Tokyo, wonder of the Orient

By RICHARD LLOYD PARRY

There's no point apologising for Tokyo: it's teeming and sprawling, but also, in the words of the historian Edward Seidensticker, "the world's most consistently interesting city".

Tokyo proper is home to eight million people. Add on the satellite cities and commuter towns and the total for the megalopolis is 30 million, almost a quarter of the Japanese population.

Tokyo has the world's biggest station, the most extravagant street fashions and the most kitsch and bizarre architecture. If crowds and excess and 24-hour city fever excite you, then it's the ultimate urban experience.

At first glance, much of Tokyo looks the same, but after a couple of days, the varied character of the city's districts - served by the immaculate and unfailingly reliable public transport system - reveal themselves.

Tokyo is a city of tribes, each with its own gathering place - Shibuya, where Japanese schoolgirls loll in their extravagant makeup, tiny skirts and monstrous platform boots; Shinjuku, where gangsters, pimps and bar girls lurk beneath a Bladerunner landscape of skyscrapers and noodle bars; and Akihabara, where electronics enthusiasts gather to buy the latest gadgets.

As the greatest and richest city in Asia, Tokyo also has its cultural side - the stiff but magnificent museums in Ueno Park, the great temple of Senso-ji and the Meiji Shrine, as well as the kabuki theatre, home of the most accessible of Japan's dramatic forms.

And beneath the buzz and bustle there's a calm and innocence about the place, with its litter-free streets, cool and punctual subway trains and almost non-existent street crime.

It is impossible to be bored in Tokyo and with the mountains, hot springs and ancient cities of northern and western Japan just a bullet-train ride away, there is always somewhere to escape to when it all becomes too much.

When to go: The loveliest times of the year are November, when autumn turns the trees to red, and March, when the cherry trees blossom and the whole city picnics in the parks, but the dry, bright winter is also nice. Summer is enervatingly hot, especially the month-long rainy season in June.

Getting around: Tokyo is vast, but its cheap, safe, clean and punctual trains and subways make it one of the most accessible of the world's great cities - unless you are taking a trip to remote parts outside the city, don't consider driving. At Narita airport, pick up copies of the excellent English-language maps published by the Japan National Tourist Organisation.

The above-ground Yamanote Line girds the city in an irregular loop, intersected by a dozen criss-crossing subway lines. Taxis are expensive but ubiquitous. Buses are complicated and confusing, unless you speak Japanese.

Where to stay: Accommodation in Tokyo is expensive, with a lack of affordable middle-range hotels. At the top of the range are dozens of world-class hotels, among them the exquisite Park Hyatt, slightly out of the way in West Shinjuku.

For a taste of a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, in the city, try Ryokan Sawanoya, in the old Nezu district.

What to see and do: If you have only one day in Tokyo, spend the morning in Asakusa and the evening in Shinjuku. The former is at the heart of Shitamachi, the "Low City" which is the last remnant of old Edo, as Tokyo used to be called.

Its principal attraction is the great Buddhist temple Senso-ji, which retains its popularity and charm despite having being razed and rebuilt after countless earthquakes, fires and wartime bombing raids. Visitors pose for photographs in front of the "Thunder Gate", a huge, red, wooden structure in which two burly Buddhist deities stand guard over the temple.

Start your evening beneath the giant TV screen of Studio Alta, the most popular Shinjuku meeting place. Behind is Kabukicho, one of the sleaziest and most atmospheric corners of Tokyo. Despite the many peep shows Kabukicho is extremely safe compared to equivalent quarters in other cities and you can discover cheap (and conventional) bars and restaurants serving great ethnic food, especially Thai.

Out of town: Two hours' train ride north is Nikko, the mountainous site of the opulent Tosho-gu shrine, built in the 17th century to glorify Japan's founding shogun. An hour south is Kamakura, Japan's 13th-century capital and a mini-Kyoto of temples, shrines, gardens and museums. Hakone, to the south-west, has hot springs and lakes.

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Park Hyatt Tokyo

Ryokan Sawanoya.