Big in Japan – Park Hyatt / Tokyo / Japan

Tokio.
By George Haris.

We had a fantastic time, what do you think about Tokyo?

Hmm, extraordinary is a word that epitomises Tokyo. No other city in the world can match its many contradictory characteristics, most evident in its wholehearted embrace of both innovation and tradition.
Wildly imaginative fashion and astonishingly advanced technology fill the high streets, yet a traditional etiquette pervades everyday life.

Tokyo’s chic citizens appear voraciously acquisitive – you’ll find a million shops in the streets, skyscrapers and subterranean malls – yet there are many opportunities to commune with nature here.

Of Tokyo’s key business districts, 400-year-old Nihonbashi is the only one that retains a sense of old-world charm, reflecting the vibrant urban culture of this castle town.

Nihonbashi is ideally located, making it convenient to explore Tokyo.

There is also a lot going on at and around the popular Roppongi Hills complex — a garden, a cinema, loads of shops, cafés and restaurants — but if you stay focused, you can be in and out in an hour and hit all the highlights. Start at Louise Bourgeois’s giant spider sculpture, Maman, then move on to the Mori Tower for the 52nd-floor observation deck called Tokyo City View.

The ticket includes admission to the Mori Art Museum, where exhibits range from the intriguingly modern to the truly bizarre.
For an extra $3, you can go up to the 54th floor Sky Deck, which runs the perimeter of the rooftop helipad.
If you decide to stick around for lunch, I recommend sushi at Pintokona.

The restaurant is kaiten-style, so you simply help yourself to the artfully arranged dishes as they roll by on a conveyor belt, or use the picture menu to let the chef know what you want. At the end of the meal, a member of the wait staff will wave a scanner at your stack of plates to tally the bill; prices are stored on a chip embedded in each plate, and generally range from $2 to $7, although some cost more.
Alternatively, you can see the skyline for free from the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices building (TMGO), which boasts two towers and two observation decks on the 45th floor. The TMGO stands at the west end of the Shinjuku skyscraper district near the Washington hotel.
If you want the after-dark view — you’ll get the pretty lights, but you won’t see the mountains — check the schedules: the TMGO towers are open late, until 11 p.m., only four nights a month.

House & Hotel Magazine resto tip: ARAKI!
Mitsuhiro Araki is a famous sushi master. He specialises in the simplest form of Edomae-sushi, served in a traditional way. You will find the resto in Ginza. Background story. He opened Araki in the residential area of Setagayaku, an area in the outskirts of Tokyo, but moved to the Ginza after receiving three Michelin stars in 2011. Mr Araki started his career at a hotel in Kanagawa after he graduated from high school, then went to Australia and worked as a chef there. When he was 25, he returned to Japan to be a sushi chef and started training. After eight years, he met his mentor, Takeaki Niizu, who was the head chef of a well-known restaurant Kiyoda in Ginza.

Araki has now relocated to a smart ground floor location in the Ginza. The chef prepars the food in front of you at a wooden counter, the entire restaurant had just nine seats. Try sashimi of red snapper from Akashi. Go ahead with seared bonito, served with a little soy sauce.
Both maguro and otoro are superb, a silky delight. So give a perfect 10 as sushi.

Try to avoid the airport taxi, too expensive, enjoy Tokyo.

Check in: The Park Hyatt Tokyo

The hotel featured in the movie Lost in Translation, is also fantastic.