The Tokyo Traveler

Visitors to Tokyo tend to do a lot of walking while touring the city.  The routine goes something like this, walk to the nearest Tokyo Metro Station, navigate your way to your destination, possibly transiting one or more stations on foot in the process, walk to and around your desired destination and finally,when you have had your fill of the sights or your feet are just too tired to walk anymore, do it all again in reverse to get back to your accommodations.  Now that’s a lot of walking! It’s good for you and you see a lot more by …read more

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I recently had the privilege and pleasure of interviewing Matthew Firestone, a freelance travel writer who is one of the authors of The Lonely Planet Guide to Japan and the writer of Big in Japan for Gadling. Over the past three years he has also written or contributed to the Lonely Planet Guides to Egypt, Panama, Southern Africa, Costa Rica and many others. We met for lunch at a traditional Japanese Soba restaurant in the ultra modern Shin-Marunouchi Building located near historic Tokyo Station. The setting of our lunch is symbolic of Matthews’ thoughts on the duality …read more

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Across from the grand Imperial Hotel you will find the Imperial Palace, home to Their Majesties, the Emperor and Empress of Japan. The palace has housed the Imperial Household of Japan since 1868, when the imperial family relocated from Kyoto which had been the imperial capital for more than a thousand years.
Japan’s monarchy is the longest hereditary monarchy in the world and there have been 125 reigning monarchs since 660BC. Prior to 1889, Japan had eight female tennō or reigning empresses, but since that time Japanese law limits the succession to the throne to direct male descendants …read more

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