Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
172
172
Did You Know?
• Tokyo has been the capital of Japan only since 1868; before that, Kyoto
served as capital for more than 1,000 years.
• Ten percent of Japan's total population lives in Tokyo—more than 12 million
residents. Almost a quarter of Japan's total population lives within com-
muting distance.
• Tokyo's workers commute to work an average of 90 minutes one-way.
Shinjuku Station handles the most train and subway passengers in all of
Japan—more than three million people a day, giving it an entry in the
Guinness Book of World Records as the busiest rail station in the world.
More than 60 exits lead out of the station.
• Tokyo suffered widespread destruction twice in the last century—in the
1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and from World War II firebombs. In both
instances, more than 100,000 people lost their lives.
• During the Edo Period (1603-1867), Edo (former Tokyo) witnessed almost
100 major fires, not to mention countless smaller fires.
• Tokyo sprawls over 1,288 sq. km (497 sq. miles), yet most streets are not
named.
• Rickshaws originated in Tokyo in 1869; 4 years later, there were 34,000 of
the people-propelled vehicles in the capital city.
• Park space in Tokyo is woefully inadequate—just 4.52 sq. m (5
1
⁄
2
sq. yd.)
per capita, compared to 45.7 sq. m (55 sq. yd.) in Washington, D.C.
• According to government 2008 estimates, approximately 3,400 homeless
were living in Tokyo, mainly in city parks and along riverbanks. There are
15,750 homeless nationwide, a big decline from the peak of 25,296 in 2003,
the first year records were kept.
7
Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday for free
90-minute walking tours departing at
10:30am and 1:30pm; and at the Asakusa
Information Center every Sunday for
1-hour tours departing at 11am and 2pm
(for locations of these meeting places, refer
to my walking tours of Ueno and Asakusa
in chapter 8). No registration is required.
For more information, call
&
03/3842-
5566.
Free guided tours are also offered
through www.tokyofreeguide.com, staffed
by volunteers. You're expected to pay for
the guide's entrance to museums, meals,
and transportation fees if applicable, but
you get to choose what you'd like to see;
because many of these volunteers work,
weekends are the best days to book a tour.
A 1-hour tour of the Marunouchi and
Ginza districts is offered by the
Tokyo Sky
Bus
(
&
03/3215-0008;
www.skybus.jp),
with departures from the Mitsubishi Build-
ing (across from the Marunouchi South
exit of Tokyo Station) every hour on the
hour from 10am to 6pm. The open-top,
double-decker buses roll past the Imperial
Palace, National Theater, Supreme Court,
Diet Building, and other downtown sights,
and the tours cost ¥1,500.
Otherwise, one tour I especially like is a
boat trip on the Sumida River
between Hama Rikyu Garden and
