Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The media
English newspapers and magazines are
readily available, while on TV and radio
there are some programmes presented
in English or with an alternative English
soundtrack, such as the main news
bulletins on NHK. Throughout this
guide we list English-language websites
wherever useful; most places also have
Japanese-only websites.
languages from NHK, Japan's national broadcaster
(see below).
Television
The state broadcaster,
NHK
(
W
nhk.or.jp), has two
non-digital
TV channels
(in Tokyo, NHK on
channel 1 and NHK Educational on channel 3).
Many TV sets can access a bilingual soundtrack, and
thus it's possible to tune into English-language
commentary for NHK's nightly 7pm news; films and
imported TV shows on both NHK and the commer-
cial channels are also sometimes broadcast with an
alternative English soundtrack.
Digital, satellite
and cable
channels available in all top-end hotels
include BBC World, CNN and MTV.
Newspapers and magazines
The English-language daily
newspaper
you'll most
commonly find at Tokyo's newsstands is
The Japan
Times
(
W
japantimes.co.jp). It has comprehensive
coverage of national and international news, as
well as occasionally interesting features, some culled
from the world's media. Almost as widely available
is
The International New York Times
, published in
conjunction with the English-language version of
the major Japanese newspaper
Asahi Shimbun
.
There's also the
Daily Yomiuri
(
W
yomiuri.co.jp) and the
Japan edition of the
Financial Times
. Other widely
available English-language
magazines
include
Time
and
The Economist
.
The free weekly
magazine
Metropolis
(
W
metropolis.co.jp) is packed with interesting
features, reviews, and listings of film, music and other
events. The twice-yearly publication
KIE
(Kateigahō
Inter national Edition;
W
int.kateigaho.com) is a
gorgeous, glossy magazine which covers cultural
matters, with many travel features and in-depth
profiles of areas of Tokyo and other parts of Japan.
Also worth a look is
Tokyo Notice Board
(
W
tokyo
noticeboard.co.jp), a freesheet devoted almost
entirely to classifieds. You might also find the
quarterly
Tokyo Journal
W
tokyojournal.com) of
interest for its features on the city. You'll find all these
at the tourist information centres, larger hotels,
foreign-language bookstores (see p.190) and bars or
restaurants frequented by
gaijin
.
Festivals and
events
No matter when you visit Tokyo, chances
are there'll be a religious festival
(
matsuri
) taking place somewhere. You'll
find details of upcoming events on
W
www.gotokyo.org. The dates given in
the listing of festivals below can vary,
so check ahead if you wish to attend a
particular event.
Of the major events listed, by far the most
important is
New Year
, when most of the city
closes down for a week (roughly Dec 28-Jan 3).
Tokyo also hosts three grand
sumo tournaments
each year (see p.202), as well as film, theatre and
music festivals. Several non-Japanese festivals
which have also caught on include
Valentine's Day
(Feb 14), when women give men gifts of chocolate;
on
White Day
(March 14) men get their turn with
HANAMI PARTIES
With the arrival of spring in late March or
early April, a pink tide of
cherry blossom
washes north over Tokyo, lasting little
more than a week. The finest displays are
along the moat around the Imperial
Palace (particularly the section close by
Yasukuni-jinja), in Ueno-kōen, Aoyama
Cemetery, Shinjuku Gyoen, the riverside
Sumida-kōen and on the banks of the
Meguro-gawa west of Meguro station,
where every tree shelters a blossom-
viewing (
hanami
) party.
Radio
You can listen to FM
radio
in Japan the regular
way (though you'll need a radio built for the local
market, as the 76-90 MHz FM spectrum here is
unique to Japan) or via the internet, where you're
likely to hear more interesting music on stations
such as
Samurai FM
(
W
samurai.fm), which links
up DJs in London and Tokyo. There's also
Radio
Japan Online
, which streams programmes in 18
