There are many, so many, articles and material about Tokyo available on the internet and in bookshops the world over. Articles and guidebooks telling you about the best places to visit, the cool under-the-radar spots, restaurants and bars that only people “in the know” can visit. Let me tell you something. They are all rubbish. Absolute nonsense.
I’ve checked some profiles on LinkedIn and Instagram of people that claim to be experts about Japan that have either only lived here for a year or so or only visited. I’ve lived in or near Tokyo for 25 years but I would never ever call myself an expert. I know my Tokyo, I have my favorite spots and areas but I can honestly say that I don’t know about 70% of the city. Never visited, heard about various areas but never actually visited.
The Changing Face of Tokyo
Tokyo is massive. Outrageous, in fact. Anyone claiming to be an expert is a charlatan. An imposter. Any writer based here, can only speak or write about what they know. Many creative types, for example, congregate in Meguro and Minato-ku. Anime and manga fans like Akihabara and Ikebukuro. I, personally, moved to Toshima-ku due to family connections. There are some wards, or ku as they are known here, that I have only visited a few times such as Adachi, Kita, and Nerima. These districts may as well be in Thailand or Cambodia as far as I’m concerned — and I’m a travel journalist.
Tokyo has changed significantly since I moved to Japan a quarter of a century ago. Like all major cities, it has transformed, changed shape and identity like an urban, architectural shape-shifter. But, it’s still brilliant and embodies a constant and fantastic Sturm und Drang. What a city. What a place. Take a taxi in Shinjuku back to your hotel and race through the streets and whirlwind of neon and signage and feel absolutely alive and somehow central to the beautiful yet unknowable mechanisms of life.
Sit at a random izakaya, start a chat with the customer next to you and hear their stories. Everyone has one. Many years ago, I sat at a counter seat at a bar in Sugamo and chatted to the guy next to me. “What do you do?” I asked. “I’m the lead engineer at the Daiichi Nuclear Plant in Fukushima,” he replied. Holy shit! I had hit the jackpot. As a journalist, this was pure gold. Masahiro Yamamoto and I became firm friends and he invited my team to visit him and gave us unprecedented access to the nuclear site when I worked for Metropolis magazine. That article, written beautifully by Andrew Deck and photographed by the brilliant Stephan Jarvis is probably the article and magazine issue that I’m most proud of in my career.
I met my best friend Tall Paul inside a DVD store, met another great friend Stephen at a coffee shop and another pal Richard in a bar. Tokyo is a genuinely sociable city. People like going out, drinking, and shooting the shit. Naturally, there are fashionable and trendy areas that gain traction online such as Nakemeguro, Daikanyama, Shimokitazawa and so on. These places are great, of course. But I guarantee that if you randomly choose a town or train station anywhere in Tokyo you will find some amazing places. Ekoda, Komagome, Asakusabashi, Koiwa, and Ome. There are enough towns and stops in Tokyo to fill a multitude of lifetimes.
There are numerous websites, apps, podcasts, YouTubers, influencers that will tell you that they know best. Nonsense. Tokyo is a city to be explored individually. Do, see, explore, feel your own Tokyo. Don’t listen to anyone. Even magazines similar to Voyapon. We know a lot but we don’t know everything. Of course, I’d be very happy if you took some tips from our writers but, to be honest, I’d be happier if you wrote to me and told me about your own, personal adventures. Even if you gave me some of your own recommendations. That would make me very happy indeed.
So, arrive in this gargantuan metropolis, put on your best walking shoes and choose your own adventure. A trip to Tokyo is, essentially, a microcosm of life itself. There are many paths and options but the decisions are ultimately made by you. Some choices might end up being wrong but many will be right and you will make some lifelong friends along the way in addition to experiencing moments that simply cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world.
Psychogeography
Walking is the key to this city. It always has been. I’ve been an advocate of traversing Tokyo on foot for many years now mainly through my psychogeography series for Tokyo Weekender. I remember one of my younger colleagues, at TW, scoffing at my use of the first person in this series and having to push, on them, my belief in the subjective narrative when it comes to this kind of journalism. My writing is always about my experiences, and my own snapshots of this city. Otherwise, anyone could write this article and how mundane would that be for you and me?
I’ve lived in Paris, Seoul, Glasgow, and visited, many times, cities including London, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Manchester for extended periods. All of them are beautiful with their own charms but Tokyo is the one, the OG of contemporary cities. Greater Tokyo genuinely makes New York look like a suburb and London like a quaint holiday spot. It’s geographically huge, of course, but when you walk through Shinjuku Station at 6pm on a weekday it becomes very apparent that this is unlike anywhere else in the world. Three to five million people pass through this station every day. To put that in perspective, the population of Scotland is five million.
The blood-red threads of leading Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota, in some ways, reflect the intricacies of this great city. I attended her exhibition, Shiota Chiharu: The Soul Trembles at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi in 2019, and the installation of huge red and black web installations left an indelible impression on me. I exited the exhibition with the firm belief that the intrinsic links and connections between us all and our myriad experiences are equally profound and deserve to be documented. One of the all-time great Manchester bands, James, released possibly one of my favorite ever songs titled Don’t Wait That Long in 1992 and although it’s ostensibly a love or anti-love song it can remain as a reminder to perhaps act on feelings and plans sooner than expected. Don’t wait for your Tokyo trip, just book it, enjoy it and come back and explore more of this great city and its surrounding areas. After a few trips to Tokyo, you should venture out to other areas including the absolutely exceptional Hida Furukawa where you may well have something of an epiphany.
Tokyo and Japan, then, are always yours to find, explore and to, eventually, love. One of the biggest and best metropolitan cities in the world, with more amazing stores, restaurants and bars than New York and London combined, it’s waiting for you to discover and, probably, even if you’re lucky enough to visit for a short time — it could very well change your life in some way or another.
Cover photo: Louie Martinez
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