sight seeing

Tokyo is a giant maze that is difficult for visitors to navigate with any confidence. Review the guided tours available from your hotel with an open mind. Joining one may seem a bind, but if you don't speak the language and cannot read Chinese characters, it is a decent option. Most tours are intelligently conducted, and all hotels offer them, for the simple reason that they are needed. (Guides also have a helpful habit of showing you good local restaurants around the main tourist spots.) Take a tour that includes a trip up the Sumida River by boat and relax. See our subway and taxi guide for more tips on getting around the city.

Tokyo boasts an extraordinary variety of museums, galleries, shrines and temples. Ueno Park, in the north-east, is home to a handful of national art and history museums, and the new Roppongi Hills boasts a splendid contemporary art museum, but you will find interesting sights in virtually every neighbourhood. Pay attention to the cultural calendar: each season brings its own festivals and special attractions.

Our favourites
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Kill an hour
Harajuku
Harajuku station
Jimbo-cho

Senso-ji and Asakusa

Tsukiji Fish Market
5-2-1 Tsukiji
Cultural highlights
Mori Art Museum
Roppongi Hills
History lessons
The Defence Ministry
Ichigaya Honmuracho 5-1
Edo-Tokyo Museum
1-4-1 Yokoami
Fukagawa-Edo Museum
1-3-28 Shirakawa
Shitamachi Museum
2-1 Ueno Koen
Yanaka

Yasukuni-jinja
3-1-1 Kudankita
Skylines
Mori Tower
Roppongi Hills
Shiodome City Centre Tower
1-5-2 Higashi-Shimbashi
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices
2-8-1 Nishi Shinjuku
Serenity in the city
Asakura Choso Museum
7-18-10 Yanaka
Heisei-kan rooms
Tokyo National Museum
Inokashira Park
1-18-31 Gotenyama
Ota Memorial Museum of Art
1-10-10 Jingumae
Only in Tokyo
Kokugikan Sumo Stadium & Museum
1-3-28 Yokoami
Parasite Museum
4-1-1 Shimo Meguro