Tokyo, unfiltered.
GanguroWhat Happened to Shibuya’s Gal Era
Tanned skin, bleached hair and platform boots the height of small books: for a decade the ganguro gal was the most photographed look in Tokyo. Then she disappeared.
Read the feature →12 min read
Editor’s picks
Tokyo, explained
01KabukichoTokyu Kabukicho Tower: 1956 to NowThe 225m tower that replaced the Koma Theater, Milano-za cinemas, and seventy years of Shinjuku entertainment history. What's inside, what to skip.
02FestivalsHatsumode: Tokyo's New Year Shrine RushThree million people walk to Meiji Jingu in 72 hours. Which shrines to pick, how to behave, and what the omamori actually mean.
03PracticalVisit Japan Web: The 10-Minute FormTen minutes of form-filling before your flight saves 45 minutes at the airport. Step-by-step, plus the mistakes that put you in the paper lane.
04FoodJapan's Konbini CultureWhy 55,000 convenience stores outperform most Tokyo restaurants. Onigiri packaging engineering, the ¥180 sandwich that beats home cooking.
05Current affairsJapan's New Anti-Tourism PoliticsThe July 2025 Sanseito surge, explained. What the party wants, how the mainstream is responding, and what it means for visitors.
06CultureYamaguchi-gumi: The Yakuza Then and NowFrom post-war street gangs to a corporate holding with 4,500 members. How Japan's most famous criminal organisation actually works today.
Feature · Organised crime
Yamaguchi-gumi: from 55,000 men to 7,100
Japan’s largest crime syndicate lost more than four-fifths of its strength in fifteen years. Police raids did less of the work than laws that shut members out of ordinary life.
Yamaguchi-gumi strength, members and associates
A designated member today cannot201155,000
201423,400
20257,100
National Police Agency; Asahi Shimbun, October 2025Open a bank accountRent through an agencyGet a credit cardSign a phone contractBook most hotel chains
You cannot run a criminal enterprise and also be unable to open a bank account.Read the story →
Day trips
Mt Fuji day trips →Out of Tokyo by breakfast, back by the last train
Fuji, Hakone, Nikko and Kamakura, each within about two hours of central Tokyo.
Mt FujiLake Kawaguchiko, the Fifth Station and the Chureito Pagoda view, there and back from Shinjuku.HakoneRopeway over the Owakudani vents, a pirate ship on Lake Ashi, and an onsen before the train home.NikkoGold-leaf shrines to the shogun Ieyasu and Kegon Falls, two hours north by express.Kamakura & EnoshimaThe Great Buddha, bamboo temples, and the island by the Enoden line. The easy half-day.
614 day tours across the four.
Culture & history
More culture →Tattoos, martial arts and the street styles that shaped modern Tokyo
CultureIrezumi: Japan’s Tattoo Tradition Behind the YakuzaJapan's tattoo tradition is two thousand years older than the yakuza, detours through firemen, courtesans, Ainu hunters and an 1827 woodblock-print craze, and is about to lose the one group the West most associates…
HistoryThe History of Martial Arts in Japan: A Tokyo GuideFrom 12th-century samurai battlefield arts through 20th-century Olympic judo, Japanese martial arts cover 800 years of continuous evolution.…
DesignContemporary Japanese Graphic Design: A Tokyo Insider GuideFrom Ikko Tanaka through Kenya Hara to todays digital-first studios, Japanese graphic design has shaped global visual culture.…
ShinjukuRobot Restaurant Tokyo: Is Samurai Restaurant Worth It?The Robot Restaurant ran the best weird show in Tokyo for eight years before COVID closed it in…
45Profile · SumoRead the profile →
Hakuho, and the record nobody is close to
Turned away by sumo stables at 15 for weighing 62 kg, the Mongolian-born yokozuna went on to win more championships than anyone in the sport’s 400-year history.
45top-division titles, 2001–2021
32Taiho, the next best
1,187top-division wins
63straight wins in 2010
See sumo in Tokyo
Tournaments run for 15 days at Ryogoku Kokugikan in January, May and September. Upper seats start at ¥4,000 and the gates open at 9am. Outside those months, stable visits and sumo shows fill the gap.
All 65 sumo experiences →
★ 4.8Tokyo: Sumo Show Experience with Chicken Hot Pot and a PhotoFrom $1032 hours
★ 4.8Tokyo: Sumo Show and Dining ExperienceFrom $7990 minutes - 2 hours
★ 5.0the SUMO showFrom $89Food
All Tokyo food tours →Tokyo food, one counter at a time
Tsukiji’s outer market at 9am, a yokocho alley of eight-seat bars at 9pm, and a sushi class in between.
Current affairs
Read the story →
Same ticket, two prices
Venues across Japan have started charging foreign visitors more, and saying so openly. A Japanese address or a few sentences of Japanese at the counter can decide which price you pay.
WhereResidentsVisitors
Junglia theme park, Okinawa1-day ticket¥6,930¥8,800
Tamatebako seafood buffet, ShibuyaAll-you-can-eatMenu price+¥1,100
Tabelog restaurant bookingsPer personNo fee¥440 fee
Tonkatsu restaurant, AsakusaService chargeNone+10%
The other side of the ledger: visitors still get the 10% consumption tax back on most shopping.
After dark
Kabukicho and Shinjuku after the trains stop
Tokyo’s busiest nightlife district is mostly safe, partly a trap, and worth understanding before you walk in.
InvestigationKabukicho Host Clubs: The Debt Trap That Pushed Women Into Sex WorkA Kabukicho host club can turn a lonely 19-year-old into a prostitute in eighteen months. The mechanism is a running-tab, pay-later system called kake.
KabukichoKabukicho Bar Scams: How Tourists Get Drugged and RobbedThe Kabukicho drink-spiking scam has operated since 2014 despite annual embassy warnings. Heres exactly how it works, what…
KabukichoKabukicho and Tokyo’s Nightlife IndustryFrom the 1617 licensed Yoshiwara district to Kabukicho's 2025 street-prostitution crisis — a reported history of Tokyo's nightlife…
Guide · Art
teamLab Planets or Borderless?
Two permanent teamLab venues on opposite sides of the city. If you only have time for one, make it Borderless.
Planets
Toyosu, east Tokyo- Open since
- 2018
- Installations
- 7, on a fixed route
- Time
- 2–2.5 hours
- Adult ticket
- ¥3,800
- Floor
- Knee-deep water, bare feet
- Best room
- The koi water installation
If you do oneBorderless
Azabudai Hills, central Tokyo- Open since
- February 2024
- Installations
- 50+, wander freely
- Time
- 2.5–3 hours
- Adult ticket
- ¥4,300–¥5,500
- Floor
- Dry, fully accessible
- Best room
- Forest of Lamps
Neighbourhoods
All walking tours →Tokyo, one neighbourhood at a time
Walking tours district by district, from the Shibuya scramble to the temple lanes of Yanaka.
ShibuyaThe scramble, Center Gai and the Gal-era backstreets
AsakusaSenso-ji, rickshaws and the old Shitamachi east
ShinjukuOmoide Yokocho, Golden Gai and the neon west exit
AkihabaraRetro game floors, maid cafes and figure shops
Ueno & YanakaMuseums, Ameyoko market and temple-town lanes
GinzaDepartment-store food halls and kabuki at the KabukizaDays out
All articles →Days out in and around Tokyo
AkihabaraAkihabara Tokyo: A Guide to Electric TownAkihabara is the worlds densest slice of Japanese pop culture: anime megastores, retro games, maid cafes, idol venues, and electronics.…
UenoUeno Tokyo: Where Old Tokyo Still LivesUeno is probably the best single-neighbourhood day in Tokyo for first-time visitors. Park, four major museums, Japans oldest zoo, the…
MaihamaTokyo Disney Resort: Both Parks Planning GuideTokyo Disney Resort is the best theme-park experience in Asia. This guide covers Tokyo Disneyland vs DisneySea, the 2024 Fantasy…
TamaSanrio Puroland: Hello Kitty Theme Park Tokyo GuideSanrio Puroland is Tokyos indoor Hello Kitty-and-friends theme park in Tama. Small but lavish, fully weather-independent, and a rainy-day answer…
Day tripMt Fuji Day Trip from Tokyo: The Complete Planning GuideLake Kawaguchiko, the Chureito Pagoda view and how to get there: seeing Fuji in a day from Tokyo, and how the weather changes the plan.
SeasonsChristmas in Tokyo: What to Expect and Where to GoJapanese Christmas is a couples date-night holiday built around illuminations, KFC, and strawberry shortcake. Heres what actually happens, where to…
300,000 → 170,000Summit climbers a season, before the pandemic and in 2024
Current affairs · Mt Fuji
The fence, the fee and the cap: Fuji after the crowds
Japan’s most famous mountain became the front line of its overtourism fight. How it got there, in four dates.
- April 2024A black mesh screen, 2.5 metres high and 20 metres wide, goes up opposite a Lawson in Fujikawaguchiko to block the view. Within a week visitors have poked holes in it.
- Summer 2024The Yoshida Trail adds a ¥2,000 fee, a cap of 4,000 climbers a day and a ban on overnight “bullet climbing”.
- Summer 2025The fee rises to ¥4,000 on all four summit trails.
- 2030The tourism ministry’s target: 60 million visitors a year, nearly double the 2024 record.
Tradition
Samurai, tea and zazen without leaving Tokyo
Practical
More practical guides →Landing in Tokyo without the rookie mistakes
ArrivalHaneda Airport Tokyo: The Complete Survival GuideHaneda is Tokyos better airport: closer to the city, better terminals, and faster transport. Heres the…
Getting aroundTokyo Metro: 5 Mistakes Tourists Keep MakingTokyo subway is world-class but tourists waste 20-40 minutes a day on the same avoidable mistakes.…
Daily lifeJapanese Washlet: The Toilet That Ruins All OthersThe Japanese washlet is the single most practical feature of Japanese domestic life foreign visitors underestimate.…Sections
Culture & History
Yakuza, irezumi, martial arts, sumo, ganguro fashion and the Kabukicho nightlife industry.
Neighborhoods
Akihabara, Ueno, Kabukicho, Asakusa. Where to go, what to skip, and why each neighborhood feels the way it does.
Current Affairs
Dual pricing, weak yen, Fuji overtourism and the anti-tourism vote. The politics reshaping Japanese travel.
Tours
All 2,219 Tokyo tours →Tokyo’s most popular tours
★ 5.01-Day Tokyo Bus TourFrom $129
★ 4.5Tokyo: TOKYO SKYTREE® Admission ticketFrom $131 day
★ 4.6Tokyo: teamLab Planets TOKYO Digital Art Museum Entry TicketFrom $251 day
★ 4.0Mt Fuji & Hakone Cruise, Drum Show Bullet Train 1 Day from TokyoFrom $149
★ 4.4Tokyo Mt Fuji 5th St & Hakone Cruise Bus Tour w/Bullet TrainFrom $15410 hours
★ 5.0Flagship 2-Hours Official Street Go-Kart Tour – Tokyo Bay ShopFrom $642 hours to 2 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
★ 4.5From Tokyo: Mount Fuji Full-Day Sightseeing TripFrom $6810 hours
★ 3.9Tokyo: Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Bus TicketFrom $301 - 2 days