, you simply have to experience Tokyo to have a vague
idea on what it should mean to you. With some attitude into it,
find your own way through the maze of interests and subcultures,
and give up on the idea of consuming it in its entirety, otherwise
you'll end up being consumed by it instead.
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The Hozo-mon gate
in Asakusa, Tokyo
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As every modern city, its an ocean of opportunities for both
locals and visitors, an ideal place to amuse yourself as a tourist
for weeks, or to find a lifestyle of your own pace for months
or years. There's plenty of historic sights both hyped up and
hidden in the shadows of major attractions, and a lot of activities
you could participate in from world debut of new technology, conventions
of nearly all kinds from anime through cars, fashion, sports to
health, and festivals for all seasons. You'll probably need to
offer something in exchange of course, but as opposed to the common
misrepresentation of Tokyo being overly expensive, it's not necessarily
money, but your own effort to give it your best catching up with
yourself and to find what you were looking for. For more information
on Tokyo flip through the rest of the articles in
the travel guide. Reading them while browsing the photos might
be entertaining as well. Not to mention that both are much more
informative if used together...
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City view
in Shinjuku, Tokyo
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Even with this much basic, miscellaneous and practical information
thrown in, we can't possibly take on the task to introduce every
detail of the city. But with these albums - and our own take on
what a travel guide could be - we hoping that the site could be
used as... some extensive visual tour through famous and/or typical
scenes of featured districts, with mildly serious practical narration,
and lots of photos on the locations. But even with this many images
the albums can't be a representation of the entire city, probably
no collection would be, nonetheless they will provide you with a
fair amount of the many atmospheres to find your way around. Otherwise
for those who are interested, for the few districts not shown and
more in-depth textual information on those that are featured, there
are some much more detailed travel guides available. Such books
will do a great job on providing tips on travel planning, information
on accommodation, the history of the sights and the
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Cosplay girls
Jingubashi, Tokyo
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background of each district. We'd recommend the Japan
guidebook published by Lonely Planet for its wide variety
of authors and constant updates with each edition, or from the
same source a separate compilation is available on Tokyo
itself.
The site features a list
of interesting locations in Tokyo with the least possible
compromises towards our own preferences ( sorry ). Many of them
might ring a bell for people with some knowledge of history or
an eye out for Japanese entertainment, all of them are well known
town centers with a unique style... well basically cities within
the city. If it's not much to ask, for your own benefit do take
your time to browse through those short descriptions on the Tokyo
Pictures Page, in which we tried to convey some of the
atmosphere of the different areas, and in case you still have
no idea where to start... you could still follow through the Tokyo
Scenes album series. Which is a heavily biased but quite
practical way to familiarize yourself with a certain kind of Tokyo,
for there are many, and follow up on the districts either on this
site, in a separate publication... or even in real life. Well
that's what we're hoping to get you into anyway.
For the casual visitors though, we feel that at least a minor warning
should be sent out. Japan is not the Japan you ( and especially
those not familiar with at least its pop culture ) think it is.
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Takeshita dori fashion
in Harajuku, Tokyo
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Tokyo is the best example on how different the overseas image and
the actual country is. If you're after the standard (mis)representation
of a probably never existed legendary place with an almost too strange
to be believable attitude towards pride, women, work, honor, sitting
still, dragging traditions and views of life... forget it right
now. Japan is actually a place were the inhabitants are people,
meaning they - apart from a different history and minor differences
in buildup - are actually after the same things as everyone else
on the face of earth. The ways Japanese pursue their happiness might
be a little different from other places, but if you didn't know
the country at all... you'll find that the the modern Japan is much
more closer to a hyper version of Europe or East-Coast US, than
you'd think. If you look further into understanding the people even
the differences will be but entertaining new aspects of the same
goals. Don't get this wrong, history and religion haven't disappeared,
only that they were never what they seemed from afar, and all ages
are still in love with the thousands of years of great traditions,
festivals and legends ( but you see... legends are what they are
called... legends ) and even among these only the good and fun ones
are kept in practice... brooding over things and dragging an overdue
view on something isn't a social habit in Japan.
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Hachiko crossing
in Shibuya, Tokyo
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How it all has come to this... well... must have been that few
decades of nightmare during the last century. And the few decades
of waking up and having need to restart from nothing. Exaggeration
of the differences in the most ignorant time of history have lead
to an... otherwise quite interesting phenomenon... that the real
Japan is in fact everything but what it is famous for. It's modern
as in willing to change its ways, people oriented, caring and
selfish as anyone, peace loving yet loud and overdosed with energy,
an entire society getting high on exploring new ways in everything,
let it be entertainment, technology, philosophy, religion or politics.
The overall trend in the last hundred and fifty years seems to
be... if you want to be happy and need to change, adapt, adopt
or learn... do it. Don't whine, just do it right now. So... expect
this if you were after the geishas, the samurai or afraid of a
salary-man society. Not everyone in the US is a cowboy, neither
are all Canadians chopping trees right ? Sorry for the analogy
( sorry!! ) but... it felt so awkward having to explain this to
even the most open minded travelers over and over again... this
is the actual reality... Japan, and Tokyo is not calm... but cool
- ^.^
Japan Guide
- Japan
Visa, border entry, what to bring and be prepared with
- Japanese maps,
Navi mobile navigation, easy orientation for travelers
- Convenience
stores, the resupply stations that sell everything
- Japanese Vending
machines, for drinks, tickets, cigarettes and more
- Japanese Food, and
all kinds of food in Japan, restaurants, fast food, cheap food...
Tokyo guide
- Tokyo - as we see it
- introduction
- Budget Tokyo
apartment rental, accommodation, let go of the concern
- Tokyo Prices, the
real cost vs. western legends, how to make most of your budget
- Cheap Tokyo Stores, bargain
tips, where to find what, fashion to electronics
- Tokyo Cafe life, a
guide to Cafes serving as meeting points, hangouts and life-savers
- Tokyo Parks
and Gardens, well maintained icons of tranquility, tradition
or having fun
- The Tokyo crowd...
escaping from Tokyo to Tokyo, evading downtown rushhours
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Travel
Tokyo and Japan in real life Pictures
