Tokyo

Tokyo has many things to offer, everything from ancient temples to that of modern Japanese life. Tokyo is said to be expensive and at today's current exchange rate it is. However at the normal currency rate going back over a year, Tokyo is only as expensive as you choose. For example there are many reasonable hotels outside the major hotspots and if you know where to go eating out is cheaper than Europe. For this reason it would be best to know people who live in Tokyo before heading there. The kind of tourists that visit Tokyo can be catagorized into several different groups. First there are the normal tourists, those who like to travel, experience new ...  Read the complete review

This trip report has also been posted on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com. Here it is displayed with pictures, videos and links. So please feel free to visit my site. Millions of men in dark suits, crowded subway trains, sushi, taxi drivers with white gloves, neon lights, earth quakes, capsule hotels, sake, sumo wrestling, samurais, geisha, bullet trains, toilets so advanced that you need an instruction manual to use them, manga, polite people, Lost in Translation….this is our trip report from JAPAN. A short summary The dream team Nikki and Gard on another adventure :-) This time we headed for Japan and we traveled in the period May ...  Read the complete review

Originally known as 'Edo', meaning 'Gate of the River', Tokyo first became a significant city in 1603 when Tokogawa Ieyasu based his military government, or shogunate in the then unimpressive little town. Over the following years the city became a base from which the whole of Tokogawa clan ran the country, but only earned the term 'Tokyo' ('Eastern Capital') when the clan was deposed and the Emperor's power was restored towards the end of the 19th century; relocating from Kyoto. Despite two massive tragedies, the earthquake and subsequent fires of 1923 and the Allied bombing of 1944/45, Tokyo has flourished. It is now one of the ...  Read the complete review

I visited Tokyo about 7 years ago in 1994 and it is one of the cities in the world which truely excites me. Perhaps it is my love for technology. It has the hustle and bustle of most major cities and it is so clean and efficient as well. It is amazing to see the great constrast of the city and the secluded temples. The Japanese gardens are the most beautiful in the world. Look out for the fish ponds. Tokyo has a tower like a lot of cities and it is packed with things to do. Try the local food when you are there. If you are not happy with the raw sushi, then you could try Tereaki. There are often models of what is serve in the front of the resturant so you can ...  Read the complete review

I visited Japan a number of times and will move there in mid May 2001 for two years. Just to let you know, I am a little biased about Tokyo: I think it's one of the best cities on Earth. You can read better guides to Tokyo that I could ever write so I will limit this opinion on some of the highlights of my visits: 1) Subway/Trains: I could take trains all day in Tokyo. Punctuality in Japan is a must, given the importance that transportation plays in the economy and the need to shift millions of people across a very tiny surface. However, you can't but marvel at the efficiency of the transport system. I wish the Tube in London was half ...  Read the complete review