The best way to think of Tokyo is not as one city with a central heart, but as several mini-cities, linked by the arteries of the railway and the veins of the subway system. It's a vast place, spreading from the mountains in the north and west to tropical islands some 1300km to the south, but as a visitor you're unlikely to stray beyond its most central wards. The most useful reference point is the Yamanote line , an elongated overland train loop that connects and encloses central Tokyo and virtually everything of interest to visitors. Sightseeing destinations that fall outside of the loop are mainly within what was once called Shitamachi, or the "low city", east of the Imperial Palace, including Asakusa and Ryogoku, and on Tokyo Bay to the south, including the nascent 21st-century metropolis of Odaiba.

Get your bearings by tracing the Yamanote route on a map, starting at the mini-city of Shinjuku , on the west side of Tokyo, where a cluster of skyscrapers provides a permanent directional marker wherever you are in the city. From Shinjuku, the line heads north towards the mini-city of Ikebukuro , where the sixty-floor Sunshine Building, east of the station, is another landmark. The Yamanote then veers east towards Ueno , the jumping-off point for the park and national museums. Further east of Ueno, at Asakusa, is Senso-ji, Tokyo's major Buddhist temple.

From Ueno the Yamanote runs south to Akihabara , the electronic discount shop district. Bisecting Akihabara Station is the Sobu line, which, together with the Chuo line from Tokyo Station, flows directly westwards, providing the shortest rail route back to Shinjuku. Handy stations along these two lines include Suidobashi for Tokyo Dome and Korakuen garden; Iidabashi for the Tokyo International Youth Hostel; and Sendagaya for the Metropolitan Gymnasium and the gardens of Shinjuku Gyoen. East of Akihabara, on the other hand, the Sobu line runs across the Sumida-gawa to the sumo centre of Ryogoku.

From Akihabara the Yamanote continues south through Tokyo Station , with the Imperial Palace and business districts of Otemachi and Maranouchi immediately to the west. Further south lie the entertainment districts of Ginza (closest stop Yurakucho) and Shimbashi , after which the line passes Hamamatsucho (connected by monorail to Haneda airport), where you'll be able to see, to the east, the gardens of Hama Rikyu, next to the market at Tsukiji, on the edge of Tokyo Bay. On the west side is Tokyo Tower, just beyond which is the party district of Roppongi.

The Rainbow Bridge across to the man-made island of Odaiba is clearly visible as the Yamanote veers down to Shinagawa , a hub of upmarket hotels, with rail connections through to Kawasaki and Yokohama. Just beyond here, the line turns sharply north and heads up towards fashionable Shibuya , another mini-city. On the western flank of Harajuku , the next stop after Shibuya, are the wooded grounds of Meiji-jingu, the city's most important shrine, and Yoyogi Park. Yoyogi, the station after Harajuku, is also on the Sobu line, and is just one stop from the start of your journey at Shinjuku.

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