Tokyo - Tokio

Tokyo (also Tokyo, Japanese: 東京, Tokyo) is the capital Japan. With just under 40 million inhabitants, Tokyo is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world.

Districts

The administrative area of ​​Tokyo stretches from Tokyo Bay to the more than 2,000 meter high mountains of the Tama region. It includes 23 administrative districts (which form the center of the city), 39 incorporated cities and villages (the Tama region) and the offshore Ogasawara and Izu Islands in the Pacific.

The 23 administrative districts

The districts (23 区 nijūsan ku) with the imperial palace, traditional gardens and parks, modern skyscrapers and two-story wooden houses form the core of the metropolis. Around the Imperial Palace in the middle of the city, the JR Yamanote ring line runs with a diameter of five to twelve kilometers from all major train stations and centers of Tokyo.

The Tama region

In the Tama region (多 摩) west of the 23 administrative districts, the metropolis is slowly turning into a green landscape that can be reached relatively easily by train from Shinjuku and Tokyo stations in one to one and a half hours. Cities in Tama primarily serve as dormitory cities for the capital. Much more interesting are the mountainous landscape with hot water springs, a stalactite cave and the forests, especially during the fall foliage season (紅葉, kōyō) offer magnificent sights towards November.

The islands

The Izu Islands(伊豆 諸島, Izu shotō) are of volcanic origin and line up in front of Tokyo Bay (100 to 350 kilometers from Tokyo City Hall) like a pearl necklace: Oshima, Toshima, Niijima, Shikineshima, Kozushima, Miyakeshima, Mikurashima, Hachijyojima and Aogashima. About 700 kilometers further are the 20 Ogasawara Islands (小 笠原 諸島, ogasawara shotō), of which only Chihijima and Hayajima are inhabited.

background

What is seen as Tokyo depends on the viewer. A Tokyo city Has not existed since 1943 after a reform, the individual districts are named in English was.

1. Tokyo consists of 23 districts of the eastern third of the prefecture, around 9 million people live here
2. Tokyo can mean the entire prefecture of Tokyo, in which about 13 million people live and which has its own governor.
3. Under Tokyo you can also see the metropolitan area with the megacities Yokohama and Kawasaki understand, in which around 35 million people live.

In this respect Tokyo has a lot of town halls, e.g. in Shibuya, Chiyoda and Shinjuku, the Tokyo town hall is generally understood to be the administrative seat of the prefecture. This article is primarily about the 23 districts of the old Tokyo city.

getting there

By plane

Tokyo has two airports: Narita International Airport and the older Haneda Airport.

These are described with all travel options in the respective main articles:

• The Narita Airport (成田空港, narita kūkō) is 70 kilometers east of Tokyo.

• The older Haneda Aiport (羽 田 空港, haneda kūkō) is located in southern Tokyo. Haneda has two terminals for domestic flights, Terminal 1 (JAL Group, SKY, SNA) and 2 (ANA, ADO), and one international. The terminals are connected to each other by a free shuttle bus.

By train

The super express train Shinkansen(新 幹線) the JR connects Tokyo (Tokyo Station 東京 駅 tōkyō-eki) with pretty much all other major Japanese cities quickly and reliably. Details on the timetable at Japanese Traffic Guide: Finding Train Connections (Japanese and English).

By bus

There are long-distance bus connections to larger cities on the main island. Many drive overnight and offer themselves as an alternative to an overnight stay. The JR buses are usually more comfortable, with only three free-standing seats per row and blankets, than offers from discount vendors such as Will he, who use buses with regular seats, but which are up to a third cheaper. There are a total of 49 long-distance bus companies Kosoku bus and Japan buslines are websites on which private companies can be booked.

The more important long-distance bus end stops are 35.679732139.7680121 in front of the Tokyo station(東京 駅 JR 高速 バ ス タ ー ミ ナ ル) and at the 35.688641139.7009912 East side of Shinjuku Station. Individual companies have their own sales offices and clearly signposted stops.

In the street

By boat

Cruise ships usually lay in Yokohama at.

The Izu- and Bonin Islands are served by ferries departing from Tokyo Takeshiba (Hammamatsucho Station) 35.652249139.7621583 dock(竹 芝 客船 タ ー ミ ナ ル) at the "Rainbow Bridge," take off (plan). The direct passenger ferries to Okinawa were just like the after Shanghai set. Osaka will achieve both goals in 2018.

Operates the only domestic connection that existed in 2018 OTF to Kitakyushu above Tokushima from 35.617641139.795584 Tokyo Ferry Terminal(東京 港 フ ェ リ ー タ ー ミ ナ ル).

mobility

In the street

Tokyo has a well-developed network of roads and expressways in very good condition, which, like us, is clogged in rush hour and then viscous, so that you cannot make rapid progress. However, if you have dealt with the city's system beforehand, you can drive it. It is difficult without a navigation system, but today almost all rental cars in Japan have a (mostly free) navigation system that works brilliantly: You enter the phone number of the destination, temples, etc. have this, in Latin numbers, and the system brings you to your destination! Names are also given in Latin script on street signs. Parking fees are high (around 500 yen for 30 minutes in the centers) and there is no free parking, but all hotels have parking spaces.

Important: For Germans and Swiss, but not for Austrians, the following applies: Neither the national nor the international driving license are recognized. A translation from the Japanese Automobile Club must be submitted beforehand JAF be concerned.

In Japan you drive consistently 80 km / h on the left-hand side of the road and on motorways, with a few exceptions, which should be considered when planning the route. Bicycles ride on the sidewalk.

Subway

Tokyo has a very well developed subway network. There is a large map at every station, unfortunately often only with Japanese characters. All ticket machines can now be switched to English (button International usually at the top right of the display). The transfer stations also have Latin lettering and the paths to the different lines are marked in color: Orange leads to the Ginza line, which runs from Asakusa to Shibuya and back. For several years now, all train stations have had a unique code: G1 means the first stop on said Ginza line, hence Shibuya. The latter station is also Z1 on the Hanzomon line marked in purple.

Payment is based on the number of stations traveled. To get to the tracks, you go into one of the passageways and put your ticket into a machine. If this is valid, a barrier opens. If not, go into the passage at the very edge on the right (or left). There is always someone from the service who helps you and sells the right tickets. You do the same thing when you leave the station. Normal tickets will not be issued again.

If, for example, you have bought a ticket for three stations, but drives five, you have to pay later at the service station on the far right passage or at a Fare Adjust machine, as the barrier for leaving the station cannot be opened with this ticket. This method can also be used without any problems if you do not know the fare: you simply pay the cheapest card, currently 160 yen, drive to the desired destination and then pay later. Dodging is therefore impossible.

If you are in Tokyo for a long time, you should get one Suica Card or Pasmo Card buy that works like a prepaid card: money is loaded onto the card at a machine and the card is held over a scanner when passing through the underground passages; the required amount is automatically debited from the card.
Anyone who uses a certain route more often can get a Kaizoken let out of the machine. There are eleven single tickets for the price of ten.

In the morning and at the end of the day it gets quite crowded in the subways, but the trains run more often. The trains run very rarely between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., and there are no trains between around 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.

The subway is operated by two companies Tokyo Metro (formerly Eidan) and Toei. The previous separation of the networks with different tickets has been lifted.

It should be noted that the actual subway only runs within the Yamanote line, even if there are numerous trips beyond it. For example, if you travel on the aforementioned Hanzomon line in the same train from Shibuya one station to Ikejiri-Ōhashi, you pay the minimum price for this piece of the Dentetsu-Line. Switching between the subway and the S-Bahn network should be avoided, as there are no transfer tickets (with a few exceptions). In connection with the bus trips from the airports there is at Keikyu discounted metro cards for 24, 48 or 72 hours.

A third company only operates one line, namely since 1995 the fully automated (without driver) Yurikamome-Line that goes from Shimbashi station to the Odaiba leisure area. An extra ticket must be purchased for this line. The price for this train is slightly higher than the prices for the two large networks, but the line offers a very good view of the Tokyo skyline on its journey over the Rainbow Bridge.

General info on Tokyo Metro. A detailed route map is available for download by JR (it belongs on every smartphone).

Train

Two lines of Japan Railways (JR) are mainly used for city traffic. The Chuō Line and the famous Yamanote Ring Line. The Chuō line runs from the Tama region via Shinjuku station to Akihabara or Tokyo station across the city. There are normal S-Bahn (“Local”) to Akihabara and express trains (“Express”) with only a few stops to Tokyo Station. The Yamanote Line, its route practically defines the “city center,” runs in a ring in both directions from Tokyo Station via Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and Ueno back to Tokyo Station. It is so important that even the television news reports minor glitches. At rush hour, the frequency is 90 seconds, otherwise three minutes.

Since this S-Bahn, e.g. also further to Yokohama, is operated by Japan Railways, the Japan Railway Pass is also valid on it.

Private railways

Otherwise there are private companies that operate S-Bahn routes into the region from one of the more important stations of the Yamanote Linei. So Odakyu from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto, Keio from Shibuya and Shinjuku or Tobu from Asakusa and others to Nikko. On some routes, men are discriminated against during rush hour, with some wagons marked as “women only”.

The same applies to the use of the subway. It should be noted, however, that express trains are often used on commuter routes that do not stop everywhere or go through a certain number of stations completely, but then stop everywhere. In general, the more red on the display, the faster. Special Express often costs a surcharge. Easily understandable diagrams on the platform clearly show the stops of the individual types.

orientation

Simply put, map services and websites are like OpenStreetMap or corresponding apps together with GPS on the smartphone are indispensable in Tokyo. The state of the art is so mature that you can reliably reach even hidden corners.

Most hotels have simple city maps, but these are only sufficient for a rough orientation. If you want a more precise orientation, you should either before the trip or directly in Tokyo (Oriental Bazaar in Omote-sando, U-Bahn Omote-sando or Meji-jingu-mae, S-Bahn Harajuku) Tokyo City Atlas - A Bilingual Guide Get 2012 from Kodansha International (ISBN 4770028091 ), with which a very good orientation is possible. The Japanese equivalent for a few hundred yen is also available at every station newspaper kiosk. You don't have to be able to read the characters, comparison is enough - and printed information can be read even when the battery is empty.

In many streets of Tokyo there are now boards with a map of the surrounding area. Often these are originally intended as evacuation plans in the event of an earthquake, but can also be used for simple orientation. Places of interest, temples, hotels, post offices and police stations in the vicinity are also shown on these maps.

Tourist Attractions

The Japanese capital has no old town and no actual center in the sense of European urban planning. The history of the city as the planned capital for the shogunate in the 17th century provides the planning and development scheme. Today, train stations are modern centers where many high-rise office buildings have settled and restaurants of all styles and shops are concentrated according to the food needs of the employees. Like all major cities worldwide, the city consists of many smaller suburbs, each with a different style and level. The fascination of the city opens up if you have some time. Many lovely little restaurants with mostly excellent food, but there are also modern breakfast cafes everywhere. As is so often the case, the real beauty is in the details: concentrated neon advertising and stylish shops, well-tended gardens, temples and shrines, and especially the Japanese themselves and their way of life. The top sights are: the Senso temple in Asakusa, the Imperial palace with a huge, beautifully manicured park and the old castle complex, but you cannot go into the actual palace. The town hall with its viewing platform and the Meiji shrinenot to forget that Tokyo National Museum. The most interesting tourist areas are Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Taitō. Tokyo is certainly the cleanest city in the world. It is just amazing for tourists how clean the city, subway stations and subways and toilets in general are. The Japanese are friendly and helpful to an enormous extent.

Tokyo is far too big and the interesting areas too spread out to walk around. The easiest way to explore the sights is quarter by quarter, from large train station to large train station:

• Chiyoda(千代 田 区, chiyoda-ku) - Imperial Palace, Tokyo Train Station, Tokyo International Forum and the electric paradise Akihabara.
• Chūō(中央 区, chūō-ku) - Ginza high-end shopping district and Tsukiji fish market.
• Minato(港区, minato-ku) - Roppongi entertainment district and Tokyo Tower, Shiodome skyscrapers, traditional Japanese gardens, Rainbow Brige and the artificial island of Odaiba in Tokyo Bay.
• Setagaya(世 田 谷 区, setagaya-ku) - Shimo-Kitazawa.
• Shibuya(渋 谷 区, shibuya-ku) - With the shopping and entertainment district of the same name, the Meiji Shrine, the Yoyogi Park and the Omotesandō (Tokyo's counterpart to the Champs-Elysees) in Harajuku, the nightlife district Ebisu and the fashion district Daikanyama.
• Shinjuku(新宿 区, shinjuku-ku) - Tokyo's city hall and high-rise office buildings, endless shopping, the red light district Kabuki-chō, Shinjuku Gyoen Park and Tokyo's largest train station Shinjuku.
• Taitō(台 東区, taitō-ku) - Senso temples in Asakusa and Ueno Park and its many museums, which do not have to fear comparison with the great museums in the world.

activities

shop

An internationally known district of Tokyo is the Ginza - a chic district with many posh shops that also sell western luxury goods. In Japan, shopping is seen as a recreational pleasure. For this reason, the department stores are also open on weekends. Hardly anywhere else in the world is politeness as important as in Japan. If the size of the goods you have tried on does not fit you, the sellers apologize.

Japanese dress measurements differ from the western ones, which are usual for us. XXS, XS, S and M are always and everywhere available, although even the Japanese dress size M does not correspond to the European one. If you have found a suitable item of clothing, a calculating look at the price tag is recommended. Foreign fashion in particular is often offered at exorbitant prices. Japanese garments, on the other hand, are a little cheaper, although leisure and youth fashion in particular is quite unusual and not wearable on all occasions. In addition to the exquisite Ginza with labels such as Gucci, Prada, Armani, etc., Shibuya (more leisure and youth fashion), Harajuku (unusual youth fashion) and East Shinjuku (large range of foreign brands) are particularly recommended. Bargain hunters need a lot of patience, perseverance and a calm mind to find what they are looking for.

This is different with electronic goods. Although the articles have their price and are not necessarily cheaper than in Europe, bargain finds are easily possible. The Akihabara district is particularly noteworthy for this. But Ikebukuro or Yūrakuchō (in the Ginza area) also offer an excellent selection. It should be noted, however, that the products are primarily intended for the Japanese market and are not always compatible with European products.

kitchen

Japanese staples include rice and fish, and rice is served with virtually any meal. This is sticky due to its high starch content, so you can eat it easily with chopsticks. Japan's coastal waters extend from the Russian Arctic Ocean to the tropical regions of Okinawa, which gives Japanese cuisine a unique variety of fish dishes. Forest / mountain landscape no expansive areas for cattle and pigs, so the sea has always covered the tables in Japan. In Tokyo fish restaurants you can also try unusual types of fish such as shark or puffer fish (fugu); Whale meat is also occasionally offered. The meat of the puffer fish is not poisonous and nobody has died from it. Only the innards contain a deadly poison and must be specially prepared for consumption. Japanese men eat these as a sign of their courage and their masculinity. When consuming it, you should feel the lips and tongue becoming numb at times. Every year the Japanese die while consuming the offal, so the consumption of these delicacies was temporarily banned in Japan. Very fresh fish is available in the small restaurants around the fish market (Tsukiji). Noodle soups are eaten on a large scale with various noodles, with added vegetables , Strips of meat or fish. In many soup kitchens, food vouchers are drawn from the outside of illustrated machines and then called up inside after they have been handed in. Very convenient for the traveler.

If you don't like Japanese cuisine, which is almost impossible, you will find your meal in the very numerous fast-food chains of western style.

nightlife

Roppongi is Tokyo's entertainment district and is home to numerous clubs and bars, including Velfarre (Asia's largest discotheque) and Gas Panic. The latter bar in particular is a meeting place for expats (foreigners living in Tokyo, mostly American soldiers) and foreign tourists. Electronic dance music is mostly played in Velfarre. The lighting and sound there are very good. Prices for admission and consumption are higher than in This is common in Germany. You pay the equivalent of between 20 and 50 euros for admission (varies depending on the day and event, women usually pay less) and around 5 euros for a beer. It is therefore advisable to carry the equivalent of at least 100 euros per person in cash with you when you go out. ID and age checks are almost never carried out on foreigners. Foreign youths have no difficulty in coming to a nightclub and drinking alcohol there. Like all of Tokyo, Roppongi is a very safe area (but you shouldn't go into the smaller alleys, but rather stay on the main streets).

accommodation

There is accommodation to suit all budgets in Tokyo. You can stay overnight in hostels or private rooms very cheaply, but you can also find hotels of the international luxury class, some of which are unaffordable for ordinary people. If you want to spend a longer time in Tokyo, you can also rent apartments by the week or by the month.

You can find and book hotels from Germany on the relevant websites. Most of the major Japanese hotels also have at least English websites.

A good description of the different hotel types can be found on the website of the Japanese tourism organization.

Learn

Tokyo is the center of Japanese education. A quarter of all universities in the country are located here. The oldest and most renowned university is the University of Tokyo (Tōkyō daigaku, known by the abbreviation Tōdai). With its five campuses, it is distributed over the districts of Hongo, Komaba, Shirokane and Nakano, as well as the prefecture of Chiba (Kashiwa). 28,000 students study at its ten faculties, around 10% of whom are foreigners.

Waseda University is located in northern Shinjuku. It is famous for its Faculty of Literature.

In addition, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo University of Technology, Chūō University, Hōsei University, Rikkyō University, Sophia University, Tōkyō Joshi Daigaku (Tokyo Woman's Christian University), Tōkyō Geijutsu Daigaku ( English Tokyo University of the Arts), the Musashino School of Art and the Tokyo University of Agriculture are important.

Work

security

After the nuclear disaster in Fukushima in March 2011, a travel warning also temporarily applied to the greater Tokyo area, but this was lifted again. However, the German Embassy in Tokyo advises German citizens who are staying in the greater Tokyo area for a long time to come to one Crisis list the embassy so that they can be informed quickly in the event of a crisis.

However, apart from the high risk of earthquakes, Tokyo is one of the safest cities in the world. Even at night it is safe to move around the city. Japanese treat Europeans with a lot of respect.

The Shibuya and Roppongi neighborhoods have a bad reputation with Tokyo residents for security. One of the reasons for this is that the nightlife is concentrated in these two areas, but these two areas are completely harmless and safe for tourists to enter (day and night). The Japanese have a different sense of security than Europeans.

There are no slums (ghettos, slums ...) in Tokyo. As a German one has the impression of being in an extremely clean (little rubbish is on the streets and graffiti is not to be seen in the capital parts of Tokyo), extremely well-kept and safe to be almost sterile city.

health

Medical care is excellent. Numerous clinics and pharmacies are available to the sick.

• 35.681667139.7180561  Keio University Hospital. .The university clinic in the district Shinjuku offers all options for acute care and is easily accessible.last change: not specified

Practical advice

English is hardly spoken in Japan because grammar is very important but little emphasis is placed on conversation in school. Therefore, the Japanese can often read and write well, but not speak. So you should try to write your question in block letters (not cursive) and hope that you will get an answer back. A smile often also helps miracles and a slight bow, whereby the hands are not placed in the lap as in Thailand, but are held by the seams of the trousers.

Even students from expensive private schools can often hardly speak or understand English, which is due to the fact that multiple-choice questions are asked in exams. Police officers, on the other hand, can speak English quite well and are very helpful if, for example, you ask them for directions. Certain phrases like yes (hai), no (iie), thank you (arigatoo), thank you very much (arigatoo gozaimasu) and excuse (sumimasen) should be learned before going on vacation. The Japanese phrasebook or books such as the "lonely planet" Japanese phrasebook, which best reproduces the actually spoken Japanese, the booklet from the "Kauderwelsch" series and programs such as from the "Nemo Japanese series", in the basic version free of charge. The Japanese are very polite and thank you for little things and also apologize for, we think, trifles.

The Japanese like to use translation programs on their smartphones; There is also something similar for our devices, some with voice output.

Postcards to Germany cost 70 yen (not increased in 2018 for a good 15 years), letters to Germany cost 110 yen.

In some post offices you can surf the Internet for free. Otherwise, internet cafes are not very common. Only the Bagus chain operates a few internet cafés, mainly in Shinjuku and Shibuja, mostly on the upper floors of the buildings. A list of the branches can be found on the Bagus website (Japanese).

If you want to call Germany from Tokyo, you have to dial 00149; if you want to call Tokyo from Germany, you have to dial 00813.

trips

You should spend a day in Tokyo's neighboring city Yokohama Sights there are the Minato Mirai 21 (Landmark Tower 21), the tallest building in Japan. The visitor center has a wonderful view over Yokohama and Tokyo Bay. There is also a lama in Yokohama and one of the world's largest China Towns . You can also take a harbor tour.

In KamakuraAbout an hour by train from Tokyo is the Daibutsu (Great Buddha), the most famous Buddha statue in Japan.

The Japanese Alps and the mountain are particularly scenic Fuji, which is Japan's highest mountain at 3776 meters. Not far from it Hakone.

literature

Tokyo takes in all Travel guides to Japan naturally a broad space. There are also specialized works from the relevant publishers.

• Brau, Lorie: Rakugo: performing comedy and cultural heritage in contemporary Tokyo. Lanham, 2008, ISBN 9780739122464 .
• Cybriwsky, Roman A.: Historical dictionary of Tokyo. Lanham, 2011, ISBN 9780810872387 .
• Hayashi mane, Elke: Tōkyō: constructions of a metropolis - social, political, cultural, historical. Munich: iudicium, 2008, ISBN 9783891299388 .
• Lawson, Jane; Eat, Christine: Tokyo style guide: eat, shop, love it. Munich: National Geographic Germany, 2017, ISBN 9783955592370 .
• Matsue, Jennifer Milioto: Making music in Japan's underground: the Tokyo hardcore scene. new York: Routledge, 2011, ISBN 9780415961523 .
• Meyer, Ulf; Bognár, Botond: Tokyo architecture guide. Berlin: DOM, 2018, ISBN 9783869224848 .
• Nagy, Stephen Robert: Local government migrant policies in Tokyo, Japan: national exclusion, local inclusion. Lewiston: Mellen, 2013, ISBN 9780773430624 .

Maps

• Frommer, H .; Tokyo, Tokyo Bay & Shinagawa, Tokyo & region: updated, durable, water-repellent, write-on / wipe-off surface = 東京;⁹2017, 1: 17000, 49 x 65 cm, folded 25 x 11 cm; ISBN 9783866093300

Web links

• Official website
• Tokyo Tourism Info (German and English)
• Japanese Tourist Board (JNTO) (German)
• Accessible Tokyo Tokyo for wheelchair users
• Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau (English)
• Tokyo Essentials (English)
• Public baths Japanese directory with directions