Turning Japanese in Tokyo and Kyoto

The geisha tripped along the narrow, twisting lane in Gion, the old quarter of Kyoto. One of the stops on our 10-day tour, Kyoto is Japan's second city – which narrowly avoided the same fate as Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the Second World War. And it is perhaps its most beautiful.

The main street in Gion, called Hanami-koji, is lined with striking old buildings, teahouses and restaurants, and at about five or six in the evening you often see geisha girls – or their apprentices, maiko – tripping along in kimonos to an appointment.

The evening we arrived we saw a geisha, her mask-like white make-up perfectly applied; her thick black hair artfully teased into place, its heavy headdress bobbing as she moved; her richly coloured kimono held clear of the rain-spattered streets by the sheer height of her platform shoes.

As she teetered along, her red-tinted mouth held close to a state-of-the-art mobile phone, she chattered and giggled just like any 20-year-old anywhere in the world. The scene neatly captured the essence of Japan today: a fascinating mix of old and new.

Timeless beauty

Other must-sees in Kyoto include the beautiful Nijo Castle, with its swallow-tail roof lines and, inside, the carefully designed squeaking wooden boards of the 'nightingale floor' – designed to alert paranoid warlords of approaching assassins. Cameras were out again at the glittering Kinkakuji Temple, or Golden Pavilion, which appears to float on the surrounding lake, mirrored in the still water.

But despite the weight of history, Kyoto is not trapped in its past. We stayed at the comfortable Rihga Royal Hotel, close to the main station, in the thick of 21st-century life. This combination of ancient and ultramodern was with us wherever we went on our tour of Japan.

Tokyo culture shock

I'd been worried when we first arrived at Narita airport as to what I'd make of Tokyo. I half-expected to have that bewildered disorientation that plagues Bill Murray in 'Lost in Translation', a film offering one of the best portrayals of the sheer differentness of the city. Tokyo hits the first-timer unawares. I was ready for the bright lights, the neon, the sparkling cleanliness, the technology, the crowds – but it was the small things, like birdsong rather than Muzak in the lift, and the heated toilet seat in my bathroom at the Takanawa Prince Hotel, that threw me.

A good night's sleep on the Western-style queen-size bed, however, and a hearty hotel breakfast (a meeting of East and West, with fresh fruit, pastries, miso soup, rice, fish, toast and even a full fry-up) set me up to brave the city. Public transport in Tokyo is cheap and efficient: trains arrived to the second and are pristinely clean – all you have to do is work out where you're going, and how to buy a ticket.

Our hotel was near Shinagawa station, on the circular Yamanote line, which takes in all the city-centre stops. The subway stations get very crowded at rush hour – Shinjuku is the busiest, where ushers with canes actually push commuters onto the trains – it's best to avoid the peak times. But the subway system is surprisingly easy to grasp and most people speak enough English to point you in the right direction.

Wandering the streets and soaking up the atmosphere is an experience in itself, and for that, Shinjuku, in the city centre, is ideal. Here, skyscrapers house luxury hotels and multi-floor department stores, with restaurant areas and offices on top of subterranean shopping malls, electronics shops and food courts. Eating at sky-high restaurants promises food with a view, at sky-high prices, but go to the 45th floor observatories in Tocho Towers, twin government buildings, and you'll get the same view for free.

Great ideas

If it's shopping you're after, Ginza is the super-exclusive heart of the city. It's near Tokyo Bay, built on land reclaimed from the sea. Get off at Shimbashi station and take to the streets. Prices are about the same as London department stores, but you'll find it near-impossible to find clothing to fit hefty Westerners: stick to quirky homewares or accessories instead.

The city centre has little oases for those moments when the street scene gets too much. We went to the beautiful Meiji Shinto shrine, just beside Omotesando, one of the busiest and most exclusive shopping areas in Tokyo. Outside the shrine you'll find Goths, Pete Doherty-lookalikes and rockabillies. These poseurs are well behaved school kids, university students, young office girls and salarymen during the week, who transform themselves at the weekend. But walk into the shrine and they seem a world away. Set in a park of mature trees that screen out traffic noise, the atmosphere inside is wonderfully tranquil. You might be lucky and spot a wedding party, with a bride in traditional white kimono. Stop at the kiosk selling lucky charms: they cover every eventuality, from health during pregnancy to good luck for your driving test.

Yoyogi Koen (koen means park), is another great place to watch the young Japanese relax. People cycle, play bat-and-ball with their kids and throw Frisbees. Don't mistake the scraping violinist or the bad saxophone player as buskers – they are simply practising their hobbies outdoors, so as not to upset their neighbours.

Food

Eating out in Japan needn't be expensive. A bowl of noodles in a simple café-style restaurant is about £5 to £7, and sushi, depending on how much you eat, is around £10. Don't worry about reading the menus – all the restaurants have either photographs or luridly coloured plastic models of each dish in a display case outside, so you can just point to what you want.

If you can't spot somewhere to eat, try the subway stations. There is usually a good noodle or sushi bar on the concourse. The sushi is fresh, the noodles are sensational, and you can order without fear of nasty surprises – food is rarely too spicy, so long as you steer clear of the bright green wasabi horseradish paste.

Day trips

Our tour operator cleverly broke up the city stays with calmer retreats. The highlight for me was the trip to Hakone, about 90 minutes by coach from Tokyo. With Mount Fuji shimmering in the background, the hillsides here are snowy with cherry blossom in the spring, and richly coloured with foliage in the autumn. Hakone is where you meet nature in the buff – literally – for it is best known for its thermal baths, or onsen.

I'm not one for stripping off in front of strangers, but this is one time you can put modesty aside to indulge in a truly authentic Japanese pastime. The sexes are divided, and the etiquette is rigid. Around the hot pools there are stools with showers, pumice stones, body scrubs, bottles of shampoo and conditioner. You're told to wash, rinse, wash and rinse (and make sure you do – a trace of soap suds in the communal pool and you'll be glowered at) before lowering yourself into the steaming waters for a relaxing soak. It's all very Zen-like.

The slow ritual of bathing and lounging is the perfect wind-down after the frenetic city, and the good manners and quiet courtesy of the Japanese are very much in evidence. Except, just occasionally, a matronly Japanese woman, her modesty covered by only a tiny hand-towel, may take a quick peek at the auburn- and blonde-haired Western guests!

Japan: the facts

How to get there: Thomas Cook Tours (0870 443 4454;www.thomascooktours.com) offers fully escorted coach trips to Japan from £1,695, for nine days half-board, inc flights; tailor-made holidays can also be arranged. Air France (0870 142 4343; www.airfrance.co.uk) flies to Japan from UK and Ireland.

When to go: Early autumn and spring bring not only blossom and leaf colour, but also more equable temperatures. Summer can be hot and humid, winters very cold; typhoons are most likely in late autumn.

Where to go; what to do: Wander Tokyo's neon-bright streets. Sip beer at one of the Karaoke-Kan chain of bars to watch business-suited men sing Elvis; linger over a cocktail to ogle uber-wealth in the luxury hotels (the Conrad, Grand Hyatt, Mandarin Oriental and Four Seasons are the hippest in town). Tour Kyoto's gardens and palaces with an umbrella-waving guide. Soak in an onsen thermal bath with Mount Fuji in the distance. Ponder the chilling memorials of atom-bombed Hiroshima.

What to bring back: Electronic gadgets, funky homeware and kitsch accessories from shops like Loft and Tokyu Hands department stores. Colourful and quirky toys from KiddyLand, the Hamley's of Tokyo.

Where to stay in Tokyo: If money's no problem, the Park Hyatt is where Bill Murray met Scarlett Johansson in 'Lost in Translation'; the sky-high rooms (from 38th floor up) start at £230 per night. More down-to-earth, the New Takanawa Prince Hotel, used on the Thomas Cook tour, is set in a 10-acre Japanese garden just south of the city centre and well placed on the subway system.

For more information: Visit the Japan National Tourist Organisation's website www.seejapan.co.uk or call 020 7734 9638.

Updated 2009

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