Tokyo  

Well, here I was in Tokyo - it has the distinction being the world's largest city. I don't plan on visiting a city larger than this for a long while.

It was a two and a half hour bullet train ride from Kyoto to Tokyo. I arrived downtown in the early afternoon and got accommodations in a ryokan through the tourist office. This ryokan was in an outlying suburb and only cost $28 (US) per night. The tourist office explained to me how to catch the subway out to the ryokan and I found the subway fairly easily. It seemed like I was riding the subway for a lot of stops before I got to my ryokan’s neighborhood. But then I took out my map, and measured the distance for the 15 subway stops – the ryokan was only about 6 miles away from the city center.

LINK FOR TOKYO SUBWAY MAP - Requires PDF viewer

My travel guidebook told me that Tokyo was a city of many small, hidden surprises. It doesn't have a great single monument, signature vista or panorama. The best approach is to wander and discover. It is a very safe city, and nothing is going to happen to you, even if you get lost.

Upscale shopping district of Ginsa

I found a Starbucks coffee shop in the neighborhood of Shibuya and sat there for an hour or so watching the pedestrians stroll by. It was very busy (below).

The neighborhood of Shinjuku has the Tokyo City Hall and is an entertainment area at night. (below)

I visited the Tsukiji fish market, which is the world's largest. It was very industrial and not arranged for tourists at all. It was strictly for wholesale business, and not for your own grocery shopping. I had to be constantly alert so I wouldn't be run over by a forklift or other vehicle.

In my semi-random wanderings, I accidentally stumbled upon a large Buddhist temple in the neighborhood of Asakusa. There were thousands of people there and lots of incense being offered.