Morning

While I wouldn’t normally recommend hanging around the train depot as your first experience in a new city, Tokyo Station is the perfect place to refuel after your long flight. The world’s 10 busiest train stations are all located in Japan, and around 1.1 million people pass through this stately red brick building every single day. Beneath it, an underground city bustles.

Don’t get lost—something that’s easily done. The series of interlocking malls can seem like a maze. You can browse for your breakfast, as many restaurants here offer plastic models of their various delicious dishes for you to observe and decide. Or a simpler and easier plan is just to head to a place you know is really good, like Rokurinsha, which serves up steaming, satisfying morning ramen.

Satiated, take a short walk across to the Imperial Palace. Some 14 million people make their home in Tokyo, and more than twice that live in the metro area. But right in the beating heart of it all, a few steps into the lush and landscaped grounds of the Palace, all that busyness fades away.

Walk across the moats on stone bridges. Still the home of the Japanese royal family, the complex is actually relatively new when you consider the ancient nature of this country. They began construction in 1868, after the seat of power moved here from Kyoto in the Meiji Restoration. Everything was rebuilt after bombing in the Second World War.

To see beyond the outermost gates, you’ll need a guided tour, which is best booked in advance at the website of the Imperial Household Agency. They run on most days at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., for a little more than an hour. Unlike palace tours in Europe, which enter the inner chambers of long-ago kings and queens, this is still the active residence of the emperor. So while you won’t actually enter any buildings, the beauty of the grounds and the fascinating information related by guides are reason enough to visit.

24 Hours in Tokyo

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