“The next stop is Tokyo Skytree Station,” the English-speaking tannoy announces to the packed train carriage. Tokyo’s public transport system is a labyrinth of winding tracks and busy platforms that can be intimidating to even the well-travelled tourist. Perhaps unlike Scotland, it is incredibly clean, always on time and, with a little know-how (and a lot of Google Maps), you can become a master of the metro in no time.
Upon exiting Tokyo Skytree Station, you are greeted by the imposing 634-metre-tall Skytree Tower. For ¥3100 (£15.50), you get access to the Tembo Deck, which sits 350m up in the air, and the Tembo Galleria. It boasts panoramic views of the whole city, from 450m above the ground and on a clear day, if you are lucky, Mount Fuji is even visible.
While some may find the price of admission a little steep, it’s worth it to see some of the best views of Tokyo’s famed skyline. With it being the most populous metropolitan area in the world, with a population of around 41 million as of 2024, it might seem a far cry from Scotland. But in actual fact, the city’s first ever skyscraper was designed by a Scotsman.
William Kinnimond Burton was born in Edinburgh in 1856. He studied at Edinburgh Collegiate School before going on to assume a post at Tokyo Imperial University. During his time there, he helped pioneer Japan’s sanitary engineering sector and designed not just one but two Western-style skyscrapers.
Ryōunkaku was demolished in 1923 after it suffered irreparable damage during the Great Kantō earthquake, but Burton’s fingerprints can still be found throughout Tokyo in modern times. In fact, the sand filtration system he built in Shimonoseki city, located in the Yamaguchi prefecture, is still functional today.
Turning to street-level activities, Tokyo is a delight for the shopaholics amongst us. From designer gear to nifty little shops, you can pick up hand-crafted kitchen knives, kimonos, and retro game consoles all in the same store.
If you’re looking for high fashion, check out Harajuku. Located in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, there are all sorts of designer brands lining the streets. There’s a Louis Vuitton megastore, a giant Uniqlo that blows its Glasgow and Edinburgh counterparts out of the water, and a Levis store where you can pick up some exclusive blue-tab merchandise and have your denim embroidered at its in-house tailor shop.
I found myself face-to-sign with a brand that’s sure to spark nostalgia in the hearts of music lovers of a certain era: Tower Records.
The international retail brand has a nine-storey unit in the centre of Shibuya that is an absolute treat. The store’s former location under the Hielanman’s Umbrella in Glasgow pales in comparison. From CDs, vinyls, merch and even second-hand and brand-new cassette tapes, it’s the sort of place that better resembles a library than a store. And from just a quick glance at its offerings, the 1980s appear to be alive and well in Japan.
Tokyo’s jazz scene is a thriving hub with plenty of speakeasy-style bars and hidden gems nestled within the city’s hustle and bustle. While wandering the streets, I discovered a former vinyl shop called Mash Records that had been rejuvenated as a late-night spot for session musicians frequenting the area.
My main concern from day to day, though, was what I was going to eat. Burning more than 10,000 steps each day can really take it out of you.
The culinary offerings are incredible. I ate at Uobei Shibuya Dogenzaka, which gave me a taste of the authentic conveyor belt sushi experience. Tonkatsu Tsukiuma, where they specialise in all things pork cutlet related, and the many, many ramen places all made for the ideal tourist-on-the-go dining experience.
One of my favourite experiences was trying a proper Japanese curry. Hidden down the winding side streets of the buzzing shopping hub of Akihabara is Hinoya Curry. It sits behind an unassuming brown door that looks like something you’d find on your gran’s patio, while inside is a cramped space that maybe holds no more than 10 people.
However, despite appearances, this restaurant provided some of the best flavours of my whole trip. After poring over the menu – which took the form of an old-style cigarette machine with buttons to press to select your dish – I decided on a pastrami curry. My expectations were managed, but I was dazzled by the dish, with its simple yet spicy complexity. Sitting on a bar stool near the kitchen, I was able to see the chef hard at work, preparing dishes for the whole restaurant with assembly line-like precision.
I found Hinoya Curry by exploring whatever area I hopped on the train to, and in my opinion, this is the best way to experience Tokyo. The city is massive, and while you can spend time walking from district to district, public transport is by far the best way to get around.
The subway and metro can be difficult to navigate, as mentioned earlier, but it’s the best method to get around.
As well as punctual services and clean platforms, the stations are easy to find, linked together with a colourful spiderweb of routes that would make the London tube blush.
If you do visit Japan, get yourself a Suica card. The prepaid cards are basically the golden ticket for public transport. You can top them up at various places, rather than just train stations. Along with a physical version, iPhone users can purchase digital passes that can be topped up online. These handy cards can be used on trains, subways, buses and monorails, and can be purchased from machines inside Tokyo airport the second you make it through customs.
And they don’t just work in Tokyo. The Suica card can be used on the jewel of Japan’s public transport system – the bullet train.
The bullet train can be pricey, but it pays for itself in the time trimmed off a journey.
While in Japan, I didn’t want to stay within the confines of the capital, so I headed out to Osaka for a few days. The first thing I noticed about Osaka in comparison to Tokyo was an almost cultural difference.
Where Tokyo had trains full of salarymen and a tangible corporate culture in the air, Osaka felt much more relaxed and almost expressive. There’s an easy comparison to be drawn between the two major Japanese cities and its closest Scottish counterparts, Edinburgh and Glasgow; similar in culture but vastly different in personality.
Despite both being touristy cities, Tokyo was more of a place to work, whereas Osaka was a place to play. Dōtonbori is one of the main districts in Osaka that has an abundance of shops, restaurants and stellar nightlife.
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Making your way across the Ebisu Bridge, dazzling neon signs and LED lights guide the way into the district. There’s plenty to eat, see and drink, with niche stores sitting side by side with popular brand names. Coupled with the iconic food market in the area with its ridiculously elaborate signs (including a giant golden baby head that haunts my dreams), Osaka feels like the real-life version of a fictionalised idea of Japan.
One of the city’s famed signs, which greets you as you cross the bridge, is that of the iconic Glico running man. Originally erected in 1935 to advertise Glico confectionery, it has been updated several times throughout the years, with the current LED version more than a decade old at this point. The sign itself captures the true spirit of Osaka and Japan as a whole: a place that is constantly reinventing itself, changing bit by bit, but keeping its core DNA. There is an acknowledgement of its history as well as the country’s ability to innovate and take steps forward, much like the running man himself.
With Shito shrines dotted across the country between monolithic skyscrapers and historic sites like Osaka Castle, there exists a unique blend of past and present that permeated my full trip.
Osaka Castle is a perfect example of this. From its expansive grounds where sieges and battles took place hundreds of years ago to the digital hologram displays that retell the story of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the man who conceived the original idea of the fortress, Osaka Castle invites you to reflect on the lives of those who lived there.
One of the weirdest items on display in the castle was a helmet made in Flanders paired with traditional two-piece Samurai armour. It turns out that during the 16th and 17th centuries, some warriors of the upper class would even import their armour from Europe or have craftsmen replicate the designs.
Our little island seems to be a bit of an obsession for the Japanese. One aspect in particular is through the amber nectar of whisky.
In 1918, a woman from Kirkintilloch by the name of Jessie Roberta Cowan had a life-changing encounter with her family’s Japanese lodger, Masataka Taketsuru.
Taketsuru came to Scotland to study chemistry at Glasgow University before becoming an apprentice at Longmorn Distillery in Speyside, later moving on to Hazelburn Distillery in Campbeltown.
By 1920, the pair were married and in 1923 travelled to Japan, where Taketsuru would work for Kotobukiya – which later became Japanese drinks giant Suntory – and was tasked with building Japan’s first genuine whisky plant at Yamazaki. Fast forward a few decades and Taketsuru and Cowan – going by the first name Rita then – would start up their own distillery at Yoichi. This would soon become a major drinks business, Nikka.
Nikka products were available in every bar I stumbled through the door of. On the nose, the whisky has the sweet floral scents found throughout many Japanese variations but is backed up with flavours of caramel and cinnamon with a full-bodied, smoky aftertaste.
The town where the original Nikka distillery was founded, Yoichi, is twinned with two Scottish towns: Bishopbriggs and Kirkintilloch. The home where the couple lived in Yoichi, known as the Rita House, has also been preserved as a designated cultural property.
Japanese whisky has also been nominated in several competitions, with seven Japanese brands scooping top awards at last year’s World Whiskies Awards. The idea of Japan rivalling Scotland in whisky production may seem unlikely but give them a few years and they could become a household name over here.
If you’re looking for a holiday destination that has it all, I would strongly recommend taking a trip to The Land of the Rising Sun. The people are extremely friendly, the cities are clean for being so densely populated and, most importantly, it feels safe.
Despite being in Japan for just shy of three weeks, I feel I barely scratched the surface of the cities I visited.
Now is a great time to take a trip, with the pound to yen exchange rate being pretty strong across the board.
If there is one singular piece of advice I would give, it would be to avoid visiting the country during the summer seasons if you can’t handle heat and humidity in boatloads. Even arriving in mid-late September, I was treated to balmy 28C heat almost every day. If you do decide to visit during the warmer months, do yourself a favour and remember to pack a pair of shorts.
AloJapan.com