A few streets west of Asakusa’s famous temples, there is a shopping district where professional chefs, restaurant owners and curious travellers browse shelves of Japanese knives, handmade ceramics, copper pans and astonishingly realistic plastic food. This is Kappabashi, Tokyo’s famous Kitchen Town. Unlike the shopping streets of Shibuya or Ginza, Kappabashi is not primarily about … Read more
Imagine returning to your hotel after a long day exploring Tokyo, pouring yourself a cup of Japanese sake and heading upstairs to an open-air footbath overlooking Tokyo Skytree. At SAKE Bar Hotel Asakusa, that experience is part of the accommodation. This small boutique hotel in Tokyo’s historic Asakusa district takes a different approach to hospitality. … Read more
A few steps from the enormous railway platforms and neon-lit streets of Shinjuku, Tokyo suddenly feels like a different city. Narrow passages glow beneath red lanterns. Smoke drifts from charcoal grills. Customers sit shoulder-to-shoulder at tiny wooden counters, drinking beer and eating skewers prepared just inches away. This is Omoide Yokocho, one of Tokyo’s most … Read more
Tokyo has no shortage of places to enjoy Japanese beer, from tiny standing bars beneath railway tracks to traditional drinking halls where office workers gather after work. But a new venue in Ginza is taking a different approach. YEBISU BEER HALL TOKYO, scheduled to open on 27 October 2026, brings together more than a century … Read more
Tokyo has plenty of unusual entertainment, but few attractions embrace spectacle quite like Samurai Restaurant Time in Shinjuku. Hidden beneath the neon-lit streets of Kabukicho, this theatrical show brings together brightly dressed samurai, dancers, taiko drummers, elaborate floats, dramatic lighting and mechanical creations in a performance that feels somewhere between a Japanese festival, an action … Read more
Shibuya is usually associated with crowded crossings, enormous shopping centres and some of Tokyo’s busiest streets. Yet just a few minutes from the station, there’s a tiny café where drinks and desserts appear to float above a miniature Japanese garden. RURU Shibuya is a contemporary Japanese-style café famous for its extraordinary water-covered table. Dark volcanic … Read more
A few minutes from the noise and neon of central Shibuya, an ordinary-looking door opens into a very different kind of Tokyo nightlife experience. Behind it is Onn. Good Track Lounge, a stylish music-focused bar where vintage speakers, vinyl records, inventive cocktails and a substantial wine collection take centre stage. Opened in June 2026, ONN … Read more
The sound of two sumo wrestlers colliding is something television rarely captures properly. Up close, the force, balance and speed of their movements can be surprising, even if you have never watched a sumo match before. At Hirakuza Ginza Tokyo, visitors can experience that physical intensity inside a purpose-built sumo entertainment restaurant, without having to … Read more
Tokyo has no shortage of restaurants promising unforgettable skyline views, but Terrace Dining TANGO offers something quite different. Rather than looking across the city towards Tokyo Tower, you dine almost directly beneath it. At this stylish restaurant in Shiba Park, the tower’s immense orange-and-white structure rises above a garden terrace framed by greenery, soft lighting … Read more
There is a moment in Kill Bill: Volume 1 when the Bride enters the House of Blue Leaves, a spectacular Japanese restaurant filled with wooden balconies, glowing lanterns and a vast central dining room. What follows is one of Quentin Tarantino’s most memorable action sequences. What many people don’t realise is that the restaurant’s design … Read more