Visitors

Visitors
to Tokyo
never fail to get carried away by a giddy sense of expectation at
seeing the city’s throbbing neon lights, softly lantern-lit bars
and sci-fi-like, skyscraper-filled skyline. With the unexpected and
jerks of surprise – such as salarymen walking pet cats, or
middle-aged women dressed in head-to-toe leather jiving to old
school rock and roll in public spaces on a Sunday afternoon –
lurking around every corner, Japan’s vast capital lives to
entertain, whatever the time of day.

Yet the ear-blasting clatter and jangle of pachinko parlours
sitting alongside the eye-assaulting shop fronts of areas such as
Harajuku can often threaten to overwhelm, and for first-time
visitors the main difficulty in traversing this bustling, buzzing
city can be finding a space to breathe. But for every high-rise
heavy street, there lurks an escape route into another dimension; a
teeny alleyway filled with non-descript doorways through which
haven-like tea rooms, tranquil gardens, secret sake bars and
stylish sushi counters await, offering a welcoming, embracing
calm.

So how to uncover Tokyo’s tranquil alter ego? Our advice: ditch
the standard guidebook and wander the city’s streets without aim;
Tokyo is a city of vibes rather than landmarks, and each of its
neighbourhoods unveils a different side of its endless faces.
Stroll the neon-lit backstreets of Shinjuku and you’ll find the
futuristic city of the future, so often portrayed on the big
screen, materialised in real life. Or while away a day along the
leaf-lined streets of Yanaka, snacking from shops whose time-worn
facades recall a Tokyo of centuries passed.

Those with the time – or inclination – to delve beyond Tokyo’s
tourist-tempting hotspots will be the ones who return, again and
again, knowing there are ever-more surprises waiting to be
discovered down the city’s infinitely alluring labyrinth of
backstreets.