Akihabara

An area of Chiyoda Ward and also known as “Electric Town” or “Akiba.” Now the center of anime, video game and cosplay of the world. The maid cafés are pretty cool.

Bunkyō

Location of Tōkyō Dome City entertainment complex, home of the Tomiuri Giants baseball team. Other than baseball, it’s also a major concert venue. Visited the TenQ (pronounced 10-Q) Space Museum which also had a special Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon) exhibition.

Chidoya

The ward where Tōkyō Station is located. Visited the East Garden of the Imperial Palace through Ote-mon Gate. Also location of the Nation Diet Building (their legislature) and Japan’s prime minister’s official residence.

Enoshma

A small island in Fijisawa Ward of Kanagawa Prefecture and location of Enoshima Jinja (Buddhist shrine). The island is connected by a two bridges. There’s also a Hello Kitty Tea House and specialty shop along the shopping district. Featured in the anime Minami Kamakura Kōkō Joshi Jitensha-Bu (Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club) and the infamous Elfen Lied. There’s also a train crossing in Fujisawa along the coastal Enoshima Electric Railway Line that was in the opening of the anime Slam Dunk.

Hakone

A small town in western Kanagawa Prefecture inside a now-extinct volcanic caldera. As tourist town, its main attraction is Lake Ashi for boat tours. Other attractions are a zoo, aquarium and aerial tram. It’s also noted among anime fans as the “future” city of Tokyo-3 from Shinseiki Evangelion (Neon Genesis Evangelion).

Harajuku

A district of Shinjuku. A youth-oriented area famous for fashion and sub-culture fashion such as Lolita Fashion and Harajuku street styles. Takeshita Street famous for cafés and boutiques.

Ikebukoro

A commercial and entertainment district of Toshima Ward. Famous for Sunshine City complex with houses Pokémon Center Mega Tōkyō, J-World Tōkyō & Namja Town. Anime shops cater fujoshi & yaoi fandoms. The district is also the main setting of the Durarara light novel, manga and anime.

Kamakura

A former capital of Japan in Kanagawa Prefecture. Home to a lot of Shinto and Buddhist temples. Tōkasan Jōmyō Zenji , Kinryūzan Shakuman-in Endon Hōkai-ji and the famous Taiizan Kōtoku-in Shōjōsenji. Kōtoku-in was a location on a school trip in the 3-D Kanōjō manga and featured in the anime Minami Kamakura Kōkō Joshi Jitensha-Bu (Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club).

Kyōto

Also the capital city of Kyōto Prefecture in southern Japan, the former Imperial Capital of Japan. Location of Fushimi Inari Taisha (Shrine) in Fushimi Ward just two-three stations south of Kyōto. This shrine is famous for its 10,000 torii (t-oh-ree), gates that marks the transition from the secular to spiritual areas. This shrine is featured in a lot of anime either as story locations or school trip locations. Another location is Nijō-jō (Nijō Castle), residences of Tokugawa’s shōguns’.

Minato & Shinagawa

Where I stayed for my first week at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. Shinagawa Ward is largely a commercial center. Minato Ward is famous for Tōkyō Tower. Cruises around Tōkyō Bay start here.

Mount Fuji & Fujiyoshida

Fijiyoshida Ward in located in Yamanashi Prefecture, west of Tōkyō, at the base of Mount Fuji. Fuji-Q Highland amusement park is the local family-friendly attraction. On the main road up to Mount Fuji is the Fujisan Isekai-isan Center (Fujisan World Heritage Center) where visitor could lean about Mount Fuji.

Nakano

A ward west of Tōkyō, next to Shinjuku. It had recently become popular to the anime genre fandom due to Mandarake store and Namco arcade in the Nakano Broadway building and shopping district across the street from Nakano Station North Exit. Famous composer, Ryūichi Sakamoto, is from there and noted for composing Ōritsu Uchūgun: Honnêamise no Tsubasa (Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise).

Narita

In Chiba Prefecture. Location of Narita International Airport, my port of entry and exit.

Odaiba

An artificial island in the center of Tōkyō Bay, in Minato Ward. It’s famous for having Rainbow Bridge, a Statue of Liberty (officially from France), hot springs, Fuji Television Studios, Zepp DiverCity and Gundam Base Tōkyō…location of a 1:1 scale Gundam (a giant robot). It’s most famous among anime and manga fans is Tōkyō Big Sight, a convention center featured in a lot of anime…most notably in Genshiken and Comic Party, and location of major anime and manga conventions. Odaiba also has an automated monorail, the Yurikamome line from Shimbashi Station, through Odaiba, to  Toyasu Station.

Shibuya

Famous for it’s fashion centers and Shibuya Crossing, “the busiest crossing” in Tōkyō. Yoyogi Kōen (park) north of Shibuya is home of the Kokuritsu Yoyogi Kyōgi-jō (Yoyogi National Gymnasium) which was used in the 1964 Tōkyō Olympics. Right next to the park is Meiji Jingū (Meiji Shrine), a Shinto shrine.

Shinjuku

A ward of Tōkyō. Shinjuku is home to Square Enix, the video game company, makers of the Final Fantasy and Dragonquest video game franchises. The Artina Square Enix Cafe is right next door to their headquarters. Shinjuku is the setting of many anime including Makoto Shinkai’s Koto ho na no Niwa (Garden of Words) in Shinjuku Gyo-en (park), Kimi no Na wa (Your Name) and 5 Centimeters per Second.

Sumida

A ward of metropolitan Tōkyō. Location of Tōkyō Skytree, a telecommunications tower and successor to Tōkyō Tower. Asahi Beer headquarters is also located here–the building with the “golden cloud” which actually looks like a giant, gold turd. Sumida is where the anime Taiho Shichauzo (You’re Under Arrest) takes place. And yes, the motorcycle patrol officers do dress like Officer Nakajima.

Taitō

Stayed there on my second week at the Asakusa Sunroute Hotel. Location of Sensō-ji Temple in Asakusa district. Kaminarimon is the gate to the temple.

Tsukiji

A district of Chūō Ward. Location of the world-famous Tsukiji Market, where a majority of Tōkyō’s seafood in borough in daily.

Yokohama

The second largest city in Japan, south of Tōkyō,  that’s a major commercial and shipping port. The city has Japan’s largest Chinatown. The tourist spots we went to are the CupNoodles Museum and Shin-Yokohama Rāmen Hakubutsukan. Lynn Minmei of Macross was born in Yokohama. Kokurikozaka Kara (From Up on Poppy Hill) and Bungō Stray Dogs also takes place in Yokohama.

*Note: Some you may have noticed the macrons (the line) above “o” and “u.” This is called Hepburn Style Romanization. This is the worldwide standard for Westerners to pronounce Japanese words. Let’s take “Tokyo” as an example. In Japanese hiragana, it is spelled “Toukyou” where the “ou” connotates the long “o” sound. Therefore the correct spelling is “Tōkyō” or “Toukyou.”