to talk about the “Olympic legacy” the games leave in each host city, and with the Gaien they have a legacy that—like the shrine itself—has managed to stand the test of time.
Opening Times The main shrine is open daily from sunrise to sunset. Getting There A several-minute walk from either Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line or Meiji Jingumae on the Chiyoda Line. Contact Meiji Jingu Shrine: www.meijijingu.or.jp. Gaien: www.meijijingugaien.jp. Admission Fee Meiji Jingu Shrine is free.
2 Omotesando Shopping Avenue
Tokyo’s chicest street is defined by high fashion
If you had to pick one place that best encapsulates “chic Tokyo”, this 800-meter (2,625-foot)-long zelkova-lined boulevard and the side streets that wind off of it would have to be it. Although it was originally created as an approach to Meiji Jingu Shrine (page 9) in the Taisho era (1912–26), Omotesando-dori has become synonymous in recent years with two things: high-end shopping and modern architecture.
The area is home to the flagship stores of brands like Louis Vuitton, Prada and Dior as well as architectural master- pieces such as Tod’s, a slim, L-shaped building encased in an enclosure of sharply angled concrete elements and polygonal glass plates that was designed by 2013 Pritzker Prize winner Toyo Ito. Then there’s Omotesando’s centerpiece, Omotesando Hills, which transformed the street when it opened in 2006. Designed by acclaimed architect Tadao Ando, the 250-meter (820-foot)-long mall runs along a quarter of Omotesando-dori’s length. Some 100 shops and restaurants as well as 38 luxury apartments are housed on the inside, which is defined by a six-level atrium stretching three stories above ground and three below, with a spiraling ramp connecting the different levels.
Not that all the shops along Omotesando-dori fall in the high-end or high-style bracket. Opposite Omotesando Hills is the fantastic Oriental Bazaar (page 72), a one-stop shop for almost every conceivable souvenir, from “I Love Tokyo” T-shirts to beautiful used kimono and even fine antique furniture. On a street known for its cutting-edge architecture, you’ve got to applaud the brashness of the bazaar’s faux oriental temple façade, which looks like something transplanted straight from ancient China. Like the many other mismatched buildings in Tokyo, it poses the question: just who is in charge of planning permits?
Getting There Omotesando-dori can be accessed at one end by Omotesando Station on the Chiyoda, Ginza and Hanzomon subway lines, and the other by Meiji Jingumae Station on the Chiyoda Line and Harajuku Station on the JR Yamanote Line.
3 Tsukiji Fish Market
Get up early for lively auctions and a fine sushi breakfast
I wonder what the original fishermen of Tsukiji would make of the giant wholesale market that now dominates the Tsukiji area. When the first Edo-era shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, brought fishermen in from Osaka at the start of the 17th century to supply his new capital with seafood, the area was no more than mudflats. It wasn’t until the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, after which Tokyo’s small private markets were consolidated into large wholesale venues, that Tsukiji took its current form—and what a form!
Today, Tsukiji is home to more than 60,000 wholesalers, buyers and shippers supplying Tokyo’s restaurants and shops with what amounts to more than 700,000 tons of seafood a year. To give that some financial context, each day more than ¥1.5 billion ($15 million) worth of produce is traded here, and not only seafood. To a lesser extent, Tsukiji also trades in vegetables, meat, and even cooking utensils, while the outer part of the market houses numerous small sushi bars (I recommend Ryuzushi in Building
No. 1, which is open from 6.30 a.m.).
Now for the bad news. Although the outer market is great to visit any time before lunch, to see Tsukiji at its best you really need to get there very early. At just before 5.30 a.m. the market bursts into life with the ringing of a bell that heralds the start of the daily tuna auctions in a cavernous warehouse filled with rows of frozen tuna. What follows is a blur of hand signals set to a cacophony of hollers—a rapid to and fro between auctioneer and wholesalers that’s incomprehensible to the outsider. It’s like watching a classical performance but with choreographed Kabuki moves and kimono replaced by rubber boots and overalls. More bad news. The tuna auctions are limited to 120 people on a first-come basis, with registration starting at 5 a.m. To guarantee a place, be in line by an ungodly 4 a.m. at the latest.
Opening Times 5 a.m.–3 p.m. Closed Sun and 2nd/4th Weds. Getting There Tsukiji Market is a short walk from either Tsukiji Shijo Station on the Oedo subway line or Tsukiji Station on the Hibiya subway line. Contact www.tsukiji- market.or.jp Admission Fee Free.
4 Tokyo Skytree
Tokyo’s newest landmark dominates the eastern skyline
You can’t spend a day in eastern Tokyo without catching at least a few glimpses of the most recent high-rise addition to the city’s skyline. When I walk to my local shops, almost 10 km (6 miles) from the Skytree, its white metallic lattice frame (officially dubbed “Skytree white”) is always there in the distance, sometimes piercing a bright blue sky, sometimes partially visible through gray cloud. Take an evening run along the Arakawa River and it’s my constant companion to the west, its purple and gold or pale blue illuminations flickering above the rest of the cityscape like the lights of a hovering spaceship.
Opened in 2012 after four years of construction, Tokyo Skytree was built by Tobu Railway and a group of six terrestrial broadcasters in part to relay radio and television broadcast signals and in part to be the centerpiece of a commercial development comprising several buildings that combine restaurants, vertigo-inducing observation decks, amusement facilities, such as an aquarium, and office spaces. It also ended up becoming one of Tokyo’s biggest tourist attractions, with some 1.6 million people visiting in its first week of business.
Part of the attraction is the height. At 634 meters (2,000 feet), the Skytree isn’t just the tallest structure in Japan, it’s the tallest tower in the world and the second tallest structure of any kind in the world after the 830-meter (1,900-foot) Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The potential for sweaty palms and dizziness aside, the 360- degree views from the two observation decks, 350 meters (800 feet) and 450 meters (1,4675 feet) up, are mesmerizing, with Tokyo transformed into an incredibly detailed moving diorama far below.
Opening Times Open daily 8 a.m.–10 p.m. Getting There From Asakusa Station, take the Tobu Skytree Line one stop to Tokyo Skytree Station. Alternatively, it’s a 15- minute walk from Asakusa. Also accessible via Oshiage Station on the Hanzomon Line. Contact www.tokyo-skytree.jp Admission Fee 350 m observation deck, ¥2,000 (¥2,500 for a reserved day/time ticket to avoid the queues, which can be hours long); additional ¥1,000 to then go to the 450 m deck. Cheaper tickets are available for children of various ages.
5 Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa
Tokyo’s most venerable and colorful Buddhist temple
According to legend, there has been a temple in Asakusa since the 620s when two brothers caught a golden image of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, in their nets while fishing in the nearby Sumida River. Awestruck by the tiny statue offered up by the water, the story goes that they were inspired to build a temple in which to enshrine it.
To