Tokyo officially Tokyo Metropolis is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. It is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands.
White umbrellas were de rigeur - any other colour is a tourist who brought their own
KAREN GOES TO TOKYO
Here`s an insight into Karen Nichols trip to Japan`s capital.
Let Karen describe her wonderful trip in her own words.
Here is some of my holiday snaps from when my nephew, Ryan, took me to Tokyo - a land of contrasts and thoroughly enjoyable city. A mix of French culture and shops with 1950s America as the major influence. However, they protect Japanese culture and have shrines in every street to everything from fertility, business and even, one to the traffic! Being a vegetarian is difficult, especially when eating out. There is also a high wastage because each shop-bought meal comes with wooden chopsticks plus a knife & fork. Each zone of this massive city has a different character and is like visiting a different place from the one next to it.
Streets are not named and maps can offer conflicting information so self-navigation is only for those prepared to walk further than necessary & be lost for several hours.
Senso-ji temple. This is where Buddhism first arrived in Japan
Sensō-ji is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Taitō, Tokyo. It is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most significant. Formerly associated with the Tendai sect, it became independent after World War II. Adjacent to the temple is a Shinto shrine, the Asakusa Shrine
Hiroshima flame still burns in this monument.
The commercial quarter not far from the Imperial Palace. Tokyo is clean and sharp.
Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture (Tokyo-fu) and the city of Tokyo. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family.
ALL taxis are like this
Tokyo Tower - 13m higher than the Eiffel Tower & includes the compulsory shrine. Tokyo Tower is a communications and observation tower located in Shiba Park, Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
the view from Level 1 of the Tokyo Tower
At 332.5 metres (1,091 ft), it is the second tallest artificial structure in Japan. The structure is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and international orange to comply with air safety regulations.
One of the shrines to commemorate the dead
Typical market street
Strange architecture is everywhere and a feature of every area of Tokyo.
The Tokyo Metropolitan government administers the twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, that cover the area that was the city of Tokyo as well as 39 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture and the two outlying island chains. The population of the special wards is over 8 million people, with the total population of the prefecture exceeding 13 million. The prefecture is part of the world's most populous metropolitan area with 35 to 39 million people (depending on definition) and the world's largest metropolitan economy with a GDP of US$1.479 trillion at purchasing power parity in 2008.
Kyoto
Kyoto, a 2hr train journey south of Tokyo. More traditional where people still wear the kimonos, gardens are Japanese and buildings are more pagoda style.
former monastery with gorgeous gardens photo2 'plettie' Kyoto style
Kyoto is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.
Park in Kyoto with traditionally dressed girls