The busiest railway station in the world, Shinjuku Station handles some four million passengers daily. Japan Railways East, Odakyu, Keio and Seibu Shinjuku are some of the private companies operating trains in and out of out of this terminal. The station is packed with bars, restaurants, a couple of department stores, and kiosks selling everything from ties to tissues. Coin lockers are also available. The biggest thing to worry about here is the crowds, but they are generally quite orderly except on Saturday nights.
Watching over the increasingly cosmopolitan expanse of Tokyo, this lofty building is an architectural wonder. The Kenzo Tange-designed building, with its two distinctive towers, was the tallest building in Tokyo until 2006, when it lost its title to the Midtown Tower. Completed in 1990, the enormous building takes up three city blocks. Designed to look like a computer chip, the building has been called a beacon of technological advancement that embodies the contemporary vigor that the city is known for. The building itself is stunning and is topped by observation decks which afford dynamic views of the city sprawled below. The gargantuan scale of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building befits the sheer enormity of its function; it is from here that all of the 23 wards, as well as the various towns and villages of Tokyo are governed.
Ever wondered how Japanese houses and shops looked decades ago? Well, here is your chance to gain knowledge. Much of Tokyo's architectural heritage had been destroyed in the Great Kanto earthquake and the World War II bombings. In order to retrieve its past, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government established the Tatemono-en (open air architectural museum) as part of the Edo-Tokyo museum in 1993. The museum has 27 buildings (with plans for four more) that run along small streets and span architectural time-lines from the mid-Edo period through the mid-Showa. Do not miss the Tsunashima family's thatched-roof farmhouse, the old post box, the top of the watchtower from the Ueno Fire Station and the bricks from Ginza Brick Town. Walk through the streets and take history lessons! Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum closes every Monday (When Monday is a national holiday, closes on the following day.)