The Tokyo Traveler

Chiyoda Ward is the least populous ward of Tokyo with just over 43 thousand residents in a 11.6 square kilometer area.  While a relatively small number of people call Chiyoda City home, the daytime population exceeds one million due to the large number of businesses, foreign embassies and government institutions that are located in the area.
A Brief History
Chiyoda-ku was founded in 1947 and has been the seat of the Japanese government since the Edo Period (1603 to 1868).  The area is named after a famous local castle, also known as Edo Castle, which was built on the site that …read more

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The cow-munity is made up of over 70 pieces of bovine art in Tokyo’s Marunouchi district and they aren’t just loafing around!  They are part of Cow Parade 2008. Fiberglass replicas of cows and calves have been decorated by local celebrities and the resulting bovine art won’t be put out to pasture after this unique art exhibit in downtown Tokyo, they will be auctioned off to support social welfare organizations.
I found eighteen cows as I walked along Marunouchi-Nakadori Avenue between Yurakucho and Tokyo Stations.  The artists created some surreal cows – some were subdued, many were very bright and a …read more

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The Oedo Antique Market is held the first and third Sunday each month in the courtyard of the Tokyo International Forum.  The event started in 2003 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Edo Shogunate and has grown to include more than 250 licensed antique dealers in the ensuing years.
What will you find at the Oedo Antique Market?  The selection varies but you will likely find a selection of Japanese artwork, possibly some ukiyo-e (woodblock) prints and maybe some old Japanese signs that you could take home and display as a great souvenir from your trip. 
There are sure to be …read more

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Between the Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace you will find the ultra modern Marunouchi District of Tokyo. The shining Shin-Marunouchi Building is the newest building on the block and is one of the largest shopping and dining complexes in front of Tokyo Station.
The high-rise tower reaches a height of 198m (650 feet) and houses four floors dedicated to restaurants that feature cuisines running the gamut from traditional Japanese to Brazilian Barbeque and Modern Australian and everything in between.  An additional four floors are dedicated to wide variety of retail stores.  The remaining 30 floors house various corporate offices.
Fusing …read more

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Did you know that there are over 1400 types of chopsticks and 1,100 different ways to hold them? There are even rules about what you should and shouldn’t do with your chopsticks. The Japanese term for chopsticks is hashi and Ginza Natsuno is a store dedicated to everything beautiful about hashi!
On a visit to the branch in Harajuku I was amazed by the variety of hashi available. The walls were covered with hashi in almost every color of the rainbow and there were sizes and styles that I had never seen before.
When you purchase hashi the correct …read more

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