Tokyo, Japan's capital is a lively city with huge proportions, crowds, and energy. The indisputed economic, academic, and political center of the country, it is more a collection of neighborhoods than a city of 30 million. While it has only a few sights, it is a place of rich details, atmosphere, and contrasts, where the old traditions and the most modern consumer culture coexist side by side. Here are some of the world's greatest shopping districts and department stores, but also street markets similar to those found in less developped Asian countries. Hi tech business, commercial and entertainment areas such as Shinjuku contrast with the old downtown of Asakusa, and with the serenity of shrines and gardens. Those aspects sometime meet each other, like when you see a Buddhist monk with an alms bowl standing impassibly in crowds of shoppers in front of a ultra modern department store (where a single melon can cost $30).
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