Exploring Tokyo by Bus, Train, Foot, Rickshaw, and Helicopter

[Marian Goldberg]

For the best introduction to central Tokyo, I highly recommend the open-air double-decker Sky Bus. There are several routes. I took the 50-minute ($16) Imperial Palace-Ginza-Marunouchi course. This passes: the Mitsubishi Building, the Imperial Palace, the The National Museum of Modern Art, the UK Embassy, the National Theatre, the Supreme Court, Parliament, Kasumigaseki (area where most of Japan's cabinet ministries are located), and Ginza. Every participant is handed head phones with commentary in English, Chinese, or Korean (in my case English, of course). This is a great way to experience the warm early spring weather in Tokyo (might be cold in February) and to see all the newly opened shops and newly renovated buildings, such as Tokyo Station. Other routes include: Tokyo Tower to Rainbow Bridge (60 minutes/about $18), Tokyo Skytree & Asakusa (60 minutes/about $18), and the Odaiba waterfront by night (120 minutes/about $21), which includes a 60 minute rest stop at Aqua City.

Tokyo is a city of many neighborhoods. In about one hour, you can take the above-the-ground, glass-windowed JR Yamanote line, on a 34.5 km (21.4 miles) loop around the center of the city. Some of the major stations include: Yūrakuchō (Ginza area), Shibuya, Shinjuku, Marunouchi (called “Tokyo Station”) and Ikebukuro. The train makes 29 stops in all and is a good way to get your bearings. With a JR East or All Japan rail pass, you can hop on and off all day for no added cost. This gives you a chance to explore individual neighborhoods easily on foot. More information on what you can see using this line can be found at the new JR East Service Center at Tokyo Station.

Asakusa, Tokyo's historic and cultural district, is unfortunately not on the Yamanote Line. Instead, it is served by the Tobu Skytree Line (stop TS-01), the Toei Asakusa Line (stop A-18) and the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line (stop G-19). However, once you get there, in addition to exploring on foot, you can take a guided, human-powered jin-rickshaw tour-ride. The name comes from the Japanese characters: jin (man) + riki (power) + sha (carriage), and Asakusa is the only place in Tokyo where they can be found. The longest-running company offering these rides is Jidai-ya. I took their half-hour tour (about $90 for two people), and despite my prior expectations, the ride was not corny or boring. It was a lot of fun. The guide was both knowledgeable about the sites and incredibly enthusiastic. He explained temples, shrines, historic machiya houses – former homes of renowned poets and craftsmen, and the geisha quarter (45 actively working geisha). He gave my companion and me a wonderful, in-depth, up-close overview of the area that I had not discovered before, even though I had walked through the area many times previously.

For another view of the city, try a helicopter “Sky Cruise” offered by Exel Air. From Urayasu Heliport near Tokyo Disneyland, the 15-minute tour (about $195) circles above the center of the city. After enjoying soft drinks in the luxury lounge you and four friends will board, buckle-in, affix the sound muffling head phones over your ears, and take off. What a thrill! We had a spectacular 360-degree view of the 2,080 feet tall Tokyo Sky Tree. We also coasted above other major landmarks including: Tokyo Dome, the Imperial Palace, Tokyo Tower, the Mori Tower, Tokyo Midtown, and the Rainbow Bridge and identified neighborhoods in the skyline: Shinjuku, Ikeburkuro, Akihabara, and Roppongi. As far as getting to the heliport, there is a free, 10-minute shuttle bus to/from JR Maihama station.

However you get around Tokyo, just enjoy!