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Tokyo

An exhilaratingly high-tech, neon-bright kaleidoscope of colour and light, Tokyo is a mesmerising vision of the future. This ever-evolving, soaring metropolis of 38 million people buzzes with activity day and night, but it’s anything but chaotic thanks to the Japanese passion for orderliness. The metro runs with to-the-second punctuality, no one ever jumps a queue and even the joggers all puff around the Imperial Palace grounds in the same direction.

Japan’s super-sized capital may be a metropolis, but it’s certainly not a monolith, and the sheer diversity of sights, sounds and experiences you’ll come across in its different neighbourhoods is startling. Walk one way and you’ll find yourself surrounded by skyscrapers and the quirkily creative members of the city’s street-style tribes; head another and you could be in a narrow lantern-lit alleyway lined with yakitori stalls or a tiny incense-scented temple that’s 1,500 years old.

Find your way into the soul of this vast and complex city with insider knowledge from our local experts, who can help you discover everything from Tokyo’s intoxicating nightlife to its hidden cultural treasures.