The Wordiest and Most Biased Guide to Tokyo Ever (Part 2 of 2)

See here for part 1 of this ridiculous guide or my general guide to useful things to know in Japan.

The west side is shopping heaven.  There are some great cultural and tourist-friendly sights as well, but the shopping, oh, the shopping.  Most of the districts that I'll cover are pretty much in a straight line running from Ikebukuro in the north, down through Shibuya in the south.  Both JR Yamanote line and the brown Metro Fukutoshin line run right through this sequence of metropolitan madness.  

The order goes:
Ikebukuro
Shinjuku (JR)/Shinjuku-Sanchome (Metro)
Harajuku (JR)/Meiji-Jingu Mae (Metro)
Shibuya

Lastly, Nakano Broadway, the hidden geek wonderland of resale stores, is located just west of the string between Ikebukuro and Shinjuku.

Topics Covered: Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Nakano


That was all in one morning (though admittedly, it was from New Years Day sales).  No regrets.

The Wordiest and Most Biased Guide to Tokyo Ever (Part 1 of 2)

If your interests are all about shopping, you can feel free to skip to part 2 which covers several shopping hubs; Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya and Nakano.

Tokyo is the size of a small province in some western countries, except instead of one major "downtown" region, the whole city has many city centers, each one with a different focus from Ginza's high end designer shops to Roppongi's business district to the dense population of anime stores and maid cafes in Akihabara.  There are many districts that are widely covered in generic tour guides to make sure that every tourist knows about the red Tokyo Tower and the Imperial Palace in the center of Tokyo (where Japan's Emperor resides).  My guide will cover those that I am most familiar with which happens to be a convenient Venn diagram of shopping, food and fandom...

Topics Covered: Local transit in Tokyo, Group communications, Shipping shit home, Asakusa, Ueno, Akihabara and Odaiba area reviews.