Thanks to the plethora of skyscrapers, there are plenty of options for breathtaking aerial views of the Tokyo skyline. A good option is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku, whose free viewing platform is the highest in the city. A more attractive option is the World Trade Center Building, whose views over the waterfront are better, especially after dusk, when the city lights come up.

One of the most recognized symbols of Tokyo is the shrine to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife. The Meiji Shrine is located deep within a 175-acre forest that’s home to more than 365 different tree species collected from all over Japan. The innermost section of the Shrine (the Naien) includes the main shrine buildings and a museum displaying the imperial treasures. In the outer section (the Gaien), you’ll find the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery, the National Stadium, and the Meiji Memorial Hall, where discussions for the drafting of the 19th century Meiji Constitution were held.

The Hōnen Matsuri Festival in Komaki (west-central Aichi Prefecture, north of Nagoya) is a March fertility festival and ceremony to celebrate the blessings of a bountiful harvest and all sorts of prosperity and fertility. Shinto priests play musical instruments, ceremonially garbed participants parade, much sake is consumed, and a 620 pound (280 kg), 96 inch-long (2.5 m) wooden phallus is carried to the Tagata Jinja shrine from the Shinmei Sha shrine (in even-numbered years), or the Kumano-sha shrine (odd-numbered years). People are showered with small rice cakes, and phallus-shaped foods and souvenirs are sold.

The Kanamara Matsuri Festival of the Iron Penis takes place on first Sundays in April at the Kanayama Shrine in Kawasaki (north side of the Tokyo metropolitan area). A celebration of and prayer for fertility, long marriages, healthy births, and STD/HIV awareness. The relaxed attitudes of Japanese people to the spectacle is notable, with penis hats, penis puppets, giant wooden penises to be climbed on, and penis costumes to be seen everywhere as penis lollipops are licked and sucked by smiling and giggling onlookers. The omikoshi giant pink penis altar is carried through the streets around noon before the parade, and three altars with erect phalluses make their way through the crowds during the parade from 1pm.

Thousands of participants, clad only in fundoshi loincloths, take part in matsuri "naked festivals," held in dozens of places each year throughout Japan. The most famous of these, the Saidai-ji Eyo Hadaka Matsuri at the Saidaiji Temple in Okayama on third Saturdays in February, typically has over 9,000 men taking part, in hopes of luck for months that follow. The tightly packed men struggle fiercely for a pair of lucky sacred sticks, 20 cm-long, thrown by a priest into the throng 4 meters below. Thrusting these shingi sticks into the masu, a wooden box heaped with rice, is believed to confer the blessings of a year of happiness. In this cold season the almost naked men are splashed with water to stimulate them. Before the main event, the Hadaka Matsuri for primary school boys also involves physical competition, for rice cakes and cylindrical prizes.

Sensōji is Tokyo’s largest Buddhist temple and a marvel of Japanese architecture and sculpture. Legend has it that the temple was originally built to house a stature of the goddess of Mercy, Kannon, which had been fished out of the Sumida River by two brothers in 628. An Oracle may be consulted here, and there are traditional temple shops in the grounds. The nearby Shinto shrines - Asakusa Jinja, Chingodo, and Denpoin - are also worth visiting to understand more of Japanese religious culture.

Tokyo’s “second center” Shinjuku is a wonderland of neon signs and revelers. Essentially Tokyo’s Times Square, only more so. Hundreds of thousands of people cross through Shinjuku every day. It’s a huge business, commercial, and entertainment centre, with small restaurants and bars, and one of Tokyo’s last remaining geisha districts. Visit Tokyo’s red-light district in Kabukichō.
Don’t miss Shinjuku Ni-chōme, Tokyo’s biggest gay district. Ni-chōme is home to the world’s highest concentration of gay bars – estimated at between 200-300 bars and nightclubs in a five-block stretch. In addition, the neighborhood is home to gay cafes, saunas, love hotels, gay pride boutiques, cruising boxes (hattenba), host clubs, and massage parlors.
 

The Imperial Palace is the name given to a huge parkland that contains the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. The whole area once housed an old Edo castle, but now welcomes thousands of visitors to its lovely manicured gardens, palace, archive, museum, and administrative offices, as well as the private residences of the imperial family.