Tokyo Travel Guide: 23 Wards, One Enormous City

See & Do

Asakusa and the east

Senso-ji is Tokyo's oldest temple, dedicated to Kannon, and by visitor numbers the most visited religious site in the world, with more than 30 million people a year. Come at 07:00 and the Nakamise approach belongs to the shopkeepers instead of the crowd. Across the Sumida, Tokyo Skytree reached its full 634 metres in 2011 and opened in 2012 as the tallest tower on earth, and gives the clearest read on how far the city runs.

Shibuya, Shinjuku and the west

The Shibuya scramble crossing was inaugurated in 1973 and puts 1,000 to 2,000 people across a single green light. Shinjuku Gyoen began as an Edo-period residence of the Naito family, passed to the imperial household and is now a national garden, which is why it is calm and not free. Meiji Jingu in Shibuya is dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken and holds no grave, only a forest planted by volunteers a century ago.

The quiet wards

Kichijoji, Koenji and Shimokitazawa sit on the Chuo and Keio lines, 15 to 20 minutes west of Shinjuku, and they cost visibly less than the centre while keeping the same density of food, bars and second-hand shops. If you stay a month, this is where the rent is, and Osaka is the cheaper version of this city.

Markets and depachika

Toyosu took over the wholesale trade from Tsukiji in 2018; visitors watch the auction from a second-floor deck before eating at the counters downstairs. The food halls under the big department stores discount hard after 19:00.

Eat

Tokyo carries a reputation for expense that the cheap end of its food does not support. Ramen, standing soba counters and convenience stores will feed you for less than a coffee in most European capitals.

What it costs

Numbeo's 27 October snapshot puts an inexpensive restaurant meal at 1,200 yen, about USD 8, and dinner for two at the mid range at 6,000 yen, about USD 38. A cappuccino is 564 yen. Nomads.com's own medians land close: dinner USD 8, coffee USD 4, a beer USD 4.

How to eat well

Book nothing; follow the lunch queues, when the same kitchens charge half their dinner price. The useful habit is to pick a station and eat inside it: the department store basement and the ramen floor are both behind the ticket gates.

Where to Stay

The decision that matters is central against west, not hotel against apartment. Nomads.com's medians are USD 115 a night for a hotel and USD 185 for an Airbnb, which is what a central ward costs.

Central: Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo station

Maximum convenience, maximum noise, and the airport trains.

West: Kichijoji, Koenji, Shimokitazawa

Cheaper, greener, and 15 to 20 minutes from Shinjuku on the Chuo line. The trade is one transfer for most of the city.

Rent if you stay a month

Numbeo's 27 October data has a one-bedroom in the centre at 208,167 yen, about USD 1318, against 112,760 yen, about USD 714, outside it. One ward out halves the rent, which is the single most useful number on this page. The Tokyo cost of living page prices the whole month.

Logistics

Narita sits about 60 km east of the centre, Haneda much closer in; the Narita Express and Keisei Skyliner both reach town in under an hour. Suica and Pasmo cover trains, buses and convenience stores, a single ride is 200 yen and a monthly commuter pass is around 10,000 yen.

Cards are accepted almost everywhere, tipping is not a thing, and tap water is safe and moderately hard at 60 mg/L. Two practical warnings: the last train goes around midnight and a taxi starts at 500 yen plus about 500 yen a kilometre, and spoken English is graded Bad and honestly is.