Job Discussion Forums

[Tiger Beer]

Your favorite part of Tokyo to hangout?

...and assessment on each place...

[AndyH]

Asakusa or Ueno.

Asakusa is my favorite, especially if you can get away from the tourists. Ueno can be crowded, and I would usually try to avoid the parts with lots of people on weekends.

I never cared much for Roppongi, Shibuya, or Shinjuku.

[Tiger Beer]

[wayne432]

I'm a fan of the stores in Shibuya. I especially liked to frequent the variety of book/music stores that I found there. It was also easy to get to from where I was at the time.

[AndyH]

Shibuya and Shinjuku are good for shopping, but when I went there, I would go for a specific purpose, get what I wanted, and hop back on the Yamanote.

[natsume]

I have only explored Tokyo a few times, so have not been everywhere on the list. I chose Asakusa, as I have gotten a good feeling both my times wandering around there and walking over to Ueno. My one trip to Shibuya gave me a massive headache trying to find a pub I was meeting somebody at and failing for at least an hour, I found it impossible to get my bearings. I enjoy the seediness of Shinjuku/Kabukicho at night, and deeply regret my lone trip to Roppongi, which has the very worst kind of touts, and in my opinion the very worst types of foreign yuppies. I enjoyed my trips to Meiji-jingu and Harajuku, which were not on the list.

[Khyron]

Hmmm... I've only been to Roppongi twice, in over two years. Definitely not Roppongi. Too many pullers. Itaewon in Seoul was enough for me when I lived in the ROK. This is just more of the same.

I think I like Ikebukuro, because there's lots of karaoke and shabu-shabu. Not that those things make it different than anywhere else. I guess I just like the feeling there.

Ebisu is next, because I like the Ebisu beer gardens. Beer is relatively cheap there. No worse than in South Korea, and better than most places in Japan.

Shibuya is kind of cool, because I like lights and giant TV screens.

I never 'got' Shinjuku.

Yokohama is worth spending a day or two in.

Ginza is for buying handbags and giving them to girls in exchange for overrated sex.

Asakusa has too many tourists.

Akasaka is for making money.

Ueno... is good! Good park, good walks, and Okachimachi has cheap jewelery that you can buy girls in exchange for overrated sex.

[Apsara]

None of the above- I like Kichijoji, Daikanyama and Shimokitazawa, which are fun, quirky areas each with their own vibe and without the enormous crowds of Shibuya, Shinjuku or Harajuku.

Kichijoji tops the list, because it also has a park which has lots of cherry trees and is great for people-watching, and also because it is 5 minutes by train from where I live.

Does anyone actually go to Akasaka to hang out? That's more of a business district.

[southofreality]

This whole annexation thing in Japan is starting to piss me off; Now Yokohama is in Tokyo? I'm writing a letter to Ishihara telling him to give it back to Kanagawa.

I like Shibuya a lot, but I suppose I'm fond of it because it's so close to my neighborhood and I go there quite often.

In Yokohama, I like chilling out in Minato Mirai.

[gaijinalways]

Omotosando is also not there as well as Takadanobaba. I do hang in Ikebukuro as well, and Kagurazaka, which has quite a few French restaurants and a few decent Italian ones as well. A lot of these places are near where I live, hence easy to visit.

I also like Kichijoji and Shimokitazawa. Shimo for the imported goods, great for window shopping, and Kichijoji for the park and a nice jazz cafe.

Shibuya can be fun depending on your age (Daikanyama comes to mind for the same reasons, didn't find it that 'uncrowded') and it has some decent restaurants. Since I work near there once a week, I sometimes go out there, but I'm not into clubbing, so can't report much on that end.

[Khyron]

[ripslyme]

I like the Shibuya nightlife. Although these days I end up hanging out in Ikebukuro just because it's closer and I've been feeling a little more laid back lately.

[azarashi sushi]

I've never really considered Tokyo as the kind of city for just "hanging out" in. I find most areas of Tokyo, even the so-called "quirky" ones to be the same: grey, characterless, ugly and extremely unpleasant for walking around in.

I live in Shinjuku so probably do most of my "hanging out" and shopping etc. there ... But, that has more to do with convenience rather than anything else ... I can walk to everywhere I need to go.

I have my favourite bars, clubs, restaurants and shops, but they are all in different areas. I choose them because I like that particular restaurant/bar/club etc, not because it's in a particular area.

AS

[Vince]

Shimokitazawa. Lots of good eateries, a branch of my gym was there, and some good shopping too.

Sagami-ono had some nice department stores, izakaya, and a great jazz bar a friend showed me. If you ran out of stuff to do, Machida was one stop away.

I was into building PCs when I was in Japan and spent a lot of time in Akihabara.

[Apsara]

azarashi sushi, even places like Harajuku are "grey, characterless and ugly"? You find that Harajuku has no character? Really? I think it's bursting with it, myself.