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TOKYO |
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On the edge of the Orient, TOKYO - the last great conurbation before
the yawning chasm of the Pacific Ocean - is one of the world's most
perplexing cities. On the one hand, gaudily hung about with eyeball-searing
neon and messy overhead cables, plagued by seemingly incessant noise,
often clogged with bumper-to-bumper traffic and packed with twelve
million people squashed into minute apartments, it can seem like the
stereotypical urban nightmare. Yet behind the barely ordered chaos lie
remnants of a very different way of life. Step back from the frenetic
main roads and chances are you'll find yourself in a world of tranquil
backstreets, where wooden houses are fronted by neatly clipped bonsai
trees; wander beyond the high-tech department stores, and you'll find
ancient temples and shrines. In this city of 24-hour shops and vending
machines, a festival is held virtually every day of the year, people
regularly visit their local shrine or temple and scrupulously observe
the passing seasons. And, at the centre of it all, is the mysterious
green void of the Imperial Palace - home to the emperor and a tangible
link to the past.
In many ways Tokyo is also something of a modern-day utopia. Trains run
on time; the crime rate is hardly worth worrying about; shops and
vending machines provide everything you could need (and many things you
never thought you needed) 24 hours a day; the people wear the coolest
fashions, eat in fabulous restaurants and party in the hippest clubs.
It's almost impossible to be bored here and first-time visitors should
be prepared for a massive assault on the senses - just walking the
streets of this hyperactive city can be an energizing experience. You'll
also be surprised how affordable many things are. Cheap-and-cheerful
izakaya (bars that serve food) and noodle shacks far outnumber the big-ticket
French restaurants and high-class ryotei , where geisha serve minimalist
Japanese cuisine, while day-tickets for a sumo tournament or a Kabuki
play can be bought for the price of a few drinks. Many of the city's
highlights are even free: a stroll through the evocative Shitamachi (low
city) area around Asakusa and the major Buddhist temple Senso-ji ; a
visit to the tranquil wooded grounds of Meiji-jingu , the city's most
venerable Shinto shrine, and the nearby teenage shopping mecca of
Harajuku ; the frenetic fish market at Tsukiji ; the crackling, neon-saturated
atmosphere of the mini-city Shinjuku - you don't need to part with lots
of cash to explore this city.
Even if you don't arrive in Tokyo, chances are you will end up here or
pass through on your way to other parts of Japan, since the capital is
the major transport hub . Every day, scores of Shinkansen (bullet trains)
speed up to the far north of Honsho or south to Kyushu, while flights,
buses and ferries connect Tokyo to the far-flung corners and islands of
the Japanese archipelago.
The only time Tokyo is best avoided is during the steamy height of
summer in August and early September, when the city's humidity sees its
citizens scurrying from one air-conditioned haven to another. October
and November, by contrast, are great months to take in the spectacular
fireburst of autumn leaves in Tokyo's parks and gardens. Temperatures
dip to freezing in the winter months, though the crisp blue skies are
rarely disturbed by rain or snow showers. April is the month when
Tokyoites love to party beneath the flurries of falling cherry blossoms
- one of the best months to visit the capital. Carrying an umbrella is a
good idea during tsuyu , the rainy season in June and September, when
typhoons occasionally strike the coast.
Legend says that a giant catfish sleeps beneath Tokyo Bay, and its
wriggling can be felt in the hundreds of small tremors that rumble the
capital each year. Around every seventy years, the catfish awakes,
resulting in the kind of major earthquake seen in 1995 in Kobe. There is
a long-running, half-hearted debate about moving the Diet and main
government offices out of Tokyo, away from danger. Yet, despite the fact
that the city is well overdue for the Big One, talk of relocating the
capital always comes to nothing. Now, more than ever before, Tokyo is
the centre of Japan, and nobody wants to leave and miss any of the
action.
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