©1986 Lawrence I. Charters
Off Duty, September 1986, pp. 22-24, 28, 31.
Some people don’t think that Tokyo is expensive. In May, the Prince and Princess of Wales saw the sights, took back a planeload of goodies and never uttered a word about the expense. Just a few days earlier, the leaders of the world’s seven top industrial nations met in Tokyo, and most of them complained that Japanese goods were too cheap. But if you live around Tokyo, or are visiting while working on Uncle Sam’s payroll, your opinions may not be the same as those of a prince or a president.
An Indian-style pagoda at Jorenji, home of Tokyo’s Great Buddha. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, scanned from print.
Business International Corporation has ranked Tokyo as the most expensive city in the world in which to live. For example, an order of Big Macs, French fries and Cokes for two empties a wallet of $10, and a simple cup of coffee at a cafe can run to ¥400, or $2.50. Fortunately, the simple feat of getting to know Tokyo remains one of the best Japanese bargains around.
A slice of downtown Tokyo, seen from the top of the Kasumigaseki Building. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, scanned from print.
About the worst way to see Tokyo is by car. A trip from any of the local U.S. military installations to downtown and back can take all day, cause ulcers and cost $50 or more for parking, gas and tolls. There is an old saying that you offer people visiting Tokyo by car, and it goes: “Good Luck.”
Trains and subways can get you anywhere quickly and inexpensively. All you need to become a veteran rider of the rails is a pocketful of 100 yen coins (for the ticket machines) and a good subway map. The largest subway operator in Tokyo, Teito Rapid Transit Authority (TRTA), also offers a “One Day Free Pass,” which isn’t really free but will save you money, and save you time spent standing in line at ticket machines. (See box for details.)
The Way To Go
Trains and subways are the only way to see Tokyo, and the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (TATA) “One Day Free Pass” helps keep the cost down. At 600 yen for adults and 300 yen for children between six and twelve, the passes aren’t free, but they will save you a bundle on marathon sight-seeing trips. TATA operates the Ginza, Marunouchi, Hibiya, Tozai, Chiyoda, Yurakucho and Handomon subway lines, and the pass offers unlimited travel along these lines for one day.
Tickets must be purchased at TATA offices in Shinjuku, Ginza, lkebukuro, Shibuya, Akasakamitsuke, Nihombashi, Shimbashi, Otemachi, Kasumigaseki, lidabashi or Ueno stations. TATA will even refund the subway fare for reaching these offices when you buy a pass. Just tell the ticket taker “teihatsujo” (ticket office) and he’ll stamp your ticket and
point you in the right direction.
TATA also has a handy English language map of the subway systems, and it is available at most base tour offices and the New Sanno information desk. An even better map, listing locations in both English and kanji, for matching up with fare charts, is in the back of Off Duty’s annual Welcome to Tokyo guide.
Probably the best place to see the city — all the city — is from the Kasumigaseki Building. This 36-floor office building is located just south of the Diet (Japan’s parliament) and the Imperial Palace grounds. A free elevator takes you to the 35th floor, then a stairway leads to the glass-enclosed top floor.
The Kasumigaseki Building offers the best view of Tokyo Tower and the city. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, scanned from print.
Tokyo Tower is promoted by tour guides as being “the” spot for viewing the city, but the tower is much further from the palace and downtown area, and there is a charge for the elevator ride. You can also get a better picture of Tokyo Tower from the Kasumigaseki Building than you can from anywhere near the tower itself.
Tokyo has everything, including lots of smog, so try to visit on a clear day. The best times (you may even see Mt. Fuji) are right after a typhoon or a heavy rain, or on a cold, crisp winter morning. The Kasumigaseki Building is just a few blocks from the A13 exit of Kasumigaseki subway station, on the Hibiya line.
Within walking distance of the Kasumigaseki Building is the Imperial Palace, home of the Japanese imperial family since 1867. Although it is the largest castle in the world, the present palace grounds are only a third the size of the original Chiyoda castle built by the Tokugawa Shogunate over a period of 200 years. If you want to jog around the moat (and some people do) be prepared to run for more than four miles.
Entrance to the inner grounds is possible only twice a year-on January 2 for the Emperor’s New Year’s greetings and April 29 for the Emperor’s birthday. The outer grounds are open year round and include the beautiful East Garden, several massive castle gates and Nippon Budokan, a huge hexagonal hall used for concerts and other major events.
Subway stations ring the palace, but Hibiya, on the Hibiya line, and Nijubashimae, on the Chiyoda line, are recommended for first-time visitors.
Across the moat, to the north of the palace, is Yasukuni Shrine, one of the few Shinto shrines authorized to display the imperial chrysanthemum. Established at the request of Emperor Meiji in 1869, the shrine honors all those who died in Japan’s civil and foreign wars between 1853 and 1945 — some 2,400,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen.
Several mementos of these wars are on display at the shrine, and range from a piloted, rocket-powered bomb built during World War II to several ancient muzzle-loading cannon cast in Europe in the 1600s and still used by Japanese forces in the 1860s. A lovely garden and an outdoor sumo-wrestling ring make this a spot worth spending several hours.
A Japanese World War II light tank sits at rest on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, scanned from print.
Kudanshita station, on the Toei Shinjuku line, is right outside the shine’s main torii, or gate. Kudanshita is also a convenient stop for reaching concerts at Nippon Budokan, located just across the moat from Yasukuni.
Probably the most famous shrine in Tokyo is dedicated to the Emperor Meiji, grandfather of the current emperor and a leading figure in Japan’s modernization. During the first five days of the year, several hundred thousand people a day visit the shrine, jamming into the inner courtyard to offer prayers for a good year.
Meiji Shrine’s grounds cover more than 175 acres, offering endless opportunities for quiet strolls. The treasure museum and garden are also worth a visit, and English-language signs will help guide visitors.
Right outside the shrine entrance is Harajuku, a district impossible to describe. On almost any sunny Sunday, the streets in the area are closed to traffic and taken over by, among other things, young people’s dance clubs. Dressed in a mixture of fifties-style teen outfits and eighties-style punk, and armed with countless portable stereo systems, club members relive the early years of American rock ’n’ roll — more or less. Even in the staid fifties, while girls jived enthusiastically with girls, boys rarely danced with boys.
The weekend rockers of Harajuku. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, scanned from print.
Harajuku and Meiji Shrine are both very close to Harajuku station on the national railways’ Yamanote line. You might also want to check out the shops in this district; they offer everything from flavored popcorn to surplus U.S. military uniforms.
Virtually everyone has seen or heard of the Great Buddha, the Daibutsu, of Kamakura. What perhaps few people realize is that Tokyo has its own Daibutsu, a huge 43-foot-high statue that is ranked as the fourth largest Daibutsu in Japan, right behind Kamakura’s. Finished with a light-absorbing flat black surface, the statue is cast, ironically, in a style known as Amida Nyorai, or Lord of Boundless Light. The Daibutsu is located at Jorenji, a Buddhist temple in northwestern Tokyo which also boasts a unusual Indian-style pagoda.
Getting to Jorenji is half the fun. Shin-Takashimadaira station, the closest subway stop, is at the very edge of Tokyo, just one stop from the end of the Toei Mita line. English-language signs point the way from the station to the Daibutsu, allowing you to concentrate on the interesting collection of factories, apartment complexes and farm fields lining the 1,500-meter route. Also along the way is Suwa Jinja, a Shinto shrine noted for its February fertility festival, and Takenoko Koen, a park designed for the sole purpose of encouraging one to contemplate bamboo.
Many people think that Tokyo is not a good place to take kids. They seem to forget that several million kids live here, and that few, if any, seem to be any the worse for the experience. Any number of facilities are designed specifically for children, the most elaborate being Kodomo no Shiro, the Children’s Castle.
Completed in November 1985, this 13-story building has everything: swimming pool, music room, computer play room, fine arts studio, rooftop garden and playground, indoor play hall, personal computer room, video rooms, two large theaters, a restaurant, a hotel and much more. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the world, and the ample resources keep everyone from toddlers to adults busy and entertained. You can go alone, but you’ll be less conspicuous with a child.
Unlike the other activities listed, the castle charges admission: ¥400 for adults, ¥300 for kids aged six and over. There are also modest charges for certain activities, but the castle is far from expensive and is open every day except Monday. You reach the castle by taking the B2 exit from Omote-Sando station, on the Ginza line, and walking straight ahead for a few minutes.
“Child Skipping Rope,” a graceful vertical sculpture high on a wall of the unique Children’s Castle. Photo by Lawrence I. Charters, scanned from print.
Other inexpensive places worth visiting: Asakusa Kannon, a very colorful temple outside Asakusa station on the Ginza and Asakusa lines; Ueno Park, featuring Japan’s best zoo (complete with pandas), acres of cherry trees and several museums, outside Ueno station on the Ginza subway line and the Yamanote train line; and Akihabara, the consumer electronics capital of the world, surrounding Akihabara station on the Yamanote train line.
A word of caution: Akihabara is inexpensive only if you’re there merely to look at the electronic marvels. If you’re easily tempted into buying, this is the worst place in Tokyo to visit.
Two good sources of information on current Tokyo events are the Tokyo Tour Companion and the Tokyo Weekender, a privately owned weekly newspaper published by Corky Alexander, a 30-year resident of Tokyo.
Each issue of Tour Companion usually has several short articles on festivals and exhibitions being held that week, and directions are included on how to get there. Also included are listings of current movies, Noh and Kabuki offerings and concerts.
In any given week, Tokyo Weekender might have short stories, articles on traveling to New Guinea and Kenya and pages of pictures showing the famous and near-famous attending Tokyo parties. Each issue contains at least a few articles on current concerts, the opening of a new club or restaurant and perhaps a commentary on Japanese baseball. Weekender also includes an excellent guide to local theaters.
Both Tour Companion and Weekender are free, and can usually be picked up at base tour offices, the New Sanno Hotel information desk or at any major Western-style hotel in the city.
Seeing Tokyo requires periodic stops for food, and if you want to watch money disappear fast, visit one of the city’s better-known restaurants. Even without ordering drinks, a good steak dinner for two can-come to ¥20,000 (more than $120, at a rate of 165 yen to the dollar).
By far the least expensive “fine” restaurant in Tokyo is Wellington’s, in the New Sanno Hotel. Very much a coat-and-tie establishment, Wellington’s can provide a very good dinner for two for between $30 and $50.
More informal fare, inexpensive and suitable for even the least adventurous, can be had at almost any small restaurant. A hot meal of ramen (Chinese noodles) , soba (Japanese noodles), yakisoba (fried noodles), katsudon (pork cutlet over rice) or yakitori (chicken cooked on a bamboo skewer) will generally run to only ¥600-800 and usually includes free ocha (green tea) or mizu (water).
Somewhat more expensive, as well as more exotic, are sushi (raw or cooked fish and vegetables in rice packets) and tempura (batter-fried fish and vegetables). Soft drinks, beer and coffee tend to be expensive, so it’s best to stick to the ocha and mizu.
Make sure you take a camera on your journeys, and take pictures of people, signs and street scenes along with your shots of major tourist attractions. The folks back home will never know you did it all on a budget.
Article as it appeared in Off Duty, on two facing pages. This was reconstructed from two scans which don’t — quite — match in the center.