Tokyo

Tokyo (東京) is the Center of the Universe (of Japan), it draws us all. It is not only the biggest, but also the most densely populated metropolitan area in the entire world.

It is the supreme of example of the "Japanese urban phenomenon". The longer you've been in Mie without seeing a big city, the more it will wow you.

Food and Drink

In general, if you want amazing Japanese food and you can't find it in Mie then your best bet is to head for Osaka or Kyoto. If you're headed to Tokyo on the other hand, you're best bet is to fill up on amazing (and authentic) non-Japanese food which you can't find back home in Mie:

• The Oven

  This is an all-you-can-eat restaurant that serves real rotisserie chicken, American-south style boneless fried chicken, hash browns, waffles, pasta, pizza, tacos, salad bar, dessert (the brownies come highly recommended), and more...all these tasty foods that are hard to come by in Mie can be yours on a buffet. Lunch costs about ¥1500 and dinner ¥2000, though it is about ¥500 more on weekends. Located on Odaiba in the 6F of Aqua City. To get to Aqua City, take the Yurikamome train from Shinbashi (Yamanote Line station) and get off the train at Daiba (台場) Station. Aqua City is about a minute walk from the station.

• Eggs & Things

  100% authentic breakfast-style food, served all day. Pancakes, waffles, french toast, breakfast meats, and more. Located in Harajuku near the major Jingūmae (神宮前) intersection, easily accessed via the Yamanote Line, the Chiyoda Line (subway), and the Fukutoshin Line (subway). See the website for exact directions.

  Be warned: this shop is extremely popular and it is best to show up very near opening time or after 4:00pm. At those times of the day, you may only have to wait 15~30 minutes to get in. However, if you go in the late morning or around lunch, you will be waiting over 2 hours to get seated! Even on weekdays!

• Frijoles

  This restaurant is essentially a Chipotle clone, if you miss Chipotle you will definitely appreciate this place. Located near Azabu-Juban Station (subway). Directions and map on the website.

• Cantina la Fiesta

  A great Mexican restaurant in Roppongi, about 5 minutes from Roppongi station. See their website for menu and directions.

• Junkadelic

  Yet another Mexican restaurant, about 5 mins from Nakameguro station. The food is fantastic and reasonably priced. If you're bored, the website is pretty entertaining too.

• TGI Friday's

  Chicken fingers, anyone? This American chain restaurant isn't much to write home about when you live in the US, but can be a welcome taste for those of us living in Mie as the food tastes basically identical to what you find in the US. The main locations are in Shibuya, Ueno, Roppongi, Shinagawa, Harajuku, and Ikebukuro, with a few outside of downtown as well (including one outside Sakuragicho Station near Yokohama's Minato Mirai. See the website for exact locations.

• Brown Rice Cafe & Deli

  A bit of a posh little vegan restaurant in Omotesando. It's a pretty stylish place, but the atmosphere is really chilled. There is a deli and a cafe on the premises. The deli is pretty small and has a small shop that sells organic foodstuffs as well as bentos, small lunch sets and sweets. The cafe is always really busy and you'll likely have to wait for a table. It has great veggie burgers.

Accommodations

There are a ton of youth hostels and cheap hotels centered around the Asakusa area (where the famous temple is). In addition are these few which come personally recommended:

• Ando Ryokan

  Several of us highly recommend this, very very affordable and funky.

• Oak Hotel

  Hotel with simple but clean rooms located between Ueno and Asakusa at Inaricho (稲荷町) on the Ginza subway line. Has housed a multitude of Mie JETs over the years.

• Hotel Accela

  Offers small tatami mat private rooms for ¥3150. Located a bit northeast of Ueno and Asakusa at a station called Minami Senju which is slightly farther out of town than some other hotels but provides for cheap rooms. From Minami Senju, you can take the JR to Ueno, the TX to Asakusa and Akihabara, or the Hibiya subway line to the middle of town. One major bonus of this hotel is that most of the rooms offer a great view of the newly-opened Tokyo Sky Tree.

• Capsule Hotel Oriental Passage

  If you're 1) OK speaking Japanese, 2) up for trying a capsule hotel, and 3) a dude, this place is cheap and about as ideally located as you can get. Price is about ¥3000 per night. There are no frills here, just a capsule and a bath/sauna room. The bath is open 24 hours a day. There are no individual shower rooms, just the sento-style bath. Located between Ueno and Okachimachi Stations on the Yamanote Line, with a number of subway lines running through the area (Ginza, Hibiya, and Oedo are the closest), so getting pretty much anywhere in downtown Tokyo is convenient from here.

• Love Hotels

  There are love hotels galore in Tokyo, and can be a very affordable option for accommodation no matter what your purpose in staying there is, especially as they are quite modern. The biggest cluster is out the north exit of Ikebukuro Station, just walk out the north exit of the JR station, walk along the train tracks for a few minutes, and look for the bright lights. Some of these have been totally rebuilt in recent years and are very modern, though the uber-modern ones are generally pricier.

  Shibuya's "love hotel hill" offers another big cluster, go out JR Shibuya Station at the Hachiko exit, across the crazy intersection, and up Dōgenzaka. A drawback of the Shibuya cluster is that is almost constantly filled up (presumably with the crazily dressed high school and college kids you see walking around in the daytime) so open rooms can be tough to find, especially on weekends. This is true of any love hotel, but the Shibuya ones are especially bad. Uguisudani, one Yamanote Line station north of Ueno, also has a large cluster.