Tokyo: The Rough Guide Read online
TOKYO
THE ROUGH GUIDE
There are more than one hundred Rough Guide travel, phrasebook, and music titles, covering destinations from Amsterdam to Zimbabwe, languages from Czech to Thai, and musics from World to Opera and Jazz
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Rough Guide Credits
Text editor: Sarah Dallas
Series editor: Mark Ellingham
Typesetting: Jerry Williams, Justin Bailey, Henry Iles
Cartography: Maxine Burke
Publishing Information
This first edition published January 1999 by
Rough Guides Ltd, 62–70 Shorts Gardens, London
WC2H 9AB.
Distributed by the Penguin Group:
Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ
Penguin Books USA Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 487 Maroondah Highway,
PO Box 257, Ringwood, Victoria 3134, Australia
Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 1E4
Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd, 182–190 Wairau Road,
Auckland 10, New Zealand
Typeset in Bembo and Helvetica to an original design by Henry Iles. Printed in Spain by Graphy Cems.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without
permission from the publisher except for the quotation of brief
passages in reviews.
© Jan Dodd & Simon Richmond
336pp, includes index
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 1-85828-347-7
eBook produced by Texterity Inc. (www.texterity.com) using their TextCafe automated open eBook conversion service.
The publishers and authors have done their best to ensure the accuracy and currency of all the information inThe Rough Guide to Tokyo , however, they can accept no responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by any traveller as a result of information or advice contained in the guide.
The Rough Guides Story
We set out to do something different when the first Rough Guide was published in 1982. Mark Ellingham, just out of university, was travelling in Greece. He brought along the popular guides of the day, but found they were all lacking in some way. They were either strong on ruins and museums but went on for pages without mentioning a beach or taverna, or so conscious of the need to save money that they lost sight of Greece’s cultural and historical significance. Also, none of the books told him anything about Greece’s contemporary life – its politics, its culture, its people and how they lived.
So with no job in prospect, Mark decided to write his own guidebook, one which aimed to provide practical information that was second to none, detailing the best beaches and the hottest clubs and restaurants, while also giving hard-hitting accounts of every sight, both famous and obscure, and providing up-to-the-minute information on contemporary culture. It was a guide that encouraged independent travellers to find the best of Greece, and was a great success, getting shortlisted for the Thomas Cook travel guide award, and encouraging Mark, along with three friends, to expand the series.
The Rough Guide list grew rapidly and the letters flooded in, indicating a much broader readership than had been anticipated, but one which uniformly appreciated the Rough Guide mix of practical detail and humour, irreverence and enthusiasm. Things haven’t changed. The same four friends who began the series are still the caretakers of the Rough Guide mission today: to provide the most reliable, up-to-date and entertaining information to independent-minded travellers of all ages, on all budgets.
We now publish more than a hundred titles and have offices in London and New York. The travel guides are written and researched by a dedicated team of more than a hundred authors, based in Britain, Europe, the USA and Australia. We have also created a unique series of phrasebooks to accompany the travel series, along with an acclaimed series of music guides, and a best-selling pocket guide to the Internet and World Wide Web. We also publish comprehensive travel information on our Web site:www.roughguides.com
Help Us Update
We’ve gone to a lot of effort to ensure that this first edition ofThe Rough Guide to Tokyo is as up to date and accurate as possible. However, if you feel there are places we’ve underrated or overpraised, or find we’ve missed something good or covered something which has now gone, then please write: suggestions, comments or corrections are much appreciated. We’ll credit all contributions, and send a copy of the next edition (or any other Rough Guide if you prefer) for the best letters.
Please mark letters: “Rough Guide Tokyo Update” and send to:
Rough Guides, 62–70 Shorts Gardens, London WC2H 9AB or
Rough Guides, 375 Hudson St, 9th floor, New York, NY 10014.
Or send email to: [email protected]
Online updates about this book can be found on
Rough Guides’ Web sitewww.roughguides.com
The Authors
Born in Africa,Jan Dodd caught the travel bug early. In the late 1980s she surfaced in Southeast Asia and spent the next six years exploring the region. After a couple of years in Tokyo studying Japanese language and nightlife, she moved to France. Jan is also co-author ofThe Rough Guide to Japan andThe Rough Guide to Vietnam .
In 1991Simon Richmond headed east to work as an editor and journalist in Tokyo. Two and a half years later he traded in his treasured shoe-box apartment for the itinerant life of a freelance travel writer. Now based in Sydney, he has had features published in many major national newspapers, and reports broadcast on BBC Radio 4. As well as contributing to theRough Guide to Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei , Simon is co-author of theRough Guide to Japan .
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the staff of JNTO in London and Tokyo, members of the Japanese Inn Group and the Japan Youth Hostels Association. A big thanks also to everyone at Rough Guides, including Sarah Dallas, Amanda Tomlin, Jo Mead, Link Hall, Helen Ostick, Andy Hilliard, Susanne Hillen, Maxine Burke and Nichola Goodliffe. Also to Jerry Williams, Justin Bailey and Henry Iles for typesetting, Derek Wilde for proofreading, Sean Harvey and Alison Cowan for additional Basics research. A special thanks to Yamamoto Yuka for her sterling work on the Japanese language;domo arigatō gozaimasu .
Jan: Many thanks to all the people who helped with this guide, including Ōishi Nozomi at JNTO, Sawa Isao and family, Sally Hanamura, Sekiwa Tomioka, Neil and Cathy Richards, Chris and Tako Matthews, Rob Schwartz, Herb Donovan, Paul Sands, Chie and Hugh Cannaway. Thanks also to Michitaka Hitomi for her friendship and Steve for his unstinting support and boundless patience.
Simon: In Tokyo, I’m indebted to Herb and Keiko Donovan, Paul and Karen Fisher and Chris and Tako Matthews – all treasured friends and Japansensei . Past colleagues and friends fromTokyo Journal andNikkei News Bureau who were also a source of inspiration and help include Abigail Haworth, Greg Starr, Dave McCombs, Funayama Mutsumi, Takamoto Yoshiharu and Matthew Smith. Thanks also to Tajima Noriyuki and Catherine Powell.
In London, Patrick Wilson, Higashimoto Takenobu and the staff at JNTO went beyond the call of duty in checking facts and general assistance. For their unwavering support and encouraging me to keep going in the toughest times my love to Alex and Bradd and my best pal Donna.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Basics
Getting there from Britain and Ireland
Getting there from the USA and Canada
Getting there from Australia and New Zealand
Visas and red tape
Money and co
sts
The Guide
1 Introducing the city
2 Imperial Palace and around
3 Ginza and Nihombashi
4 Kanda and across the Sumida-gawa
5 Akasaka and Roppongi
6 Asakusa
7 Ueno
8 Ikebukuro and around
9 Shinjuku
10 Harajuku, Aoyama and Shibuya
11 Ebisu, Meguro and Shinagawa
12 Bayside Tokyo
Listings
13 Accommodation
14 Eating
15 Cafés and teahouses
16 Drinking
17 Nightclubs
18 Live music
19 Gay Tokyo
20 Theatre and cinema
21 Festivals
22 Sports and martial arts
23 Shopping
24 Directory
Out of the City
25 Nikko and around
26 Fuji Five Lakes
27 Hakone
28 Kamakura
29 Yokohama
Contexts
A brief history of Tokyo
Books
Glossary of Japanese terms
Jan Dodd, Tokyo: The Rough Guide
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