A ride on the Lady Crystal can make an incredibly romantic date setting or a wonderful party venue, and is one of the best ways to get a really scenic night view of Tokyo’s Rainbow Bridge. There are a few different cruises to choose from: the lunch cruise (7,000yen), afternoon cruise (1,800 yen), the dinner cruise (12,500 yen) and the night cruise (3,800 all you can drink). The cruises are subject to good weather conditions and should probably be booked beforehand to avoid disappointment. I’d definitely recommend the one hour night cruise for an incredible view of the lit up bridge with the city lights nestled in the background.

www.crystal-yc.co.jp/
+81 3-3450-4300
Google map: bit.ly/TS8Aya

* Hollie is our Been there local for Tokyo. You can check out her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/tokyo-local-hollie-mantle.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/HollieMantle

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If you have a bit of a soft spot for the old classic, then Japan is an incredible country in which to indulge your interest. It’s rare to walk down the street without seeing someone donning a pair of Alice tights, or without a stopwatch shaped handbag. This theme has been continued in Tokyo’s upmarket Ginza, where you can dine at an Alice themed restaurant. The tables are shaped like the playing cards, the menu is a pop up apparition of the white rabbit, and the waitresses are all either playing Alice or the Mad Hatter. Even the food comes shaped to fit the decor, with caterpillar sushi rolls and Cheshire cats in the ice cream. It’s quite a small place so I’d definitely recommend booking before to ensure your trip down the rabbit tunnel, but even waiting is a pleasure, enshrouded as you are in floor to ceiling page extracts from the book.

www.diamond-dining.com/alice/index.htm
Taiyo Building 5th floor, 8-8-5 Ginza Chuo Ku Tokyo T 104-0061
+81 (03) 3574 6980

* Hollie is our Been there local for Tokyo. You can check out her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/tokyo-local-hollie-mantle.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/HollieMantle

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Sumo is the national sport in Japan. Most Sumo wrestlers are professional competitors weighing an average of 160 kg, and up to 250 kg !
In January, May and September sumo tournaments take place at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
Try to go on the last days of the tournament. Get a ticket at the balcony because in the first rows there are tiny cabins. The Japanese sit there on their knees for hours, but it's unlikely that you can do that too.

Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.

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The existentialists had a special word for walking around randomly in order to escape the routine and see things from a different angle. I can't remember what the word is, something long and French probably, but I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment, especially in Tokyo.

Tokyo is basically an unplanned city - it has developed in a chaotic, messy way which means, sadly, that Tokyo is a very ugly city when seen from the macro level. But this also means, thankfully, that it is a joy to explore on the micro level.

Set off in any direction and you will come across tiny temples and shrines, strange shops which never seem to have any customers, ugly houses, more ugly houses and then a beautiful decaying old Japanese style residence.
You don't have to travel far for this experience - that is another wonderful thing about Tokyo's chaos - you can walk 10 minutes from the busiest train station, take a few turns and find yourself in a lovely, quiet, ancient residential area.

And the best thing about all this is the order behind the chaos - wherever you go and however far you walk, you will always be only a few minutes from a train station or bus stop. In Tokyo you can comfortably get lost, and Tokyo is a great place to get lost in.

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