TRADITIONAL THEATER—157
GAGAKU AND BUGAKU—157 NOH—158 KYOGEN—159
BUNRAKU—159 KABUKI—160 RAKUGO—162 GEISHA—163
TICKETS, THEATERS, AND INFORMATION—164
CONTEMPORARY THEATER—165
GENERAL THEATER—165 AVANT-GARDE THEATER—165
CONTEMPORARY DANCE AND PERFORMANCE ART—166
OTHER PERFORMANCES—167
CONCERT HALLS AND THEATERS—167 TICKET OUTLETS—169
SPORTS—169
SUMO—169 MARTIAL ARTS—171 BASEBALL—173 SOCCER—173
MOVIES—174
MAJOR MOVIE THEATERS—174
NIGHTLIFE—177
DISTRICTS—179
BARS—180
GENERAL BARS—180 EXPAT HANG-OUTS—181
DISCOS—181
BEER HALLS AND BEER GARDENS—182
LIVE MUSIC—183
JAZZ—184 KARAOKE—184
HOSTESS BARS AND CABARETS—185
LOVE HOTELS—186
ARTS—187
MUSEUMS—189
JAPANESE TRADITIONAL ARTS—190
MODERN JAPANESE AND WESTERN ART—192
SPECIALIST MUSEUMS—193 OUTSIDE TOKYO—196
CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERIES AND EXHIBIT SPACES—198
GALLERIES—200
TRADITIONAL ARTS—204
IKEBANA—205 TEA CEREMONY—206
CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE—206
SIGHTSEEING—209
TEMPLES AND SHRINES—211
PARKS AND GARDENS—217
ZOOS—220
AMUSEMENT/THEME PARKS—220
AQUARIUMS—221
HISTORICAL SITES AND BUILDINGS—221
CEMETERIES—223
WALKING TOURS—223
OUTSIDE TOKYO—232
ASIAN MEDICINE—237
HARI-ACUPUNCTURE—237 SEITAI-CHIROPRACTIC—238
WESTERN MEDICINE—238
CLINICS—239 HOSPITALS—239 DENTAL CARE—239
OPTICAL CARE—239 PHARMACIES—239
SENTO-PUBLIC BATHS—239
MASSAGE AND SAUNA—241
SPORTS FACILITIES—241
JOGGING COURSES—243 CYCLING COURSES—243
BEAUTY CARE—243
HAIR CARE—243 SKIN CARE—244
THE BASICS—245
PLANNING—247
CLIMATE—247 WHEN TO TRAVEL—247
SPECIAL DEALS-BEFORE YOU GO—248
PACKING AND SUPPLIES—249 VISAS—249
ARRIVAL—251
FORMALITIES—251 CUSTOMS—251
PASSENGER SERVICE FACILITY CHARGE—252
TRANSPORTATION TO TOKYO—252 HANEDA AIRPORT—253
DETAILS—253
MONEY—253 TIPPING, SERVICE CHARGES, TAXES—254
BUSINESS HOURS—254 METRIC—254 ELECTRICITY—255
FOOD AND DRINK—255 JAPANESE TOILETS—256
SAFETY—256
COMMUNICATIONS—257
MAIL—257 TELEGRAMS AND CABLES—257
PUBLIC TELEPHONES—257
GETTING AROUND—258
TRAINS AND SUBWAYS—258 TAXIS—261 BUSES—261
GETTING THERE—262 GETTING LOST—263
LOST AND FOUND—263
TOURIST SERVICES—263
LANGUAGE—265
APPENDIX—279
MAPS—299
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS—350
INDEX—351
TOKYO
THE CITY
It is often said, by Japanese and foreigners alike, that Tokyo is not the "real" Japan. What they mean is that it's not the "ideal" Japan, the Japan of a people unspoiled by the West, where the descendants of the sun goddess live in spiritual harmony with nature in the Land of the Rising Sun.
The nostalgia is understandable. With a population of nearly twelve million, Tokyo reads at times like a lexicon of the problems confronting Japan today. But the ideal Japan, like all objects of nostalgic devotion, is part of an irretrievable past. With barely 125 years of modern history, the Japanese still suffer from growing pains. The events of those one hundred years, the greatest successes and the greatest defeats, were first felt in Tokyo.
Kyoto was the center of the country during the golden days of Japan. There in the rarefied air of the emperor's presence, a court aristocracy pursued a life of aesthetic sensitivity and refinement. What was most important was the turn of a phrase in a cryptic poem, the perfect harmony found in twelve layers of subtly shaded kimono, the just-so sweep of a brush across a sheet of immaculate paper. The present site of Tokyo was then called Musashi no Kuni, a land of fields and thickly forested hills.
Tokyo came of age with Tokugawa leyasu's rise to power in 1600. The daimyo (feudal lords) were brought to submission and the country was ruled for 250 years of domestic peace and isolation from the world under the Tokugawa shogunate based in Edo.
Edo had prospered since the mid-fifteenth century as a castle town built by the minor daimyo Ota Dokan. Throughout Japan, the daimyo consolidated their power in castle towns that grew into provincial capitals of cultural and economic activity centered on the needs of the lord and the samurai aristocracy. Primarily constructed for defense, the castles were surrounded by concentric circles of moats and ramparts, the streets laid out in irregular zigzag patterns to surprise