Browsing Wordtanks and More in Akihabra

We saw these high-tech bathroom scales in one of the 250 electronics/appliance stores near Tokyo's Akihabra train station.

The scales do everything but Skype with your nutritionist.

We were in Akihabra because hubby wanted a new Canon Wordtank electronic dictionary. While he shopped, the rest of us walked through aisles and aisles of the latest gadgets for office/home, kitchen, and bathroom.

During the week, you have to dodge traffic and crowds to cross the street in Akihabra. On Sundays, the main street is turned into a pedestrian mall. If you're in Tokyo, this is a must-see area!
    - MBW

Favorite Places: Edo-Tokyo Museum

One of our favorite places in Tokyo is the Edo-Tokyo Museum. When you enter the Edo section, you start at a replica of the famous Nihonbashi Bridge. From there, exhibits are arranged chronologically, showing the development of the old capital over the years, and ending with Tokyo's landmark hosting of the 1964 Olympics.

Last time we visited, we enjoyed the "please touch" exhibits in the Edo section. Want to feel like a peasant? Try these buckets on for size (hubby did). Want to feel upper class? Climb into one of the palaquins (Sis did).

Volunteer guides are available to escort you through the museum and explain the exhibits in English, German, French, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, or Russian. Our English-speaking guide was a young woman who was happy to practice her language skills with us.

Lonely Planet likes this museum...Frommer's calls it a "don't miss." The fictional tour group in Getting Oriented spent a few hours there, of course. When you go, plan for lunch at the Japanese restaurant on the top floor!
     - MBW

Japan Old and New

What to do on your first day in Japan? The guests on the Japan Old & New tour led by Phil Fletcher in Getting Oriented landed in ultra-modern Osaka and were then swept back in time as they visited Kyoto, the old capital city.

On my first visit, more than 20 years ago, I braved the crowds of Tokyo Station to hop on a bullet train to Kanazawa, an old castle city on the west coast, where hubby (Getting Oriented's author) was in a language immersion course.

Most recently, I spent my first day in Japan having breakfast at Denny's (really) and then walked to Asakusa for a visit to the Buddhist temple of Sensō-ji. 

The photo above, from the Japan National Tourism Organization, shows the famous gate at this temple, through which millions of visitors throng every year.

 
For other views of Japan old and new, take a look at the stunning and artistic images named winners of a recent Japan Tourism Agency photo contest. This photo, for instance, gives a glimpse of one of the country's newest tourist destinations, the Sky Tree in Tokyo.

So what would you like to do on your first day in Japan?            - MBW

What to do in Tokyo

The Edo-Tokyo Museum, which shows 400 years of Tokyo history, from its founding to 1963.

I have actually been asked by tourists what there is to see or do in Tokyo. I am mildly startled by the question. It's a little like asking what is there to see or do in New York or London or Paris. Tokyo is a capital city. It has over 12 million people. It has something like 160,000 restaurants. It has temples, shrines, museums, theaters. One could live in Tokyo for years and not see or do everything it has to offer.

Recently, The New York Times ran one of its "36 Hours in . . . " Sunday travel sections featuring Tokyo. It told readers about some of the highlights—Meiji Shrine, Ometesando, Shibuya Cross (possibly the busiest pedestrian intersection in the world), the Edo-Tokyo Museum, Akihabara, Yasukuni Shrine, and more.

In a sense, it's an impossible story because everyone is different, and Tokyo could offer dozens of 36-hour tours, each satisfying a different taste. Certainly for someone who has never been to the city, the Times' suggestions are fine. But they barely hint at the city's wealth of possibilities.

The Nakamichi in Asakusa, which is where Japanese tourists go to buy souvenirs.