Weird and wonderful: Nine must-do highlights in Tokyo (2024)

This article is part of Traveller’s Destination Guide to Tokyo.

The hotel

The largest city on the planet unsurprisingly has a dizzying range when it comes to accommodation, however only one of its thousands of options offers a moat-side breakfast. Long the choice of visiting dignitaries, the Palace Hotel sits right on the edge of the Imperial Palace Park in one of Japan’s most illustrious postcodes. Recently renovated with new suites, it’s home to outstanding restaurants and has excellent connections around the city. Tokyo may not be the world’s greatest city for pedestrians but the iconic Tokyo Station is a 10-minute walk away, while many guests choose to start their day with a jog around the nearby royal palace grounds. See palacehoteltokyo.com

The gallery

There was no small amount of disgruntlement and confusion when teamLab’s ground-breaking Borderless project was effectively evicted from Odaiba Island in 2022. One of Tokyo’s most popular and beloved attractions is simply too good to keep down, however, and in 2023 it will enjoy a psychedelic rebirth in its new location in Azabudai Hills. Quite what form it will take is unknown at the time of writing, but if its predecessor is anything to go by it will be a hallucinogenic multi-sensory gallery and creative space that is equal parts digital artwork, life experience, and something singularly unforgettable. See teamlab.art

The restaurant

The upmarket Ginza neighbourhood has a centuries-old association with the world’s best sushi, thanks in part to its proximity to the now-defunct Tsukiji fish market. While that has now relocated (see below) dozens of high-end restaurants have remained in the neighbourhood. Picking just one isn’t easy, but for a combination of ambience, excellence, and location, Hiroyuki Sato’s Hakkoku is hard to beat. The charismatic chef at the heart of it is as talented as he is photogenic, prone to laconic and often ironic statements on the art of making perfect sushi, all while preparing sprawling tasting menus in the classic Edomae style. See tableall.com

The tour

Owing to the world’s best metro system, Tokyo is not one of Asia’s leading cities when it comes to cycling. With the majority of commuters preferring to take the train, or even taxi, bikes are notably absent, but there are still a handful of tour operators leading two-wheeled tours around the city. One of the best starts and ends near the Palace Hotel, taking in the Imperial Palace grounds, before heading towards Tokyo Station and some of the oldest surviving parts of the old capital, Edo. Like most things in Japan, expect it to be an organised, entirely safe experience, but don’t forget to follow the rules of the road yourself. See tokyocycling.jp

The museum

These days the Studio Ghibli juggernaut has its own theme park just outside the city of Nagoya. However, just west of central Tokyo in Mitaka City the animation studio has long operated its own museum as a sort of look into the genius mind of its founder Hayao Miyzaki. Often erroneously referred to as the Japanese Disney, if it has anything in common with its nominal rival, it’s just how incredibly popular the studio is at home. Inside the museum, expect to find memorabilia relating to all of Miyazaki’s movies (including Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro) as well as a crash course in the beautiful, laborious business of traditional animation. See ghibli-museum.jp

The souvenir

The story goes that Japan’s sudden (and enforced) modernisation at the end of the 19th century left expert sword-makers suddenly short of work. Rather than lose generations of inherited skills, many switched to making incredibly sharp kitchen knives. How true that is often debated, however there’s no doubting the number of shops selling ornate and keenly priced kitchenware in Kappabashi. This neighbourhood is where the thousands of restaurant owners do their shopping in Tokyo, so whether you want to buy a tempered-steel blade made by a master, or a pair of cutesie chopsticks, this is the place to be. See kappabashi.or.jp

The market

The fish market at Tsukiji had been operating since 1935 but a decade into the 2000s it had grown so popular as a tourist attraction that simply doing business had become a chore. Partly to move to a modern facility, but also to reclaim the market for local tradesmen, Tokyo fish market (the world’s largest) moved wholesale to a new site at Toyosu in 2018. Today tourists can only really tour with approved guides, while the Palace Hotel allows guests to accompany a chef to meet his most reliable suppliers before a breakfast of sushi. See palacehoteltokyo.com

The bar

Tokyo often has to cede the title of Japan’s hardest partying city to Osaka, but it’s hardly a shrinking violet in its own right. Among its countless bars, Ben Fiddich in Shinjuku stands out, thanks largely to its implausibly eccentric owner Hiroyasu Kayama. Part scientist, part showman, the bombastic barman likes to predict – or diagnose – the perfect co*cktail for his guests, based on a few minutes of conversation. The price, like the entertainment value, is high, but there’s no doubting the excellence of Kayama-san’s establishment. According to the World’s 50 Best list, this is quite simply the best bar in Japan. See note.com/benfiddich

The shrine

Though hundreds were lost during the firebombing campaigns of the Second World War, Shinto shrines can still be found all over the Japanese capital. Many are grand, solemn affairs, but for something a bit more light-hearted head to the Kanda Myojin Shrine in Akihabara. One version or another has stood here since 1616, but today it has become a place of worship for the proud nerds who frequent this part of the city. Akihabara was once the heart of blackmarket trade in Tokyo, later evolving to become a mecca for tech, then otaku (nerd) culture. Worshippers at the shrine are known to decorate religious tokens with their favourite anime characters. See kandamyoujin.or.jp

One more thing

By the time Gwen Stefani and Lady Gaga turned up in Harajuku to start mining its distinctive style for fashion ideas, this endlessly trendy neighbourhood had likely passed its peak. Once a place that felt as though it was celebrating a permanent Halloween, today extreme fashionistas are thinner on the ground. The Harajuku Kawaii Tour is in part an educational walk through this peculiar neighbourhood, but also a bid to preserve the fast-fading counterculture that long defined the area. Expect the guides to dress up, ask for selfies, and declare almost everything kawaii (cute). See harajuku-kawaii-tour.com

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