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Tokyo is a city of surprising contrasts. The old exists alongside the ultra-new. The traditional is cheek-by-jowl with the contemporary. Skyscrapers and “shitamachi” town houses. Tiny eateries in bustling back alleys and Michelin-starred restaurants. Unique fashions, tastes and opportunities for the adventurous traveler. With Japan gradually reopening and business travelers returning, Reuters has conducted a social media survey to determine how business executives would like to spend their free time in the world’s most vibrant city. The results of that survey are in, and we know what you want to see, to try, to experience. So here are our Top Eight recommendations to get the very most out of a work visit to Tokyo.

Japanese afternoon tea tour

Kayaba Coffee is an institution. It occupies a Taisho era (1912-1926) building in the Yanaka district of the city - one of the few traditionally tight-knit “shitamachi” communities that still exist amidst the modernity. It opened as a coffee shop in 1938 and the wooden beams, sliding paper doors and tatami mat floors have been preserved. Fortified, let’s stop by Ginza Fugetsudo to admire – and taste – the artisans’ hand-crafted traditional “wagashi” sweets. These works of culinary art use carefully selected ingredients and are a miniature feast for all the senses. A short stroll away is the elegant Shiseido Parlor, a landmark in Ginza since 1902 that gained fame for its ice cream soda and today unite the best in Japanese and Western dining. Don’t miss the incomparable cakes.

As the sun sets between the skyscrapers, find somewhere more down to earth. And where better than one of the city’s “yokocho” districts of back-alleys packed with the tiny bars and restaurants favored by locals? Start with a quick bite at a stand-up “izakaya” restaurant, such as Tachinomi Kadokura, close to Ueno Station. The scent of "hamkatsu" fried pork ham and “yakitori” - chicken grilled over a charcoal fire - wafts through the narrow streets. Continue along Ueno Ameyoko, the colorful area beneath the railway tracks that used to be the city’s black-market district and retains much of its historical character. The haphazard backstreets and offshoots are home to countless bars and restaurants that cater to every taste. Ask a local what sake he is drinking and try one.

Japanese Street Food Tour

Tokyo feudal lord’s garden

The expansive Hama-rikyu Gardens date back to the mid-1600s and are considered one of the finest examples of a feudal lord’s private garden. Gifted to the city in 1945, visitors can stroll along its peaceful paths, beneath cherry, Japanese apricot and pine trees, and enjoy the foliage of the four seasons. Cross the waterways on the approximately 120-meter O-tsutai bridge and admire the Nakajima-no-ochaya tea house, originally built in 1707 and where shoguns and imperial court nobles came to indulge in the tea ceremony. Today, it is all just a stone’s throw from the skyscrapers of the modern city.

The Showa Memorial Park sprawls over 160 hectares in the Tachikawa district, a green oasis just 30 minutes from the center of the city by train. Opened to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Emperor Showa’s reign, it has vast lawns, woodlands and picturesque Japanese and Western-style gardens. The park is spectacular in the spring cherry blossom season and again as the trees take on their autumn leaves.

Emperor’s oasis of green in Tokyo

Old Tokyo shopping street

Yanaka Ginza is a quaint shopping street that preserves the “shitamachi” atmosphere of the Tokyo of yesteryear. Tiny stores crowd this homely district in the east of the city, selling everything a local would need and a visitor could want. Ceramics and T-shirts, traditional “washi” paper and old-fashioned toys, trinkets, clothes and hand-made sweets. Given the flavor of old Tokyo that it gives off, make sure you try one of the countless hole-in-the-wall restaurants and bars that dot the neighborhood.

Japan is famous for food and Kappabashi is where the restaurateurs of Tokyo obtain their equipment. Close to the popular Asakusa district, its stores stock everything from high-end chefs' knives to plates and tea cups, beer mugs, chefs' aprons, neon signs and any other item a restaurant would need. Marvel at the sheer variety that is available and snap up a souvenir or two.

Unique Kitchenware Shopping Street for Culinary Enthusiasts

Visit a Traditional Sake Brewery

The Ozawa Sake Brewery was founded in 1702 and is one just a handful of breweries that remain in Tokyo. The brewery is in the Sawai district of Ome, in the far west of the city, an area famous for its abundant supplies of pure water from the surrounding mountains. Visitors can see the time-honored steps required to produce top-quality sake and, for a small fee, sample a selection of the brewery’s output.

Arguably Japan's most famous cuisine, visitors can make their own favorite sushi dishes in a number of specialist classes, guided by professional chefs. Whether you’re partial to salmon or tuna “nigiri” or “futomaki” that combine carefully prepared prawns, sea bream, squid, salmon roe and vegetables, discover how to turn the raw ingredients into a mouthwatering platter of sushi.

Make your own sushi

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