By Steve Corless

Most visitors to Tokyo make it a point to visit the most well-known sights – Asakusa, Ginza, Shibuya and Meiji Shrine. These are all worth taking in, but Tokyo and its environs also offer a multitude of choices for a traveler seeking a less touristy and quintessentially Japanese experience.

The perfect start to your Tokyo visit is an early morning visit to the Tsukiji Fish Market. Your jet lag will work to your advantage for this excursion – upon arrival at Narita in the late afternoon and after riding the airport bus to your hotel, you’ll turn in early, but you won’t sleep in. Get up before dawn and take a quick taxi ride through the quiet Tokyo streets so that you arrive at Tsukiji Fish Market around 4:30 AM.

Tsukiji is the world’s largest fish market. Business here starts as early as three in the morning. Most of the seafood destined for Tokyo’s restaurants and supermarkets passes through this bustling wholesale marketplace.

The morning auction at Tsukiji Fish Market

A Kaiseki meal comes with many courses

Entrance to the Matsuno-U Room at Yagyu-No-Sho

The open-air-hot-springs bath at Hakone Ginyu / Photos courtesy of The Ryokan Collection (www.ryokancollection.com)

But remember, the fishmongers here are doing serious business, and Tsukiji is not designed for tourists. Market officials have traditionally been surprisingly tolerant of camera-toting foreign visitors, if perhaps a bit perplexed at the sudden interest in their trade. Recently a group of tipsy tourists appeared on a local news program joyriding on forklifts and kissing frozen tuna. Officials were not amused and temporarily closed the market to visitors.

Finish your visit to Tsukiji with breakfast at one of the many sushi bars surrounding the market. It doesn’t get any fresher than this. Savor the experience, as Tsukiji’s days are numbered. The market has been in its current location since 1935 and is aging. A new more modern and visitor-friendly wholesale market will open in 2014 in a different part of the city. It is sure to lack the character of historic Tsukiji.

If you are an aficionado of electronic gadgetry, computers and games, or Japanese popular culture, Akihabara is your mecca. Walk to Akihabara from Ueno, south through the Okachimachi street market. In the postwar years, Akihabara was a black market selling electronic items. Since then, it has grown and transformed over the years to become the place to go for the latest in audio equipment, manga, anime and, more recently, quirky-cute Japanese youth culture. Get in touch with your inner otaku in Akihabara with a visit to a maid café (or butler café for the women) or an evening of cosplay and karaoke with your choice of Hello Kitty, French maid or penguin outfits to wear while you sing.

For a quick getaway from Tokyo, visit the Hakone area just 70 minutes by train from the city. Hakone is close enough to be a day trip but an overnight stay is best if you are seeking a brief and therapeutic escape from the big city. Much of the area surrounding Hakone is part of a national park with spectacular views of Mt. Fuji (weather permitting). Hakone is a resort town that boasts a number of museums including the Hakone Open Air Museum with its Picasso exhibit. If the weather is clear, take the cable car up the mountain at Owakudani for a bird’s eye view of the volcanic hot springs and sulfuric steam vents.

As a highly volcanic area, Hakone is most famous for its natural onsen hot springs. Many onsen are available for day visitors, but the best way to enjoy the hot springs (and discover why the Japanese love them so much) is to spend a night in a Hakone area ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. Ryokan embody the best elements of Japanese culture, cuisine, hospitality, traditional architecture and subtle beauty, and some of the most famous ryokan are located in and around Hakone. For hundreds of years, a traveler could expect to find a ryokan in any town or village offering lodging for the night and meals. Today, Western hotels and restaurants serve this purpose, but the ryokan has endured. This is where today’s Japanese find an escape from the stresses of modern life, and even if for only one night, are able to revisit their traditional culture in a quiet environment that touches and soothes all five senses.

Plan on splurging a bit for your ryokan experience. Rates at better ryokan are priced per person with a two-person minimum in one room. The cost will be higher than a Western hotel, but rates include full course kaiseki dinner and breakfast. Arrive around check-in time so you’ll have plenty of time to relax in the natural onsen baths and perhaps enjoy a massage. The kaiseki dinner is traditionally served on low tables in the tatami-mat guest room. Following the meal, your attendant will prepare soft futons for the night. When the lights are out, the subtle smell of fresh tatami mats and cypress wood become apparent as you drift off to sleep and bid a last good night to your lingering jet lag.

Steve Corless is an independent travel consultant based in Seattle. Steve spent 15 years in Japan working in sales and marketing and as a US foreign service officer in Tokyo and Osaka. He lives in Lynnwood with his wife and daughter. Ask Steve about Japan Travel This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it