Tokyo, Japan

The greatest food city on the planet, and the cherry blossom in late March is the most beautiful week of the year anywhere.

cityfoodculturecherry-blossomshopping

Best time to visit

Month	High	Low	Rain	Season
Jan	8°	0°	62 mm
Feb	9°	1°	67 mm
Mar	13°	4°	113 mm	prime
Apr	18°	10°	123 mm	prime
May	22°	15°	140 mm	prime
Jun	25°	19°	169 mm
Jul	29°	23°	156 mm
Aug	30°	24°	116 mm
Sep	26°	20°	184 mm
Oct	21°	14°	191 mm	prime
Nov	16°	8°	93 mm	prime
Dec	11°	3°	60 mm

30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.

Serves travellers at Backpacker→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $160 a day on the ground.

Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.

Cards and IC cards cover most of the city, but small restaurants, shrines and older shops are still cash only. Tipping is not done and causes confusion when attempted.
money · editorial
Cherry blossom lasts about a week and the timing moves with the weather, so build in flexibility rather than booking a date around it. Public bins barely exist; you carry your rubbish until you get back.
know before · editorial
Late summer is hot and humid enough to shorten the day and it overlaps typhoon season. Golden Week in spring and the mid-August holiday week empty the offices and fill every train and hotel in the country.
when not to go · editorial
Shinjuku and Shibuya for transport and late nights, Ginza and Marunouchi for central calm and the Shinkansen, Asakusa and Yanaka for old-Tokyo streets, Nakameguro and Shimokitazawa for low-rise neighbourhoods people actually live in.
where to stay · editorial
Trains and subways, at a density that makes everything else pointless. A car is useless and parking is a separate rental problem. Walking distances inside the big interchange stations are longer than they look on the map.
getting around · editorial
Haneda is close to the centre, roughly half an hour by train. Narita is far out and about an hour on an express. Take the train from either; the taxi is slower and dramatically dearer.
getting there · editorial

Shibuya crossing
Up to three thousand people per light. Cross on the diagonal; it is allowed.
Senso-ji
The oldest temple in the city, from 645, at the end of a street of stalls.
Meiji Jingu
One hundred thousand trees planted by hand in 1920, inside the city.
Tokyo Tower
Nine metres taller than the Eiffel Tower, and orange by aviation law.
Tsukiji outer market
The auction moved to Toyosu; the street stalls stayed.
Omoide Yokocho
Alleys two metres wide with six-seat counters, there since just after the war.
Tokyo Skytree
634 metres. On a clear day Fuji shows up to the west.

Eat counter sushi for breakfast
Ramen ordered from a ticket machine
Point, pay, hand over the slip, eat in ten minutes, leave.
Counter sushi with no menu
Sit down and let the itamae decide. Eat with your fingers.
A whole dinner from a konbini
Onigiri, oden, karaage. It is better than it has any right to be.

Walk through Yanaka on a Sunday morning
The first train at five in the morning
The city clean and empty, and people still making their way back from yesterday.
Hanami under the cherry trees
Late March to early April, a tarpaulin on the ground, and a bloom that lasts a week.

Mount Takao
An hour by train and 599 metres of climb. Tokyo goes up it on Sundays.