Tokyo Things to Do Tips by CliffClaven

One of the highlights of the Tokyo summer is the firework show over the Sumida river in August. The annual event attracts thousands, perhaps even millions, to the banks of the river. Old Cliffie was there, with a pretty girl and a can of Sapporo, to watch the soaring rockets and swirling showers of lights and colours. Perhaps Sydney did it better for the new millennium - but Tokyo does this every year.

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Remember when you picked up that travel brochure and there was the picture of a demure kimono-clad beauty in the serene setting of a Japanese garden, with a pagoda rising gently behind her? Well, you can forget that in Tokyo. The modern cityscape is more reminiscent of New York than of samurai and geisha. But it's a New York without the crime and the dirt, the potholes in the street and the constant tension that comes as different cultures clash. Monocultural Tokyo is the 21st century, perhaps already edging into the 22nd.

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Tokyo Tower is actually taller than the Eiffel Tower, although it seems much less substantial. More modern construction techniques meant that it is only a quarter of the weight of its more famous sister in Paris. Ride to the top on a fine spring day and watch the aircraft coming and going at Tokyo's domestic airport, Haneda. If the air is exceptionally clear, you'll be able to see the majestic outline of Fuji in the distance.

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Hachiko was a dog that used to wait for his master at Shibuya station each evening. When his master died suddenly of a heart attack, Hachiko continued to wait at the station. Local people fed him, and the faithful dog remained outside the station for many years. Nowadays, the Hachiko statue is a favourite meeting place in Tokyo. Little Fumiko once asked old Cliffie to meet her there: he turned up to find about 300 Japanese girls, all with black hair, all wearing similar clothes, all waiting for their dates.

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The other famous place to wait for people is the Almond coffee house at the junction in Roppongi, the entertainment district that is a favourite with expats in Tokyo. Old Cliffie spent more than one evening waiting at 'Arumondo' for various girlfriends. Then it was off for an evening of drinking and eating in the hundreds of bars and restaurants that fill the streets of Roppongi.

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The Kokugikan is Tokyo's purpose-built sumo stadium on the bank of the Sumida river. Three basho (contests) are held here each year, and Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka each host one contest. The 15-day tournament for the Emperor's Cup becomes increasingly tense as the top-ranked wrestlers - the yokozuna - vie for victory. Each wrestler fights once each day, striving to achieve the 15-0 record that will secure the cup. In high-priced Japan, it's something of a surprise to find that tickets for the basho can be bought for only a few hundred yen.

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Most Americans have seen pictures of Times Square. Well, try to imagine a thousand Times Squares, each with ten times as many lights, and you'll perhaps get an idea of Tokyo by night. As the sun sets beyond a distant Fuji, the lights click on and the city becomes a wonderful kaleidoscope of colours and impressions.

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Old Cliffie worked in Ginza, the very heart of chic and sophisticated Tokyo. The luxury shops and department stores front the broad avenues, rebuilt after the devastation of wartime bombing, while the tiny side streets are full of smaller shops, bars and restaurants. At night, the yatai (food stalls) appear. Old Cliffie has fond memories of leaving the office in the evening for a quick beer and a bowl of noodles on a stool at a yatai.

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