About Tokyo

Tokyo, capital of Japan, with a population of more than 35 million people in the greater Tokyo area, it has become one of the must-visit destinations for world travelers.

Roppongi, Tokyo.

-To read about how much to budget for your trip to Tokyo, visit Budget: How much does it cost to go to Tokyo?
-To read about how to plan your trip to Tokyo, visit Planning for your trip to Tokyo
-To read about where you can find the best Ramen in Tokyo, visit Best Ramen in Tokyo.

History

Do you really want to read about how Tokyo was a fishing village for centuries and has become one of the largest metropolitan area in the world? I guess you can read up on this topic on Wikipedia. I did not even bother to read the entire article...


Asakusa, Tokyo.

Safety and Convenience

One of the biggest metropolitan area in the world with extensive public transportation system. There is extremely low crime rate with good food safety and level of hygiene.

Busy Shinjuku station, Tokyo.

Subway map on the wall of Shinjuku station.

Food

Sushi, Tempura, Ramen, just to name a few.

Toro nigiri, Sushi Dai, Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo.

Ichiran Ramen, Ueno station, Tokyo.

Money -￥

Money - Yen (bring your calculator) Will talk about the Money/Budget issue in detail in another post.

Japanese Language - あいうえお

Language - No, people do not speak English there... and Japanese language is generally not romanized. As much as you hope that all citizens of modern nations should know some English, expect as many people who could speak Japanese in Manhattan and London. Young Tokyoites might know a few words to a few phrases, but certainly do not expect everyone to speak English like a native speaker.

Weather

Tokyo Weather - from Climatetemps.com

I would highly recommend people to visit Tokyo when it is not freezing cold. One of the best experiences about visiting Tokyo is to be able to walk down the urban street and experience the metropolitan life style. I would recommend to visit Tokyo from April to November. It is certainly more pleasant to experience walking down the busy street in warmer weather. Unless you have Skiing or snowboarding in mind or you have special purposes, I rarely recommend fellow travelers to visit Tokyo during the colder season.

Most of the information here and in my future blog posts will be based on my personal experiences, please share your experience in the comment section.