Being one of the world?s biggest cultural centers, Tokyo houses more than 400 art and picture galleries. The art galleries of Tokyo, as well as other such establishments in Japan, can be state, municipal or individually owned, but in the majority of cases they are owned by huge Japanese corporations, which gives the national art more opportunities.

Among Tokyo?s most famous and most frequented art galleries there can be named:

? National Museum of Western Art
? Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum
? Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
? Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in Ebisu Garden Place
? Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space
? Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Hills
? Museum of the Imperial Collections

National Museum of Western Art (NMWA) accommodates a vast number of art works by European artists. Its collection is unique and inimitable. NMWA is a public art gallery by its nature. Like Tokyo Nati...

The city was originally started from a castle. Its history goes back to 1457, when Tokyo was founded as a stronghold for shogunate. After the restoring of Maiji the Emperor made it the royal residence and the seat of the Tokugawa government. Back in the XVII century Tokyo was under the so called ritsuryo system together with a part of Yokohama and the city of Kawasaki. The ritsuryo system is a political system of Japan influenced by the philosophy of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism. Consequently, the political system which is based upon its regulations is called "Ritsuryō-sei".

Back then the extent of the city was limited by the borders of the medieval city of Edo. Officially the provinces were united under the title of Tokyo City

The modern-day Tokyo province is made up of 23 municipal formations, which are referred to as ?special wards of Tokyo?. Those ?special wards? (it sounds like ?tokubetsu ku? in Japanese) make up the very core of the most populous par...

There is a list of compulsory places, urban landmarks and institutions that every reasonable tourist needs to see.

It should be noted separately that in the course in its history Tokyo has been twice left in ruins, one time by a lifetaking earthquake and the other time by bombing raid undertaken by American military authorities. Nevertheless it didn?t kill the city, but made it stronger, if it can be put so.

Among the most noteworthy architecture spots there can be named the Hie Shrine; the temples of Sengakuji, Gokokuji, and Sensoji, Tokyo Station (a Marunouchi train station in a business district of Chioda), Wako Department Store (officially Wako Co., Ltd., also referred to as Ginza Wako ? a one-of-the-kind department store, located in the heart of Ginza shopping area in the center of the city), Akasaka Palace (a palace which used to be a royal residence but nowadays functions as a State Guesthouse), the Bank of Japan (a modern bank housed in a historical buildin...

The most time saving way to get to know the history of the country you are staying in for a short while, to learn better its culture and its life style is, of course, to visit a few museums.

Tokyo is one of the most important culture centers of the world. The city is abundant in state, municipal and other museums, one of which is Japan?s biggest and most ancient museum, as well as over 400 picture galleries. You can find a list of the most well known Tokyo museums worth visiting below:

? Tokyo National Museum
? National Museum of Western Art
? Edo-Tokyo Museum
? Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum
? Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum
? Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo in Kiba
? Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
? Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in Ebisu Garden Place
? Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space
? Tokyo Bunka Kaikan
? Kokugikan Sumo Museum
? Fukagawa-Edo Mu...

A fascinating modern city by daylight, Tokyo turns into a real paradise for clubbers by night, vivacious and illuminated by neon lights of hundreds of nightclubs. Though eventually quiet at nights, in the late evening the city can offer its dwellers and visitors a vast number of fashionable modern nightclubs with live music or clubs run by international DJ?s with closing hours in the late morning. The city definitely comes alive by nights, when multi-national crowds leak off to the streets and clubs looking for some good time.

Nightlife in Tokyo is versatile, to say the least. Tokyo often houses famous music bands and singers who give their concerts in the city music halls. Visiting a concert after a hard and exhausting day of sightseeing and shopping in Ginza may be such a fun!

The Japanese are great lovers of the karaoke thing, and tourists often enjoy it, having a few laughs while making it in the country of origin.

Definitely, the Japanese are as partyi...

Tokyo is one of the most populous places on earth, and due to its unique culture and exotic atmosphere it has become on of the most popular touristic destinations as well.

?Work hard in the day, party harder in the night? is the life style moto in Japan. After the sun has given way to thousands of neon lights of the late evening Tokyo, as the city gets flooded by the multitude of inhabitants and tourists who sprawl in different directions to enjoy a warm evening partying and having a sip of champagne to shake off the day?s tension.

Harlem Dancing Club, 6th Avenue, Bar Plastic Model ? Tokyo has a vast variety of pubs and bars to give its people a thorough hang out at night. It abandons in bustling multifaceted versatile bar-cum-nightclubs and red-light districts of Tokyo. By visiting one of such bars you will profit by getting an ample scope of spending your time exactly in the way you want to.

Tokyo bars are all lined up for you quite a musical soiree vyin...

Tokyo is an international place in the truest sense of the term. Japanese restaurants are highly esteemed all around the globe for their incredible cuisine and high quality drinks, so it seems an entire sea of delicacies for a true gourmet to plunge into. Yes, a real sea, because it?s the seafood that the Japanese cuisine is all about. Lobsters, crabs, shrimps, salmon and exotic kinds of fish are on every Tokyo chef?s menu as well as the invariable rice.

There is such amount of restaurants in Tokyo that you can easily lose your way trying to make out which one to visit first.

Slowly but surely, Japanese food has worked its way to the hearts of millions of people from the world. Undoubtedly, you can find an ample choice of your favorite sushi and rolls which you consume every Saturday in a small pseudo-Asian restaurant round the corner of your place, but savoring the real taste of the real sushi is a luxury you simply must allow yourself. Dining out in an authentic J...

Tokyo is a true cosmopolitan city and a great choice when it comes down to shopping.

The biggest and absolutely the most glamorous city of Japan, Tokyo is the rightest place to shop till you drop. The city offers countless variety of multistory hi-tech department stores, sprawling networks of huge shopping malls, integrated in numerous entertainment centers, chic and fashionable boutiques selling exclusive outfits, accessories, jewelry and perfumes, all quality branded products by universally acknowledged producers, like headquarters of the Apple Company in Tokyo Opera Theatre Tower.

Akihabara district in Tokyo is the first place you need to go to when looking for the most up-to-date electronic devices like handycams, notebooks, mobile phones, smartphones, i-pods, television sets, DVD and mp3 players, air conditioners, microwave ovens and other household equipment things. Shopping in Akihabara is really worth an experience as it is a stylish shopping district where ...

If you are looking for some active rest in and out the area of Tokyo, you won?t leave the city disappointed, by no means. Tokyo municipality can offer perhaps each sports activity known to humankind. Just tune in and take an enthralling trip around sportive Tokyo, it?s going to be an incredible experience. You can find the right place to go using the City Source English Telephone Directory, found in every international hotel. But keep in mind that all of sports sites are way too crowded, especially on weekends.

Among sports facilities you can find in Tokyo there are venues for swimming, skating, horseback riding, tennis, badminton, bicycling, golf, hiking and walking, jogging and even hang gliding.

But first and foremost, Japan is famous for its skiing resorts. There?s hardly a better place for skiing recreations in the world than the Japan Alps with the perfect climatic conditions provided by the cold air masses from Siberia. To couple it up with the nature of the ...

Japan has its inimitable theatrical culture with several mainstreams within its traditions. Japanese Puppet Theatre, also known as Bunraku, is an integral part of Japanese culture and with the slow but steady growth of the country?s popularity in the rest of the world Bunraku has become a worldwide famous entertainment.

An indispensable part of Japanese theatrical life, Bunraku was firstly established in the late XVI century. Back then the performance was quite simple. It featured puppet manipulation, accompaniment of the samisen and oral narrative, all of which was blended into a simple but spectacular show which is now known as the traditional Japanese Theatre.

Bunraku has evolved extensively since its origin. The first theatre building completed for Bunraku puppet performance was completed in the city of Osaka by the end of the XVI century by a Bunraku narrative chanter Takemoto Gidayu. Later on in the beginning of the XVII century Japan saw the rise of the clas...

The principal city of Japan, Tokyo, is perhaps one of the most exotic and attractive places on earth. It is one of the rare places in the world where ancient culture and modern technologies live side by side. Castles whose history is counted by centuries are silhouetted against sky scrapers, traditional colorful kimono, fans and umbrellas can be seen from behind the crowd of people in XXI century suits and dresses. Restaurants give you the impression that you are eating something unearthly. Blooming sakuras make you feel like walking on a cloud. People are friendly and outgoing.

Tokyo is located on the Kanto plain facing the Pacific Ocean coastline of the Honshu island.

Tokyo prefecture is composed of 23 districts, 7 suburban settlements and 8 villages with the total quantity of inhabitants reaching 30 million. Administratively Tokyo prefecture includes also the isles of Idzu and Ogasawara. The total area of the prefecture is 2,156.8 square kilometers, 615.8 of whi...