The railway cuts in two this district with a tendency towards schizophrenia. In the west there is the studious atmosphere proper to business and administrative hub (head offices and town hall) as well as the cultural polish of the Seijo Togo Memorial..

The district of Kabiki-cho (in East Shinjuku) may seem sleepy during the day but it reveals its true colours once the neon signs light up. This is the mafia's fief – so keep your head down – and full of all sorts of seedy establishments, from "l..

The district of Golden Gai, which lies within frenetic Shinjuku, is so small you could easily miss it. Upon entering it you are immersed in unexpected calm, far from the neon lights and brothels. A little tree-lined street leads to this quiet haven w..

The oldest garden in Tokyo (1629), as well as the largest (7ha), was created by a Confucian scholar of the Chinese Ming dynasty. Here in the Koishikawa Koraku-en garden you will find Chinese and Japanese landscapes rendered in miniature. They feature..

Anyone interested in photographic art should be sure to visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. It has no fewer than four floors of exhibition space, which take the visitor on an international tour of the masters of the art. Japanese phot..

Aoyama Cemetery is very much alive with joggers, picnickers, and women in kimonos rehearsing traditional dances. You can even buy snacks here, at outlets among the cemetery's 100 000 tombs. All of Japan's elite is buried in this giant "park"..

This guided tour around the former studio of Japan's foremost animated filmmaker is an enchanting experience. The work of Miyazaki Hayao includes Porco Rosso (1992), Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001) and Howl's Moving Castle (2..

Founded in the 7C and dedicated to Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy, the Buddhist temple of Senso-ji was toppled by the bombings of the Second World War. This reconstruction, identical to its 17C appearance, with its pagoda and Shinto shrine, provides a ..

Tsukiji Jogai Market wakes early, at 5am, and starts with the day's tuna catch being sold to the highest bidder. This is the world's largest fish market and it closes at 11am, leaving you ample time to wander through the piles of crates containing li..

The Asahi Beer Hall is easy to identify by the golden flame hovering atop the opaque black sides of the building. It is said to represent the frothy golden head of a freshly poured Asahi beer. This wisp of blonde froth may look like a lock of hair bu..

A fine reproduction of the Fukagawa district that flanked the left bank of the Sumida River in the 19C. Shops, warehouses and houses are scattered about this space dominated by wood, one of whose streets leads to the port.

The Japanese, who say that silence is filled with flowers, come here in April for the sight of the cherry trees in blossom, their petals swept along by the northerly wind. Ueno Park (85ha) lovingly maintains its thousand cherry trees, as well as the ..

Swiss architect Le Corbusier designed the National Museum of Western Art. It was opened in 1959 to house the collection of Matsukata Kojiro (1865-1950), a shipbuilding entrepreneur who became fantastically wealthy during the First World War. The inve..

This museum takes you back to a lost world by recreating the working-class district of Shitamachi, which was razed to the ground by the 1945 bombings. It encompassess eloquent reconstructions of the homes of humble craftsmen: confectioners, coppersmi..

In this large market that runs along the railway line you can buy anything from shoes to smoked herring. Its eclectic nature is explained by its black market origins, which, here as elsewhere, developed in the capital to serve the needs of a populati..

In a city that has such a large centre, the real heart of Tokyo is the Imperial Palace. It is, however, empty. It comprises an interminable esplanade, a moat forming a barrier in front of the palace, which comes into view among the trees, but remains..

The history of the Mitsui family is a long and edifying one. Their ancestors, who became rich from the sake and cloth trades, left behind them a fortune that was reinvested in banking. With one eye trained on the stock exchange and the other on art, ..

The special thing about Hamarikyu-teien Garden, which is situated next to the ocean, is its pond, whose water level fluctuates with the tide. Lovely peony flowerbeds in springtime. A welcome spot of green amid the skyscrapers of Shiodome and a typica..

The district of Roppongi is the realm of the senses, known for its hostess clubs, massage parlours and, more recently "host clubs", where solicitous young men attend to more mature women. Now reduced to a crossroads, the district took on it..

A serious rival for the Roppongi Hills complex. It has the same concept of a sprawling shopping precinct but this time it is spread across six buildings peaking at 248m. The spot is brightened up with trees growing beneath glass roofs as well as two ..