Tokyo Attractions

Venue: Edo-Tokyo Museum    When: Daily

The Edo-Tokyo Museum looks at everyday life in the metropolis from the 17th century, when Edo became the shogun's capital, through the Meiji Restoration period when its name was changed to Tokyo and up to the 1964 Olympics, when the city became a true world capital.

The vast permanent exhibition is spread over two floors and is imaginatively laid out, with lifesize replicas of a tenement house, Japan's first modern bank and an early phone booth. There are sections devoted to arts and crafts, medicine and to the "floating world" of tea-houses, theatres and brothels of the 18th century, when Edo was one of the largest and most prosperous cities in the world.

A free audio guide is available, but even better is a guided tour with an English-speaking volunteer (volunteers who speak other languages are also often available).