Sights—The serene Meiji Shrine; the Buddhist Asakusa Kannon Temple (also called Sensoji Temple) and its bustling surrounding market streets; the view of the city from atop the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building; Tsukiji Fish Market; a performance of traditional Japanese drama at Kabuki-Za Theater or National Theater of Japan.

Museums—Learning about the city's history and people at the Edo-Tokyo Museum; Fukagawa Edo Museum, which explores life in 19th-century Tokyo; exploring the world's largest collection of Japanese art and historical artifacts at the Tokyo National Museum; the Ukiyo-e Ota Memorial Museum of Art, for its collection of Edo-era ukiyo-e woodblock prints; the Mori Art Museum for its challenging modern art and great cityscape views; the National Art Center, Tokyo, with its innovative architecture and world-class exhibitions.

Memorable Meals—A breakfast of fresh sushi at the Tsukiji Fish Market; the novelty of conveyor-belt food at Heirokuzushi or another kaiten sushi bar; superb Japanese beef and stunning views at New York Grill and Bar, high up in the Park Hyatt Hotel; a kaiseki feast in the old-fashioned atmosphere of Waentei-Kikko in Asakusa.

Late Night—Dancing at Yellow or one of Roppongi's high-energy discos; listening to electrifying performances at Liquid Room; enjoying a nightcap while gazing down over the lights of the city from the New York Bar or the Top of Shinagawa; window-shopping or strolling along the Ginza, especially during the Christmas season; a walk (but not alone) through the sleazy streets of Kabukicho to glimpse the seamier side of life in the city.

Recreation—A stroll through Shinjuku Gyoen Garden; a walk along the moat of the Imperial Palace when the cherry blossoms are in bloom (late March or early April); riding the ferry up the Sumida River from the waterside Hama Rikyu Park to the historic Asakusa district; a traditional hot-spring bath at Oedo Onsen in Odaiba.

Especially for Kids—A ride on the Ferris wheel in Odaiba; Joypolis Sega, a wonderland of high-tech electronic games; shopping in Harajuku; greeting the pandas at Ueno Zoo; watching a sumo tournament; spending a day at one-of-a-kind Tokyo DisneySea.

Tokyo is located on the east coast of Japan's volcanic main island, Honshu, at the northwest corner of Tokyo Bay. It's part of a huge urban corridor that sweeps from Chiba City (close to Narita Airport) in the east and Saitama in the north to Yokohama in the south, connected by clean, efficient train and subway systems and an amazing network of elevated expressways. Tokyo Prefecture sprawls from the banks of the Sumida River in the east to the mountains of Tanzawa to the west, and even includes a chain of islands stretching far to the south. The city itself is made up of 23 central wards, or ku, surrounded by many smaller cities and towns, known as shi.

For most visitors, it's the central wards west of the river, inside the Yamanote train line that loops around central Tokyo, that hold the most interest: Chiyoda-ku, defined by the feudal-era moat that once encircled Edo Castle in the heart of the city, is where you'll find the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station. To the northeast is Taito-ku, known as the shitamachi (old town) part of Tokyo and home of Ueno Park, Ueno Zoo, several of the city's most attractive art museums and Asakusa Temple. To the south and west, Minato-ku includes the Roppongi entertainment district, the Shiodome development and the area around Shinagawa Station with its many hotels and office high-rises. Chuo-ku is the other central ward, and is home to Ginza, Tokyo's original high-end shopping area. To the northwest is Shinjuku-ku, home of the metropolitan government and many of the tallest skyscrapers. Shibuya-ku, in the west, includes the Meiji Shrine and the sophisticated shopping districts of Harajuku, Aoyama and Omotesando.

Note: Finding a specific address in Tokyo can be incredibly frustrating. Few streets have names, and buildings are numbered apparently arbitrarily, often according to when they were built, not their relative location on the street. Addresses only include the name of an area. Asking for help is routine even for locals, and the police boxes on street corners have very useful maps. Throughout our report, we've included the ward (denoted by the suffix -ku), followed by the closest subway or train station in parentheses, wherever possible.

Tokyo's history is a story of continual reinvention. Located at the mouth of the Sumida River, the city was originally a marshy fishing village called Edo ("river mouth"). It became important in the early 1600s when the warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu seized power and declared himself shogun (military governor), establishing a dynasty that lasted some 260 years. While the Japanese emperor remained cloistered in Kyoto, the shogunate made Edo his political and military base and required Japan's other feudal lords to reside there for six months of every year or two. By the 1700s, Edo had become one of the world's largest cities. Thus, when the Tokugawa clan was overthrown in 1868, it only made sense for the restored emperor to move the capital from Kyoto to Edo as a means of reinforcing his authority. Edo was renamed Tokyo ("Eastern Capital").

Although Japan had been isolated from the outside world under the old military dictatorship of the shogunate, the new emperor embraced Western influences, which ultimately made the country a modern, industrialized nation and Tokyo a major world center. In 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake unleashed a series of fires that left half of the city in ashes, but it was quickly rebuilt. In the 1930s, Japan became swept up in a quest to dominate Asia that led into World War II. Before the conflict ended, Allied air raids had destroyed much of the city (some pockets, including the Imperial Palace grounds, survived). In the initial years after the war, Tokyo was occupied by Allied forces and reduced to a city of tawdry entertainment and prosperous black markets.

By the early 1950s, Tokyo had reinvented itself again, using some of the profits accumulated from serving as a base of operations for U.N. forces during the Korean War. In the following decades, with Tokyo taking the lead, Japan became an economic powerhouse. Although recession in the 1990s slowed its expansion into the new millennium, the city remains defined by its commitment to growth.

Construction projects continue to alter the cityscape. For example, the once-staid Marunouchi business district, seated in front of Tokyo's central railroad station, received a total overhaul in the early 2000s, and its refurbished office buildings on tree-lined streets boast upmarket hotels, name-brand luxury boutiques and gourmet dining. The massive Shiodome development project overlooking Tokyo Bay has a dozen high-rises jostling for prominence and five-star hotels and skyscraper restaurants offering fabulous views of the cityscape.

In Roppongi, Roppongi Hills is a massive urban-renewal project with some 200 shops and restaurants, a first-class hotel, apartments, offices and Tokyo's highest museum. Nearby Tokyo Midtown boasts Tokyo's tallest building, an art museum, an international hotel, and more shops and restaurants. On the horizon is the 2,013 ft/610 m New Tokyo Tower, a broadcasting tower penned for completion in Oshiage in early 2010. At almost twice the height of Tokyo Tower, it will be the tallest structure in Japan.

Most central city wards prohibit smoking on sidewalks and outdoor public spaces except in designated smoking areas and levy fines against people caught smoking in the street or dropping their butts—retired volunteers patrol major stations and business areas.

It is estimated that about 20% of Tokyoites suffer from allergies related to cedar and cypress forests. The result? Trains full of white-mask-wearing commuters and a very happy pharmaceutical industry.

The Japanese are famous for being polite and kind—but not on the trains. Expect to see people rushing on to get seats, and don't expect many people to give up their seats for the elderly or pregnant—even if they are sitting in one of the many priority seats.

There are more than 5.5 million vending machines in Japan—not including ticket machines at railway stations. Most of them hold canned coffee, green tea, soft drinks and snacks.

Turn on Japanese TV and you might see a few Hollywood stars making fools of themselves during the commercial breaks. Whether it be Tommy Lee Jones as a karaoke bar manager advertising canned coffee, or Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz plugging cell phones, celebrities will do these commercials because they are unlikely to be seen outside of Japan.