Download this page in PDF formatTokyo, like New York has the reputation of being a must-see destination in the world on top of being the largest city in the world! So you can imagine my surprise when I found out that even in a city of over 35 million people, you can still find special moments of solitude.
First of all when you travel to Tokyo I highly recommend in the Ginza/Marunouchi area. By doing so you’ll be in walking distance to the The Imperial Palace, Tokyo Station, the world’s reknowned shopping area, the Ginza, as well as a short subway ride from the largest fish market in the world, Tsukiji.
Generally speaking with the time change, I usually wake early on the first morning in the city and one my most favorite things to do is go for my morning excercise walk in those pre-dawn hours. Needless to say when I appear in the lobby of the hotel and start heading out of the door, I usually have a hotel employee or two on my heels, concerned I might lose my way and or have just lost my mind! 😉 Taking off, I first walk through the usually people-packed narrow streets and neon lit main avenue of the Ginza, on my way to the Imperial Palace Grounds. As only one of a handful of people out at that hour there is an unspeakable and self-empowering silence that makes my feet move faster wanting to embrace it all before the sound begins again. As I power walk down the Ginza’s “5th Avenue”, for a moment I feel like I own it all. And I do. For that moment. It is truly surreal to be in the biggest and busiest city in the world yet be able to experience sheer silence in that pre-dawn moment. It is a moment…another special moment.
Even if you don’t jog or even like to exercise, do yourself a favor and on your next trip to Tokyo, try it. Get up early one morning and discover a city you could have never imagined before and one that most in this world will never experience.