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Tokyo Keibajō
More popularly known as Fuchū Racecourse, Tokyo Keibajō's 500m-long home straight is the longest in the country and can make for exciting, win-by-a-nose finishes. This track is where most major and international races take place. Admission varies depending on the popularity of the event.
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Tokyo Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan (Tokyo National Museum)
If you visit only one museum in Tokyo, make it this one. The Tokyo National Museum's grand buildings hold the world's largest collection of Japanese art, and you could easily spend an entire day perusing the galleries here. The building dates from 1939, and is in the imperial style, which fuses Western and Japanese architectural motifs.
Read more about Tokyo Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan (Tokyo National Museum)
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Tokyo Metropolitan Children's Hall
This place has six floors of fun activities for children, and best of all, it's free! On weekends, the rooftop playground is open for romping around. But every day, there are age-appropriate art projects, story-telling and music-making, and lots of creative indoor play areas.
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Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices
Known as Tokyo Tochō, this grey granite complex designed by Tange Kenzō has stunning, distinctive architecture and great views from the observatories (03 5320 7890) on the 45th floor of the twin towers of Building 1. On a clear day, look west for a glimpse of Mt Fuji. Back on the ground, stand in the Citizens Plaza and look up at Building 1 and see if it does not remind you of a computer-chip version of the great cathedrals of Europe.
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Tokyo Metropolitan Museum Of Art
Established in 1926, this museum hosts special exhibitions of everything from traditional Japanese arts, such as ink brush and ikebana, to avant-garde shows paid for by groups of artists who collaborate to rent gallery space. One annual event taking place in November, which consistently draws hundreds of thousands, is the exhibit of the Nitten.
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Tokyo Metropolitan Museum Of Photography
In a corner of Yebisu Garden Place, this five-storey museum chronicles the history and contemporary use of still and moving images, and holds 23,000 works, roughly 70% of them Japanese. Displays often comprise exceptional work by photographers from both Japan and abroad, and there's an extensive library of photographic literature from throughout the world.
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Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum
Although this museum hosts art exhibitions (eg Meissen porcelain or pottery by important Japanese artists), its appeal lies principally in the building itself - it's an Art Deco structure built in 1933, designed by French architect Henri Rapin. The interior details remain alluring, including etched tile trim, light fixtures sculpted to look like peaches and pumpkins, and the 'perfume fountain', sort of an early day aromatherapy device.
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Tokyo Opera City
Since opening in 1997, Tokyo Opera City has been recognised as one of the world's most acoustically perfect concert halls, and this in a city that embraces classical music with fervour. It's also one of the most architecturally daring, like a giant indoor A-frame. Even if you can't make a concert, Opera City is home to two of Tokyo's best art spaces.
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Tokyo Stock Exchange
The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has been operating since 1878, and today it is the world's second-largest capital market after the New York Stock Exchange. The two main indices of the TSE are the benchmark Nikkei (an index of 225 companies selected by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan's leading economic daily) and the broader TOPIX index, which covers all 1600 companies on the TSE's prestigious 1st Section.
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Tokyo Tower
Tokyo Tower, which currently serves as the city's principal radio and TV broadcasting tower, proudly bills itself as the world's highest self-supporting steel tower, and the tallest man-made structure in Japan. Though with the planned 2011 opening of the Sumida Tower in Asakusa, it's likely that Tokyo Tower's days of fame are numbered.
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Tokyo Wonder Site
Operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Wonder Site comprises three floors of galleries with the aim of promoting new and emerging artists. There is a regularly changing programme of exhibitions, competitions and lectures in media ranging from painting to video art.
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Tokyo-to Jido Kaikan
Boasts six kid-friendly storeys and a number of ingenious play areas - check out the human body maze or get messy in the hands-on art studio, where children can make pottery and origami. It's 300m northeast of Shibuya Station, next to Mitake-kōen.
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Tomioka Hachimangū (Tomioka Hachiman Shrine)
Next door to Fukagawa Fudō-dō, this large shrine dates from 1627, and is closely associated with the world of sumō. Around the back of the main building is the yokozuna stone, carved with the names of each of these champion wrestlers. Also of note are two treasured mikoshi (portable shrines), used in the Fukagawa Hachiman festival in mid-August. The current mikoshi date from 1991, and are encrusted with diamonds and rubies - look in the eyes of the phoenix and other birds on top.
Read more about Tomioka Hachimangū (Tomioka Hachiman Shrine)
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Tōshōgū
Established in 1627, this shrine has the distinction of being one of the few extant early Edo structures, having survived the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923, WWII destruction and other historical disasters. The intricate decoration and the architecture of the shrine, typical to other Tōshōgū shrines throughout Japan, and the a-typical copper lanterns lining the path, are well worth the price of admission.
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Toto Super Space
For anyone interested in test-driving the latest in bidet technology, the Shinjuku L Tower is home to the Toto Super Space, a high-tech bathroom showcase scenically perched on the building's 26th and 27th floors. Although Japan first-timers may be initially resistant to the, um, invasiveness of the spray, our recommendation is simply to relax your muscles and give in to the warm rush of water.
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Toyota Amlux
Toyota's Auto Salon features concept cars and virtual-reality driving experiences, which are only two aspects of this fascinating showroom for the mechanically minded. It's a six-storey multimedia extravaganza, with short movies, aerodynamic architecture and visions of vehicular beauty everywhere. There's an English-language floor guide available.
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Toyota Mega Web
In the Palette Town development, Mega Web was designed to display the wares of the Toyota corporation. Yes, it's a showroom, but against all odds it's actually also fun. Test drive vehicles (advance reservation required), try the Mega Theater motion simulator or poke around in the History Garage with cars from the Golden Age. Some facilities close earlier; call ahead to confirm.
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Tsukiji Central Fish Market
If it lives in the sea, it's probably for sale in the Central Fish Market, where acres and acres of fish and fish products pass hands in a lively, almost chaotic atmosphere. Everything is allotted its own area, and a quick scan of the loading docks will reveal mountains of octopus, rows of giant tuna, endless varieties of shellfish and tanks upon tanks of live exotic fish.
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Ueno Zoo
Japan's oldest zoo was established in 1882, and is home to lions, tigers and bears (oh my!). This being Asia however, most visitors head straight for the rather sweet and sleepy looking pandas, which were a gift to Japan from the government of China.
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Ueno-Kōen (Ueno Park)
Tokyo's oldest public park has several names: its Sunday name, which no-one ever uses, is Ueno Onshi Kōen; some locals dub it Ueno no Oyama (Ueno Mountain); and English speakers call it Ueno Park. Whichever you prefer, Ueno Kōen makes for a pleasant city escape.
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Ukiyo-E Ota Memorial Art Museum
This cosy museum, which asks that you trade your shoes for a pair of slippers at the door, has an excellent collection of ukiyo-e (wood-block prints). The original collector, Ota Seizo, former head of the Toho Life Insurance Company, began to buy ukiyo-e when he realised that many important examples of Japanese wood-block prints belonged to foreign museums, making it impossible for Japanese to view many of the genre's masterworks. The museum usually displays no more than a few dozen works at a time from its collection of over 10,000 prints, including those by masters of the art such as Hokusai and Hiroshige.
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Watari-Um (Watari Museum Of Contemporary Art)
This progressive and often provocative museum was built in 1990 to a design by Swiss architect Mario Botta. Exhibits are always cutting-edge and sometimes arty-farty - think push-the-envelope photos by Larry Clark, or vacuum-cleaner ballets choreographed by visiting Scandinavians. There's an excellent art bookshop called On Sundays (03 3470 1424; hours vary) where you can browse through its enormous collection of obscure postcards.
Read more about Watari-Um (Watari Museum Of Contemporary Art)
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Yamatane Bijutsukan (Yamatane Museum Of Art)
This exceptional collection includes some 1800 Japanese paintings dating from the Meiji Restoration and onward, of which around 50 are on display at any one time; exhibits change approximately every two months. Some names to look for: Hayami Gyoshū (1894-1935), whose Dancing Flames is an important cultural property; and Okumura Togyū (1889-1990), whose Cherry Blossoms at Daigoji Temple is a masterpiece in pastel colours. The museum is located on the ground floor of the KS Building.
Read more about Yamatane Bijutsukan (Yamatane Museum Of Art)
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Yanaka Cemetery
One of Tokyo's oldest cemeteries, it's worth strolling the narrow lanes and continuing to Ueno on foot. Beyond the cemetery, the quiet Yanaka area has many old Buddhist temples and speciality shops.
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Yasukuni-Jinja (Yasukuni Shrine)
If you've kept up on international headlines in previous years, you might recall several news stories about China, Korea and other Asian nations taking to the streets every time a Japanese politician (such as former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi) visited Yasukuni-jinja. Literally 'For the Peace of the Country Shrine', Yasukuni is the memorial shrine to Japan's war dead, some 2.5 million souls who died in combat.
