Tokyo New City Guide. Mayumi Yoshida Barakan

      TRADITIONAL THEATER—157

      GAGAKU AND BUGAKU—157 NOH—158 KYOGEN—159

      BUNRAKU—159 KABUKI—160 RAKUGO—162 GEISHA—163

      TICKETS, THEATERS, AND INFORMATION—164

      CONTEMPORARY THEATER—165

      GENERAL THEATER—165 AVANT-GARDE THEATER—165

      CONTEMPORARY DANCE AND PERFORMANCE ART—166

      OTHER PERFORMANCES—167

      CONCERT HALLS AND THEATERS—167 TICKET OUTLETS—169

      SPORTS—169

      SUMO—169 MARTIAL ARTS—171 BASEBALL—173 SOCCER—173

      MOVIES—174

      MAJOR MOVIE THEATERS—174

      NIGHTLIFE—177

      DISTRICTS—179

      BARS—180

      GENERAL BARS—180 EXPAT HANG-OUTS—181

      DISCOS—181

      BEER HALLS AND BEER GARDENS—182

      LIVE MUSIC—183

      JAZZ—184 KARAOKE—184

      HOSTESS BARS AND CABARETS—185

      LOVE HOTELS—186

      ARTS—187

      MUSEUMS—189

      JAPANESE TRADITIONAL ARTS—190

      MODERN JAPANESE AND WESTERN ART—192

      SPECIALIST MUSEUMS—193 OUTSIDE TOKYO—196

      CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERIES AND EXHIBIT SPACES—198

      GALLERIES—200

      TRADITIONAL ARTS—204

      IKEBANA—205 TEA CEREMONY—206

      CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE—206

      SIGHTSEEING—209

      TEMPLES AND SHRINES—211

      PARKS AND GARDENS—217

      ZOOS—220

      AMUSEMENT/THEME PARKS—220

      AQUARIUMS—221

      HISTORICAL SITES AND BUILDINGS—221

      CEMETERIES—223

      WALKING TOURS—223

      OUTSIDE TOKYO—232

      HEALTH AND BEAUTY—235

      ASIAN MEDICINE—237

      HARI-ACUPUNCTURE—237 SEITAI-CHIROPRACTIC—238

      WESTERN MEDICINE—238

      CLINICS—239 HOSPITALS—239 DENTAL CARE—239

      OPTICAL CARE—239 PHARMACIES—239

      SENTO-PUBLIC BATHS—239

      MASSAGE AND SAUNA—241

      SPORTS FACILITIES—241

      JOGGING COURSES—243 CYCLING COURSES—243

      BEAUTY CARE—243

      HAIR CARE—243 SKIN CARE—244

      THE BASICS—245

      PLANNING—247

      CLIMATE—247 WHEN TO TRAVEL—247

      SPECIAL DEALS-BEFORE YOU GO—248

      PACKING AND SUPPLIES—249 VISAS—249

      ARRIVAL—251

      FORMALITIES—251 CUSTOMS—251

      PASSENGER SERVICE FACILITY CHARGE—252

      TRANSPORTATION TO TOKYO—252 HANEDA AIRPORT—253

      DETAILS—253

      MONEY—253 TIPPING, SERVICE CHARGES, TAXES—254

      BUSINESS HOURS—254 METRIC—254 ELECTRICITY—255

      FOOD AND DRINK—255 JAPANESE TOILETS—256

      SAFETY—256

      COMMUNICATIONS—257

      MAIL—257 TELEGRAMS AND CABLES—257

      PUBLIC TELEPHONES—257

      GETTING AROUND—258

      TRAINS AND SUBWAYS—258 TAXIS—261 BUSES—261

      GETTING THERE—262 GETTING LOST—263

      LOST AND FOUND—263

      TOURIST SERVICES—263

      LANGUAGE—265

      APPENDIX—279

      MAPS—299

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS—350

      INDEX—351

      TOKYO

      THE CITY

      It is often said, by Japanese and foreigners alike, that Tokyo is not the "real" Japan. What they mean is that it's not the "ideal" Japan, the Japan of a people unspoiled by the West, where the descendants of the sun goddess live in spiritual harmony with nature in the Land of the Rising Sun.

      The nostalgia is understandable. With a population of nearly twelve million, Tokyo reads at times like a lexicon of the problems confronting Japan today. But the ideal Japan, like all objects of nostalgic devotion, is part of an irretrievable past. With barely 125 years of modern history, the Japanese still suffer from growing pains. The events of those one hundred years, the greatest successes and the greatest defeats, were first felt in Tokyo.

      Kyoto was the center of the country during the golden days of Japan. There in the rarefied air of the emperor's presence, a court aristocracy pursued a life of aesthetic sensitivity and refinement. What was most important was the turn of a phrase in a cryptic poem, the perfect harmony found in twelve layers of subtly shaded kimono, the just-so sweep of a brush across a sheet of immaculate paper. The present site of Tokyo was then called Musashi no Kuni, a land of fields and thickly forested hills.

      Tokyo came of age with Tokugawa leyasu's rise to power in 1600. The daimyo (feudal lords) were brought to submission and the country was ruled for 250 years of domestic peace and isolation from the world under the Tokugawa shogunate based in Edo.

      Edo had prospered since the mid-fifteenth century as a castle town built by the minor daimyo Ota Dokan. Throughout Japan, the daimyo consolidated their power in castle towns that grew into provincial capitals of cultural and economic activity centered on the needs of the lord and the samurai aristocracy. Primarily constructed for defense, the castles were surrounded by concentric circles of moats and ramparts, the streets laid out in irregular zigzag patterns to surprise