Old Tokyo

Robert Duncan is a British, Tokyo-based business consultant whose hobby is collecting antiques. “I like walking around areas like Jimbocho, which is great for old Japanese and English books, and Ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Nishi-Ogikubo, is another great place for Japanese antiques, especially lacquer ware, silk screens, furniture, fans and combs, anything really. It's also another fantastic area just to wander around and get a feeling of how it used to be in Japan. I also recommend Kagurazaka for old cafes and restaurants, like Kado.”

Isseido Book Store

Just as entertainment in Japan ranges from the ultra-new to the traditional, so, too, do the different areas of Tokyo and its shopping opportunities.

Entering Akihabara, you may feel that you have stepped into a science fiction film, as the neon lights and video screens tempt you into shops offering the most up-to-date technological gadgets and games, with plenty of tax-free bargains for the tourist. However, if your interests lie more in the past, then Tokyo has a surprisingly lot to offer. Traditional Japan can still be found in the old areas, where a short detour down a side street will lead you to an altogether different world of shops, selling old books, paintings, furniture, jewelry -- you name it!

Stroll off the main Yasukuni street at Jimbocho down some side roads and you will encounter old shops with dusty books, randomly piled high, and interiors, which look like they haven't changed for centuries, making an interesting contrast to the super-slickness normally associated with Tokyo.

Kado Cafe-Restaurant

Isseido and Kitazawa are two of the most famous Jimbocho bookstores. But it's not only books. There are oddities, including a shop specializing in “all kinds of brushes,” as its shop front proudly proclaims. There are also shops dealing in martial arts objects such as kendo sticks and samurai swords. And Jimbocho isn't alone in offering a glimpse into an older Japan. Asakusa, Nishi-Ogikubo and Kagurazaka are well worth checking out too.

Kado in Kagaruzaka is an old Edo-style house that now operates as a cafe and restaurant. Guests are seated on a tatami (Japanese-style matting) floor, surrounded by shoji paper screen windows and served tea, coffee, or Japanese dishes in the evening.