Archives by Tag 'CNNGo'

20. Highway rest stops are destinations – Umihotaru

Rest areas like Umi-hotaru almost make up for the ridiculous tolls and endless traffic jams of Japan’s highways. Umi-hotaru (海ほたる/the ‘sea firefly’) is a giant, island-like concrete construct floating smack in the middle of Tokyo Bay at the crossover point between the Aqua-Line bridge and tunnel. Read the rest of this entry »

19. Personal service is borderline stalky – Aronia de Takazawa

From humble grocery stores to fancy boutiques, Tokyo’s standard of service is remarkably high. Unsurprisingly, the city’s top-class restaurants strive for excellence, and Aronia de Takazawa delivers service with a personal touch.
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18. You can act as bait in the world’s most truly bizarre beauty treatment – Ooedo Onsen Monogatari

A toe-curling, heel-buffing experience. This spa treatment, sinisterly named ‘Doctor Fish,’ at Odaiba’s Ooedo Onsen Monogatari involves sticking your feet in a tub for half an hour, while tiny fish nibble away at your corns and calluses. Read the rest of this entry »

17. You can blow an entire year’s salary on a round of drinks　- Ritz Carlton

Gone are the Bubble-era days of gold-leaf-wrapped sushi, but that profligate spirit lives on in the ‘Diamonds are Forever martini’ at the Ritz Carlton: chilled Grey Goose vodka with a lime twist, poured over a one-carat diamond. Read the rest of this entry »

16. It’s the best place to shop if you’re 0ver 60 – Sugamo Jizo Dori

Variously referred to as the ‘Granny Ginza’ and ‘Harajuku for Little Old Ladies,’ the Sugamo Jizo Dori Shotengai shopping street has aged along with the local residents. Read the rest of this entry »

15. The public parks are as pretentious as it gets

Meticulously constructed according to the good Doctor Enryo Inoue’s arcane personal tastes, Tetsugakudo’s numerous small buildings are all dedicated to world-famous philosophers.
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14. You’ll never want for expensive antique robot toys – Mandarake Complex

Eight floors of heaven for anime fans, Mandarake Complex represents the flagship of the Mandarake chain of vintage anime ephemera.The seventh and eighth floors are like a museum of Japanese toy history — only everything is for sale. Read the rest of this entry »

13. No one boasts a broader meat spectrum – Bistro “Matagi ga machi ye oritekita”

The classy little bistro “Matagi ga machi ye oritekita” specializes in ‘exotic’ meats including wild boar, venison and even bear. (The name itself is the Japanese word for ‘bear hunter.’) How is it? Eh, a bit gamey. Read the rest of this entry »

12. Even the serious museums are weird – Edo-Tokyo Museum

Edo-Tokyo Museum is the best place to relive the old traditional style of life in Tokyo, when it was called Edo in the 15th to 19th centuries. Read the rest of this entry »

11. Earth’s biggest fish market is in its best sushi neighborhood – Tsukijisijo

Given Japan’s penchant for seafood, it’s not surprising that the world’s largest fish market (and one of the largest wholesale markets, period) is located in Tokyo. Handling over 2,000 metric tons of seafood each day, Tsukiji-shijo (‘market’) is a haven for fisherman, auctioneers and buyers for Tokyo’s best restaurants. Read the rest of this entry »

10. You can commute to the mountains – Takao-san

When the concrete Tokyo gets to be too much, just head out to the wonderful Mt. Takao in West Tokyo. Accessible by a single train from Shinjuku, the mountain is particularly famous for its easy hike to the top, stunning autumn foliage and special soba-noodle culture. Read the rest of this entry »

9. The electronics stores are like theme parks

The Japanese have taken their love of the latest electronic gadgets and modern appliances to a new level with Yodobashi Akiba, the largest electronics store in a section of Tokyo known for being the center of gadget, video game, and anime culture in the city.
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8. More Michelin stars than anywhere else

When France’s lauded Michelin Red Guide announced it would release a Tokyo edition — the first one to cover an Asian city — many scoffed at what they perceived to be a mere marketing ploy.

But they awarded the city’s restaurants a total of 191 stars, more than New York and Paris combined.

It’s only fair; Tokyo sports 160,000 known eateries, over 10 times the number in Paris. There are a few three-star standouts in the Tokyo Guide — Kojyu in Ginza, serving delicate traditional Japanese cuisine; Joel Robuchon in Ebisu, the Tokyo stronghold of the famed celebrity chef; and Quintessence in Shirokane-dai, whose young French-trained chef has finally achieved recognition in the Japanese culinary hierarchy, thanks to to his inclusion in the Guide. Read the rest of this entry »

7. Three words: Punk bath house “Benten-yu”

Several times every year, an otherwise unassuming little public bathhouse named Benten-yu (弁天湯）is converted into a makeshift ‘live house’ called

Furo Rock, where musicians rock out in between the bathtubs.

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6. Youth fashion stores come by the hundreds-Shibuya, Harajuku,Omotesando, Aoyama

Even with the arrival of Forever 21 and H&M, there are countless independent fashion boutiques in the Harajuku area — all dedicated to generally insane forms of youth fashion.

If you count adjacent Shibuya, Omotesando and Aoyama into the region, you have the world’s largest fashion district: featuring basically every single major designer brand in the world.
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