Tokyo

Advertisement

Taxi cab, Tokyo

Introducing Tokyo

Life in Tokyo moves at a well-oiled clip, with an energy that borders on mania and an obsession with newness that seems to make all ideas quickly obsolete. Fashions begin to fade almost as soon as they are plucked from clothes hangers, and keitai (mobile phones) are traded up for each latest technological advancement. But even while throngs of tech-savvy, smartly styled Tokyoites trot through subway stations, there is a traditional side to this hyperurban cosmopolis, which may not be immediately evident.

Advertisement

Beneath the conspicuous consumption of its shopping districts and shiny façades of the latest architectural achievement, Tokyo throws out unexpected glimpses of its cultural core. At a Shintō shrine across town, a young man purchases a fortune and, after reading it, ties it to a strung frame whose many paper fortunes rustle like leaves in a breeze. In a neighbourhood sentō (public bath) in Asakusa, an old woman bathes with her tiny granddaughter, much as she once did with her own grandmother.

Tokyo’s unique vitality springs from this intertwining of the new with the time-honoured old. While it’s the wellspring of Japanese pop culture, it is also a place where the patrilineage of its imperial family is a tightly held institution. It’s the city to which Japanese nonconformists flee but where individuality is often linked to an older form of small-group identity. It’s a metropolis where the pressure cooker of traditional societal mores and expectations explodes into cutting-edge art, music and inventions like the ‘boyfriend’s arm pillow’. Even pop culture like manga, as it takes the world by storm, is rooted in the tradition of Edo-period ukiyo-e (wood-block prints from the ‘floating world’). And so, as its modern gears keep turning, the basic machinery of this intriguing city remains true to its origins.

Ready to go?

Tips & articles

  1. Escape from Tokyo: the Izu Peninsula

    27 April 2012

    Tokyo can have you feeling like a pinball being flung about in one giant game of pachinko. And while experiencing...

    Read more

  2. Tokyo’s strangest sights

    18 April 2012

    Tokyo is full of baffling attractions. Even more mind-bending is that most of them actually make perfect sense when you...

    Read more

  3. Seeing Tokyo along the Yamanote Line

    12 April 2012

    Many Tokyoites will tell you that the best way to get to know their city is to travel station by...

    Read more

See all tips & articles for Tokyo

Thorn Tree forum discussion

Recent posts

  1. tone21 avatar
    day trips!

    by tone21 28 May 2012

    I'm doing a few daytrips on my Japan holiday and need some advice on what to see/do with the limited timeframe. Matsumoto - obviously…
  2. sdh06 avatar
    Flying into O'Hare Airport from Japan

    by sdh06 28 May 2012

    I am flying into Chicago O'Hare Airport with my dog from Tokyo Japan. I am just curious what the procedure is for flying into terminal…
  3. timwaggtravel avatar
    Three Weeks in Japan - Mid June to Early July

    by timwaggtravel 27 May 2012

    Hi, My girlfriend and I are heading to Japan in mid June and after lots of research we feel we are pretty much clued up on what we should…

See all Thorn Tree forum discussions for Tokyo

In our shop

See all shop products

Hotels & Hostels in Tokyo

See all hotels and hostels in Tokyo

Travel Insurance

Going to Japan? Make sure you're covered.

Get a quote

See all travel services

Advertisement