Tokyo - it's not Coventry

Still suffering from jet lag, I finally make it out of bed at around 1pm today. And that was hard f***ing work.

First task is to buy a new digital camera (my last one got bust when I fell in the sea in Goa last year). There isn't much point of travelling without taking photos, really. My fears that it would prove to be hard work prove unfounded as I snap up a reasonably priced new Olympus camera from a huge electrical store in Yurakucho, near the Imperial Gardens. I also take advantage of the low prices to buy an alarm clock (which I now can't work as all the instructions are in Japanese).

I then do my first bit of 'culture' and have a long stroll around the Imperial Gardens. Breathtakingly well maintained, it is fantastic to walk around them on a perfect clear winter's day. Slap bang in the middle of the city, the old and the new of Tokyo actually blend in very effectively. The only shame is that so much of the gardens, temples and the palace is closed off to the public. Walking around, I am struck by just how clean everything is - and that goes for everywhere I went in the city. You just don't see chewing gum on the pavement or litter anywhere. Having been disappointed by the area I am staying in - clearly Tokyo's cultural and entertainment equivalent to Penge - I am starting to see why so many people have fallen in love with this city. There is hardly a single development that looks harsh on the eye, that seems like it was a planning disaster.

As I walk around, I cannot help by drawing comparisons with how Britain spectacularly failed in comparison when it came to re-building our cities after World War II. Look at Coventry, for f***s sake. The Nazis bomb half the cathedral and we respond by replacing it with the arhictectual equivalent of a run down council leisure centre. Genius.

In the evening I explore Shibuya, described as Tokyo's "trendsetting, neon-festooned suburb" by the Rough Guide. They're right about the lights. You come out of the subway station and it's like Piccadilly Circus on speed. That said, everyone there is relaxed, nobody is in a hurry, nobody is in your way. It's fine. So not really like speed at all then. I pop into a few bars, send a few e-mails and then head back to the hotel.