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Tantalising Tokyo

By Rachel Nash

Posted: 14th November 2012 15:13

You shouldn’t deny the country that gave us Pokémon and Godzilla, a visit.  Unique and innovative, the capital of Japan, Tokyo is inviting and entertaining, to say the least. 

Shopping in Tokyo is great, you can find all the replica Ray-bans and designer bags you wish and get inspired by all the colourfully creative Harajuku girls, Gwen Stefani loves so much.  If you fancy dabbling into fashion, but aren’t as brave as said Harajuku’s then hunt out a Uniqlo.  The original Japanese stores are stylish and modern and make shopping enjoyable; tee-shirts are displayed in plastic jars and are displayed in racks like cans of Coca-Cola in fridges. 

The food of Japan is the ramen noodle.  They may be cheap and taste like plastic in other countries but in Japan, they taste like heaven.  They’re impossible to avoid in Tokyo so you may as well indulge! For the best noodles in the whole of the city visit Menya Mushai near Shinjuku.  The chefs at Mushai cook their signature noodles with yuzu (a Japanese citrus fruit) and with hints of katsuo (skipjack tuna). 

We’d think it damn right rude if you don’t sample an Onsen- a hot spring spa- and so would your muscles.  They are the perfect place to relax and you’ll find them everywhere in Tokyo.  They are usually spread over a beautiful rural area and are a perfect place to waste an afternoon in.  Let the thermal water do its magic. 

For something completely different, the city runs a ‘Haunted Tokyo’ tour that looks in the supernatural.  On the tour you explore the city’s backstreets, spotting areas you may have missed when you have taken a previous stroll around the city.  If that isn’t enough to spook you, join the ‘Shinjuku Ghosts and Demons’ tour that takes you on a trip to Oiwa Inari Tamiya Jinja, home to the notorious violent ghost Oiwa- you can’t make it up. 

We couldn’t resist mentioning a typical tourist attraction for you to revel in whilst in Tokyo; the biggest Ferris wheel (pictured) in Japan.  Bright blue and 115 meters high, it sits in Fukuoka’s Marinoa City shopping district and its begging to be experienced.   

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