Although it's a little out of the way in a residential neighbourhood, this beautifully crafted wooden ryokan is an old-world oasis in the middle of Tokyo. The main Honkan wing dates from the Meiji era and is registered as an important cultural property, though we prefer the annexe, Daimachi Bekkan, with its winding corridors and garden.
oSawanoya RyokanRYOKAN¥¥
(旅館澤の屋 MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %03-3822-2251; www.sawanoya.com; 2-3-11 Yanaka, Taitō-ku; s/d from ¥5400/10,152; naiWc; bChiyoda line to Nezu, exit 1)
Sawanoya is a gem in quiet Yanaka, run by a very friendly family and with all the traditional hospitality you would expect of a ryokan. The shared cypress and earthenware baths are the perfect balm after a long day (some rooms have their own bath, too). The lobby overflows with information about travel options in Japan.
Bicycles are also available for rent, and lion-dance performances are occasionally held for guests.
Annex Katsutarō RyokanRYOKAN¥¥
(アネックス勝太郎旅館 MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %03-3828-2500; www.katsutaro.com; 3-8-4 Yanaka, Taitō-ku; s/d from ¥6600/12,000; naiWc; bChiyoda line to Sendagi, exit 2)
More like a modern hotel than a traditional ryokan, the family-run Annex Katsutarō has spotless, thoughtfully arranged tatami rooms with attached bathrooms. It’s ideal for exploring the old Yanaka district. Breakfast (from ¥430) and bicycles (a bargain ¥300 a day) are also available.
4Asakusa & Sumida River
oNuiHOSTEL¥
(ヌイ GOOGLE MAP ; %03-6240-9854; http://backpackersjapan.co.jp/nui_en; 2-14-13 Kuramae, Taitō-ku; dm/d from ¥3000/8000; naiW; bŌedo line to Kuramae, exit A7)
In a former warehouse, this hostel has raised the bar for stylish budget digs in Tokyo. High ceilings mean bunks you can comfortably sit up in and there is an enormous shared kitchen and work space. Best of all is the ground-floor cafe-bar and lounge (open 8am to 1am), with furniture made from salvaged timber; it's a popular local hang-out.
oBunka Hostel TokyoHOSTEL¥
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %03-5806-3444; http://bunkahostel.jp; 1-13-5 Asakusa, Taitō-ku; dm/f from ¥3000/16,800; dTsukuba Express to Asakusa, exit 4)
This is one of the most stylish of the new crop of hostels popping up across town, which combine a cafe or bar open to the public in the foyer with a hostel above. Bunka offers capsule-style bunks; roomier versions where you can stand up go for ¥5000 a bed.
oAndon RyokanRYOKAN¥
(行燈旅館 GOOGLE MAP ; %03-3873-8611; www.andon.co.jp; 2-34-10 Nihonzutsumi, Taitō-ku; s/d from ¥6500/7560; naiW; bHibiya line to Minowa, exit 3)
About 2km north of Asakusa, the contemporary Andon Ryokan is fabulously designed in form and function. It has tiny but immaculate tatami rooms and a spectacular upper-floor spa with a manga-style mural, which can be used privately. Toshiko, the friendly owner, collects antiques, which are displayed around the ryokan, and will serve you breakfast on dishes worth more than your stay.
Andon also has a full program of cultural events, bike rentals and laundry facilities. It's a five-minute walk from the subway.
Japonica LodgeHOSTEL¥
(ジャポニカロッジ MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %03-6802-7495; www.japonica-lodge.com; 1-3-3 Hanakawado; tent from ¥2500; naW; bGinza line to Asakusa, exit 5)
This is far from a conventional hostel. Japonica Lodge is an outdoor goods shop (also selling traditional crafts and running a green-tea cafe) that allows guests to road test their tents, sleeping mats and bags for the night. The shop is open from 11.30am to 8pm, but you're allowed to slip into your tent after 6pm.
For those planning an outdoor adventure trip in Japan, this place is a dream, with a knowledgeable English-speaking owner and lots of information on hiking and climbing routes.
Khaosan WorldHOSTEL¥
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %03-3843-0153; http://khaosan-tokyo.com/en/world; 3-15-1 Nishi-Asakusa, Taitō-ku; dm/d from ¥2800/9000; naiWc; dTsukuba Express to Asakusa, exit A2)
One of Tokyo's most oddball hostels, Khaosan World has taken over an ageing love hotel and left much of the design elements intact – things like mirrored ceilings and glittering brocade wallpaper (don't worry: it's clean). There's a wide variety of rooms to choose from, including ones with tatami floors and capsule-style bunks. There are cooking and laundry facilities, too.
Tokyo RyokanRYOKAN¥
(東京旅館 GOOGLE MAP ; %090-8879-3599; www.tokyoryokan.com; 2-4-8 Nishi-Asakusa, Taitō-ku; r from ¥7000; naW; bGinza line to Tawaramachi, exit 3)
This tidy little inn has only three small tatami rooms and no en-suite bathrooms but tons of charm. There are touches of calligraphy, attractive woodwork and sliding screens. Kenichi, the owner, is an avid traveller, speaks fluent English and is super-knowledgeable about Asakusa.
K’s House TokyoHOSTEL¥
(ケイズハウス東京 GOOGLE MAP ; %03-5833-0555; http://kshouse.jp; 3-20-10 Kuramae, Taitō-ku; dm/s/d/tr ¥2900/4500/7200/9900; naiW; bŌedo line to Kuramae, exit A6)
This homey, modern hostel, with comfy sofas in the living room, cooking facilities and a roof terrace, is a backpacker fave. Service is friendly. From exit A6, walk northwest along Asakusa-dōri and turn left at the first corner. K’s House is the yellow building at the end of the block.
oSukeroku No Yado SadachiyoRYOKAN¥¥
(助六の宿貞千代 MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %03-3842-6431; www.sadachiyo.co.jp; 2-20-1 Asakusa, Taitō-ku; d with/without half-board from ¥33,600/19,600; naiW; bGinza line to Asakusa, exit 1)
This stunning ryokan virtually transports its guests to old Edo. Gorgeously maintained tatami rooms are spacious for two people, and all come with modern, Western-style bathrooms. Splurge on an exquisite meal here, and make time for the o-furo (traditional Japanese baths), one made of fragrant Japanese cypress and the other of black granite. Look for the rickshaw parked outside.
Understand Tokyo
Tokyo Today
The city has its sights on the 2020 Olympics and beyond. Can it pull through in uncertain times?
History
The amazing story of how a swampy fishing village became one of the world's leading cities, despite repeated destruction.
Pop Culture
Manga, anime, hyperfashion, futuristic design and robots: Tokyo is the go-to place for all things cutting-edge (and cute).
Arts & Architecture
Tokyo's rich cultural offerings include the traditional, like kabuki, and the ambitiously modern, like visionary new buildings.
Onsen
Take the plunge – you just might get hooked on the deeply relaxing hot springs in and around Tokyo.
Tokyo Today
Tokyo has reinvented itself countless times in the four centuries since its founding. With the 2020 Summer Olympic Games on the horizon, it hopes to do so again, with plans for a greener, friendlier city. Following decades of economic stagnation and a soon-to-be-shrinking workforce, the stakes are high. Does Tokyo still have what it takes to pull off another reincarnation?
Best on Film
Stray Dog (Kurosawa Akira; 1949) Noir thriller set in sweltering, occupied Tokyo.
Tokyo Story (Ozu Yasujirō; 1953) Portrait of a family in rapidly changing, post-WWII Japan.
Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola; 2003) Disorienting, captivating Tokyo through the eyes of two Americans.
Adrift in Tokyo (Satoshi Miki; 2008) Two luckless anti-heroes on a long walk through the city.
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Naruse Mikio; 1960) Inside the world of a Ginza hostess bar.
Your Name (Kimi no Na wa; Shinkai Makoto; 2016) Dreamy anime contrasting life in Tokyo with life in rural Japan.
Best in Print
The Book of Tokyo: A City in Short Fiction (eds Michael Emmerich, Jim Hinks & Masashi Matsuie; 2015) Ten stories by contemporary Japanese writers set in the capital.
Scarlet Gang of Asakusa (Kawabata Yasunari; 1930) Lively chronicle of a gang of street urchins in Asakusa.
Coin Locker Babies (Murakami Ryū; 1980) Coming-of-age sto
ry set in a future, literally toxic, Tokyo.
After Dark (Murakami Haruki; 2004) Colourful characters come together during a night in the life of Tokyo.
A Strange Tale from East of the River (Nagai Kafu; 1937) An unlicensed prostitute in atmospheric, prewar Tokyo.
Countdown to 2020
Since it was announced in 2013 that Tokyo would hold the 2020 Summer Olympics, the city has gone into full preparation mode, enacting its ‘Tokyo Vision 2020’. To understand just how much hosting the Olympics means to the city (or at least to the city’s image-makers) you have to look back to the 1964 Summer Olympics. The first Games to be held in Asia, the 1964 Olympics marked Tokyo’s big comeback after the city was all but destroyed in WWII. The powers that be hope that the 2020 games will again be symbolic, reaffirming Tokyo’s position in the pantheon of the world’s great cities, following more than two decades of economic malaise and the faltering of its export giants (such as Sony).
Much of the city’s current infrastructure dates to the manic preparations leading up to the 1964 Games. And while Tokyo sold the International Olympic Committee on a compact Games that would use many existing structures, new developments are in store. The most dramatic of these are planned to take place on and along Tokyo Bay. Already in the works is the Umi-no-Mori (Sea Forest), a vast green space on one of the bay’s artificial landfill islands, overseen by architect Andō Tadao. Other positive changes to look forward to: a more accessible Tokyo for people with disabilities, better English signage and tourist information, and expanded wi-fi networks.
Political Shake-up
Tokyo ran through two governors in four years, with both pressured to resign after just two years in office, amid claims of misusing campaign funds (Inose Naoki) and government money (Masuzoe Yōichi). In 2016, with the sentiment that enough was enough running high, the city elected – by a landslide among a record turnout – its first female governor, Koike Yuriko. Once a member of the long-time ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Koike ran as an independent after the party chose to nominate someone else.
A former defence minister and fluent Arabic speaker, Koike has already enacted her campaign promise to rein in spending and increase transparency: with the budget for Olympic construction projects spiralling out of control, she has sent more plans back to the discussion table – and possibly the chopping block. (Even before Koike took over, the Olympic budget had become a sore point: in 2015 the central government scrapped the plan for a stadium designed by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, after construction costs had soared, replacing it with a more subdued and cheaper-to-make design by Kuma Kengo.) The new governor is also responsible for the abrupt decision to halt the move of Tsukiji Market to the newly constructed facility in Toyosu – after learning that contractors cut corners in carrying out decontamination of the site (where a gas refinery once stood).
The City of the Future
The Olympics isn't the only noteworthy event slated to happen in 2020: while the population of Japan has been declining since the 2000s, it’s predicted that Tokyo’s population will peak in 2020 and then also begin to decline. The birth rate for the capital hovers at around 1.1, the lowest in the nation (the national average is 1.4), and the labour force is shrinking but the country as a whole remains wary of immigration. The central government has campaigned for more women to enter the workforce to bolster numbers (though conservative sentiment against this lingers) and for families to have more children. Tokyoites vocal on social media say they can't win: the combination of the city's high cost of living, long working hours and long waiting lists for daycare means something has to give.
Tokyo is seen as a forerunner – facing the kinds of problems that major modern cities around the world will face as their populations begin a similar tapering off. The city’s Tokyo Vision 2020 also includes provisions for making Tokyo a more attractive city in which to live and work – such as job centres for senior citizens, special economic zones for foreign companies and yes, more childcare facilities. If it works, Tokyo could become a model for cities of the future. For Tokyo families any progress can't come soon enough. And the government's back-up plan? Trying to sell Tokyoites on moving to the countryside. And robots.
History
Tokyo is one of the world’s great cities. It's perhaps surprising then to learn that until 450 years ago it was hardly a blip on the map. Still, while its history might be short, the city has played many roles: samurai stronghold, imperial capital and modern metropolis. Its latest identity as a city of the future – as it is portrayed in manga (Japanese comics), anime (Japanese animation) and think pieces – is just another example of Tokyo's protean nature.
Humble Beginnings
The enormous built space that is Tokyo, population 13 million, has come a long way from its origins as a collection of tidal flats at the mouth of the Sumida-gawa (Sumida River). Its first permanent inhabitants were part of a pottery-producing culture who settled here around 10,000 BC. These early Tokyoites lived as fishers, hunters and food gatherers. Some 4000 years later, wet-rice farming techniques were introduced from Korea, and the Shintō religion also began to develop.
Around AD 300, the proto-Japanese nation began to form in the Kansai area, around what is today Nara Prefecture, under the control of the Yamato clan. These forerunners of the current imperial family claimed descent from the sun goddess Amaterasu. In the 6th century, Buddhism arrived in Japan from China, which had a dramatic effect on the course of events to come. Buddhism introduced a highly evolved system of metaphysics, codes of law and the Chinese writing system, a conduit for the principles of Confucian statecraft. By the end of the 8th century, the Buddhist clerical bureaucracy had become vast, threatening the authority of the nascent imperial administration. The emperor responded by relocating the capital to Heian-kyō (modern-day Kyoto). From that point on, Kyoto generally served as the capital until the Meiji Restoration in 1868, when Tokyo became the new chief city.
All of this was happening in the west: Edo (the old name for Tokyo) was still just a sleepy fishing village, and would continue to be so for the next several hundred years.
Rise of the Warrior Class
Throughout the Heian period (794–1185), courtly life in the capital developed into a golden age of culture and refinement. Meanwhile, lesser nobles, with little chance of improving their rank and standing, led military excursions to rein in the outer-lying provinces. They were accompanied by their loyal retainers, skilled warriors called samurai.
By the 12th century, some of the clans established by these lesser nobles had gained significant power and influence. A feud broke out between two, the Minamoto (also known as Genji) and the Taira (also known as Heike), who were backing different claimants to the imperial throne. The Minamoto were eventually the victors, in 1192, and their leader, Minamoto Yoritomo, created a new position for himself – shogun (generalissimo).
The emperor in Kyoto remained the nation's figurehead, granting authority to the shogun, though in reality it was the shogun who wielded power. Minamoto set up his bakufu (military government) in his eastern stronghold, a seaside cove named Kamakura – bringing the seat of power closer to Tokyo for the first time. The Kamakura bakufu lasted until 1333, when it was trounced by imperial forces led by the general Ashikaga Takauji. The emperor resumed power; the position of shogun was retained – awarded to Ashikaga – but removed to Kyoto, making the government once again centralised.
Over the next two centuries, the Ashikaga shoguns were increasingly unable to control the provincial warlords, called daimyō, who had set about consolidating considerable power. Castles and fortresses were erected around the country. One such castle was constructed in the mid-15th century by a warrior poet named Ōta Dōkan in a place called Edo.
Battle for Supremacy
By the time Portuguese traders and missionaries arrived in 1543, feudal warlords had carved Japan into a patchwork of fiefdoms. One of the most powerful daimyō, Oda Nobunaga of the Ch
ūbu region, near present-day Nagoya, was quick to see how the Portuguese could support his ambitious plans. He viewed their Christianity as a potential weapon against the power of the Buddhist clergy and made ample use of the firearms they introduced. By the time he was assassinated in 1581, Oda had united much of central Japan. Toyotomi Hideyoshi took over the job of consolidating power, but looked less favourably on the growing Christian movement, subjecting it to systematic persecution.
Toyotomi’s power was briefly contested by Tokugawa Ieyasu, son of a minor lord allied to Oda. After a brief struggle for power, Tokugawa agreed to a truce with Toyotomi; in return, Toyotomi granted him eight provinces in eastern Japan – which included Edo. While Toyotomi intended this to weaken Tokugawa by separating him from his ancestral homeland Chūbu, the upstart looked upon the gift as an opportunity to strengthen his power. He set about turning Edo into a real city.
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in 1598, power passed to his son, Toyotomi Hideyori. However, Tokugawa Ieyasu had been busily scheming to secure the shogunate for himself and soon went to war against those loyal to Hideyori. Tokugawa’s forces finally defeated Hideyori and his supporters at the legendary Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, moving him into a position of supreme power. He chose Edo as his permanent base and began 2½ centuries of Tokugawa rule.
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