I think I’ve been to Tokyo around ten staying in Shinjuku, Roppongi, Midtown, Daiba, Ginza and Shinbashi, amongst a few others.  What makes Tokyo so special?  Excellent food, politeness of the people, shopping, parks, fresh air, and loads of different things to do for every type of person.  The language can be an issue, but I’ve never to encountered a situation where it caused any major inconvenience so I wouldn’t worry about too much. If you want to shop, stay in Shinjuku, if you want to spend a lot of money shopping and like to dress up, stay in Ginza and if you want to be away from the action, stay in Daiba.  It doesn’t really matter which area of Tokyo you stay in, you’re unlikely to be far from something good and the underground train system pretty much takes you to anywhere in greater Tokyo.

If you’ve never been to Japan, start in Tokyo and spend at least 4-5 days, which will give you a good experience and let you see most of the best things there.  I could quite easily live in Tokyo but I can see the absolute strictness and rules becoming quite tiresome after a while. For a holiday, it’s a godsend for almost everything.  There’s so many great areas of Tokyo that cater to different tastes and desires so whatever you’re into, Tokyo is likely to have something for you.  Make sure you check out Shimokitazawa for something a bit different.

Since I first went there about 5 years ago, there’s a huge difference in the ease of getting around in terms of signage in English and even the amount of English spoken.  With the Rugby World Cup coming in 2019, it’s only going to get better. There’s regular flights from Hong Kong on multiple airlines and of course almost every major airline flies into Tokyo so it’s not difficult to get to.  It’s well connected to other areas by Bullet Trains and the subway and public trains are now easy to use.

Despite going there at least twice a year for the last 5 or so years, I never get bored of Tokyo and it’s one of my favourite destinations anywhere in the world.  If it was as close as Bangkok, I’d be there every other month.  The hotels and accommodation isn’t that cheap, but most other things are very reasonably priced.  The people are lovely and probably the best dressed and most polite anywhere I’ve been to.

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