Tokyo - the center of the city

We start our journey through the center of Tokyo early in the morning at the Tsukiji fish market. It is a popular tourist attraction. No wonder, it is said to be the largest fish market in the world, where over 1,500 vendors trade daily and 2,400 tons of fish and seafood pass through.

While most people concentrate on the external market, there are not many people in the internal market, because it is primarily intended for medium-sized wholesalers and restaurateurs, not for tourists.

From the hangar of the inner fish market, we get outside to the edge of the whole market. It's calm here, and there are special views of Tokyo.

We are returning to the vortex of the external market. Endless crowds of people admire the varied offer of sea products – with their eyes and mouths. Every day, up to 60,000 people get refreshments in the stalls and small restaurants in the tangle of narrow streets.

We cross the subway to another iconic place in Tokyo, one of its busiest intersections, located in the Shibuya district in the southwestern part of the city. The crossing of roads, through which several crossings lead, has become a symbol of the overcrowding of the Japanese metropolis and at the same time a popular destination for tourists, who take pictures and film crowds of people from nearby high-rise buildings, who head across the intersection with every green light. The intersection is located right next to Shibuya subway station.

And so we, too, venture beyond the views of the intersection to the observation deck located on the upper floors of the Magnet by Shibuya shopping mall. For the entrance fee, they mix us a drink and we enjoy the view of the human swarm below us. Allegedly, at peak times, up to 2,500 people pass through each green.

Time flies, the day is short. We quickly take the subway to the next important point, Tokyo Tower. The structure is a lattice tower inspired by the Eiffel Tower, which is painted white and orange. Construction began in June 1957, completed in 1958. The tower is 332.9 meters high.

The tower has two vantage points. The two-story main observatory (formerly known as the „main observatory“) is 150 meters high, while the smaller upper observatory (formerly known as the „special observatory“) reaches a height of 249.6 meters. The names were changed after the renovation of the upper observatory in 2018. Tower is repainted every five years, the process takes one year to complete.The view is breathtaking.In the distance we can also see the Tokyo Skytree, a newer and taller alternative to the view of the capital.

We admire not only tall buildings and skyscrapers. In the distance we can see the port area and below us, for example, school buildings or Zōjō-ji Temple, the main temple of the branch of Jodo Shu Buddhism.

The sun begins to sink towards the horizon. So rush into the maelstrom of the big city. Ginza is Tokyo's most famous shopping, dining and entertainment district with many department stores, boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, nightclubs and cafes. Most shops are open every day of the week.

One square meter of land in the center of the district is worth over ten million yen, making it one of the most expensive properties in Japan. A visit is most enjoyable on a weekend afternoon, when the central Chuo Dori street is closed to car traffic and becomes a large pedestrian zone. The road closure usually lasts from 12:00 to 17:00.

Between 1612 and 1800, today's Ginza district was the site of a silver coinage (Ginza means „silver mint“ in Japanese), after which the district was eventually named. Ginza developed as an upscale shopping district after the great earthquake of 1923.

Where else to go for an evening and a night than Shinjuku district. Public transport runs until midnight, but this neighborhood rarely sleeps, meaning your night doesn't have to end when the last trains leave the station. And the gaming rooms are going full blast…

At dusk, Shinjuku transforms into a futuristic neon city with endless opportunities for nighttime entertainment. Bars, restaurants, crowds of fun seekers, great views of the city. And so ends our busy day in Tokyo.