Tokyo City Guide

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Check out The Scene's recommendations for the Japanese capital and send us your own suggestions and comments below.

SEE: Tokyo consists of a collection of overlapping but distinctive communities. Many gaijins's first taste of Tokyo will be Roppongi, the neon nightlife district now dominated by the towering Roppongi Hills complex, also known as "Artelligent City." To experience Tokyo at its most wilfully wild and chaotic, head for Shinjuku, home to the infamous Kabukicho red light district, the ramshackle drinking dives of Golden Gai and Yakuza gangsters. Shibuya's busy neon-lit streets may be synonymous with Tokyo, but you'll feel instantly old if you're over 18. Ginza is an upmarket shopping district, which contains Tokyo's grandest department stores, as well as the Sony Building, an eight-story playground for technophiles, and the spectacular Tokyo International Forum. More traditional non-electronic entertainment can also be found at the Kabukiza Theatre, dedicated to the gentle and slow-paced Kabuki drama style which dates back to the 17th century. To sample how life might have been in Tokyo before the invention of neon, visit the Meiji Shrine. Set amid peaceful woodlands, it's a welcome island of tranquillity in the heart Shibuya. Or head for Ueno Park, home to the Tokyo National Museum and the concrete modernism of the National Museum of Western Art. Contemporary art fans should also visit the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Hills, which also has an observation floor offering spectacular views over Tokyo. Finally, for the sheer futuristic fun of it, take a monorail across the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba, an artificial island in Tokyo Bay that is home to some of the city's most spectacular architecture and an artificial beach -- though most of the island, like the rest of Tokyo, has been eaten up by shopping malls.

BE SEEN: It may be gimmicky, but it's hard to beat the view from the New York Bar on the 52nd floor of the Park Hotel in Shinjuku -- the setting for most of Lost in Translation and rated by Wallpaper* magazine as one of the best roof bars in the world -- but be prepared to pay for the privilege. Not many Tokyoites would venture out in the ex-pat enclave of Roppongi, but Bullets is one bar worth visiting, with mattresses in the middle of the floor providing some welcome respite from the chaos outside. Japan's obsessive love for western alternative music brings a steady stream of western bands to Tokyo. Most of them play at the Liquid Room in Shinjuku, which also specializes in electronica club nights. The ironically-titled Loft basement bar in Shibuya is a good place to catch Japanese bands. If you're more of a performer, karaoke really is a Japanese obsession that it would be churlish not to try. Look out for the Karaoke-Kan chain, or head for lurid pleasures of Shidax Village amid the neon madness of Shibuya. Many of Tokyo's best clubs begin the night as restaurants before turning up the music after midnight. You'll often find a visiting celebrity or two in Alife in Nishi-Azabu, while the French-themed La Fabrique in Shibuya serves up French food and European electroclash. For a more chilled time, the bizarrely-named Space Shower Brunch in offers a retro-sci-fi vibe and a chance to mix with the Tokyoite cool crowd. The Shinjuku ni-chome district is famous for its gay scene -- Arty Farty is a popular with the men while Kinswomyn is women-only.

EAT: With more than 300,000 eateries competing for business throughout the city, there's no excuse for going hungry in Tokyo, though it pays to be a little bit choosy. Tokyo is also the home of sushi with Jiro Sushi and Kyubey in Ginza considered two of the best seafood restaurants in the city. Otherwise, head for Omoide Yokocho, a nostalgic throwback to Old Tokyo that is lined with sushi bars and rough and ready restaurants and -- in typical Tokyo fashion -- scheduled for demolition in the next few years. For another authentic dining experience head for Yurakucho, where open-air yakitori shacks sell chicken on a stick as bullet train rumble overhead. An only slightly more civilized though no less cramped variation on the yakitori theme is offered by Ganchan in Roppongi. Nearby, Inakaya is a lively robatayaki -- a restaurant specializing in grilled meats and fish. With the meat cooked on a large open grill its cooking as performance art. Not content with shopping in malls, the Japanese now choose to eat in them as well. The G-Zone dining complex in Ginza is mostly populated by chains but head right to the back for the highly-recommended Gonpachi, where you choose at the door whether to head for the sushi or noodles half of the restaurant. As befits an international city, Tokyo now offers far more than Japanese cuisine with Chiyoda-Ku's Afternoon Tea Baker and Diner offering a menu created by British chef Jamie Oliver. Once Japanese immigrants flooded to Brazil, but now the trend has been reversed, with a knock-on effect on the restaurant trade. One of the best Brazilian eat-your-body-weight-in-meat-style barbecues is Shibuya's Barbacoa Grill.

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