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Marvellous, mad, amazing, astounding, hi-tech, historic, fun, friendly... Tokyo is a tremendous choice as host city for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Japan's vast capital is probably the most pulsating metropolis in the world and tackling the four way Shibuya pedestrian road crossing is almost an Olympic sport in itself.

New York and London are fabulous 24/7 cities... but, trust me, Tokyo is 25/8.

It's vast of course, but there's a fine public transport system.

And it all works superbly too - it's practically a sackable offence to have a train late in Japan.

There's an incredible energy, yet it can be remarkably calm and serene.

The locals are unfailingly polite and friendly, the food and drink is great and there are plenty of sights to take in when you're not enjoying the Olympic action.

So start saving up now for your Tokyo 2020 Games trip.

I travelled there in May 2006, here's the article I wrote in the Daily Mirror at the time...

Flight deals to plan your visit to Tokyo

Year round flights from London Heathrow to Tokyo's Narita International Airport (NRT) start at round £500, however travel off peak and there are huge discounts to be had. Tokyo's official tourist board is a handy place to start, with some of the best deals advertised at www.seejapan.co.uk.

Flights from London take approximately 11 hours and 40 minutes. Here's our pick of three recommended airlines to book through by price.

The cheapest time of year to travel to Japan via British Airways is October to January, when you'll find flights are around the £520 region. Discover more at www.britishairways.com.

Emirates flights start from £612 return economy, departing from London Heathrow, Gatwock, Birmingham, and Newcastle, with flights slightly pricier at £639 or £643 when you depart from Glasgow or Manchester Airports. To discover more or to plan your trip, visit fly4.emirates.com.

Etihad Airways offers three daily flights between London Heathrow to Tokyo's Narita Airport, via Abu Dhabi. Return flights start from £617 in economy class. For reservations and further details visit www.etihad.com.

From the Daily Mirror in May 2006...

As I descended into the white-walled underworld of Tokyo station in search of the Marunouchi Line back to my hotel, it soon became obvious. I was lost.

Not just slightly lost, but utterly, totally and miserably lost amid a seething tide of black-suited commuters.

Like Bill Murray in the film where he plays a jet-lagged actor bewildered by Tokyo, I was having a wide-awake nightmare.

Not so much Lost In Translation, more Lost In Train Station. Jet-lag certainly does strange things to your mind. I’d assumed that if you’re trapped in a Lost In Translation moment in Tokyo there’s always a Scarlett Johansson on hand to rescue you. It would appear not.

I should have grabbed 40 winks after flying into Japan’s vibrant capital on a short break last week. But despite the eight-hour time difference I was straight out to see the Imperial Palace and the Shinkansen, better known as the iconic Bullet Train.

The Palace is in lush grounds that form a green lung in the heart of this vast city.

You can’t really see much since it’s shielded by walls, moats and trees, but perhaps that adds to its aura.

On to the station, five minutes walk away, and for a 50p platform ticket I got a close look at the startling, duck-billed locomotive.

It’s some machine, and, of course, they are never late.

Having walked a few miles by now, a subway ride back to my hotel bed was called for. Which is when I realised I was lost… And then the yen dropped. In my befuddled state I was looking for the wrong red rail line sign when all I needed to do was look for the red circle. Who needs Ms Johansson anyway?

And at least there were signs in English. Before the 2002 World Cup held in Japan most signs were only in kanji script.

This invigorating city is a place like no other, with 35 million people jammed in to the conurbation, half of them seeming to wear some sort of uniform and waving a fluorescent stick.

By the way, train spotters take note – 750,000 people use Tokyo station every day. But that’s nothing, two million use Shinjuki station. No wonder they employ people to shove passengers into the trains.

You can’t fail to notice that Japan is a bastion of smoking – it seems almost compulsory at times. Perhaps not surprising when cigarettes are £1 a packet for western brands and 40p for local ones.

It’s also a haven for good manners. Whether you’re buying food, drink or souvenirs, the service is formal and polite.

Stop in the street to consult a map and it’s a safe bet someone will ask if you need help with directions (you will – the lack of proper street names is very confusing).

At every turn the citizens of Tokyo are unfailingly courteous – when was the last time a policeman bowed at you as you walked past in the street?

When you visit Japan you aren’t just seeing a country, you’re seeing a people, too. An essential part of the experience. Mind you, you also present an experience to the Japanese. If you are visiting a shrine or temple, especially one in

Tokyo, expect to be collared by charming schoolkids conducting surveys of foreign visitors. And if you have fair hair expect to be asked to have your picture taken, it’s such a rarity in Japan.

Tokyo has the reputation of being a costly destination. To counter this, the Japanese tourist board has highlighted just how inexpensive it can be. I managed lunch at a soba stand (a counter selling soups and noodles dishes) in the swanky Ginza shopping district for £1.20, and very tasty it was, too.

Street vending machines sell bottles of water or the engagingly-named soft drink Pocari Sweat for 60p, and you can eat well at a sushi bar for under a fiver.

Public transport is much cheaper than in the UK. A single ticket on the Tokyo subway – a huge network that will get you around the city easily (once you’ve got over your Lost In Train Station moment!) – is just 80p and a day pass costs £3.50.

Accommodation need not be disastrous either. A check on Expedia this week found a four-star hotel at £71 a night for a twin room, and a three-star for £60 – both at decent locations.

Of course, like any major city Tokyo can give your wallet a fearful hammering. A pint of Japanese lager will be at least £4 in a bar, dropping to £2.50 during happy hour.

And a Lost In Translation movie moment is yours at a price, too, in the sumptuous 52nd floor New York Grill in the Park Hyatt Hotel, in the hugely-popular and lively Roppongi district.

It was here that Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson were filmed, and you can savour the same stunning night-time vista as the city comes alive in a supernova of neon. A 133 million yen view, according to the exchange rate against the US dollar.

The food is exquisite but dining with that view is eye-wateringly expensive. A single main course can set you back (deep breath) £100 and you have to book months in advance.

However, you could treat yourself to drinks at the bar with the beautiful people without breaking the bank. The view is well worth blowing £20 or so on, or you could visit the adjacent Tokyo City View on the 52nd floor of the Mori Tower, where admission is £7.50.

If the view from on high is a feast for your eyes, then the food on offer in Tokyo is a feast for your palate. You could easily avoid Japanese cuisine such as sushi, sashimi and tempura if you so wished, but you’d be missing a true culinary experience.

To the uninitiated, sushi refers to a broad range of healthy foods prepared with vinegared rice and toppings or fillings which can include seafood and vegetables. They are not always raw and the raw seafood we often call sushi is properly called sashimi. I must confess that when eating sushi and sashimi, there’s always the underlying suspicion that it’s not actually quite dead yet, but it is fantastic food.

The tuna in particular was delicious and I even ate things I wouldn’t normally touch with a barge-pole, let alone a chopstick – squid, octopus and what I suspect was eel. The Japanese can also do wonders with meat. I had a cracking meal at Gonpachi in Roppongi consisting of skewers of succulent beef and chicken washed down with ice-cold Asahi Japanese beers. Great prawn dumplings, too.

Gonpachi is in a traditional old building on two floors with rush matting and low tables – you take your shoes off to eat. Expect to pay £17-£20 a head.

Tempura is deep-fried seafood and vegetables and makes for a good lunch. I went to the Kawakaze in Asakusa, where you also eat at traditional tables. It’s handy for Sensoji, Tokyo’s oldest temple, and also has the novelty value of being opposite a geisha training school. By the way, when drinking don’t say “chin chin” instead of bottoms up or cheers. Here it’s a euphemism for the penis!

What better way to round off an evening than a karaoke session in a nearby bar? Apologies to the late, great Johnny Cash and my fellow karaoke-ers for murdering Ring Of Fire. Just be grateful I didn’t unleash Radiohead’s Creep on you.

On the assumption that jet-lag will have you waking at dawn, I’d thoroughly recommend an early-morning visit to the Tsukiji fish market. It’s a frenetic place with a seemingly endless number of phut-phut buggies buzzing around, either laden with boxes of fishy God-knows-what or hurtling back empty for the next load.

To continue your Japanese immersion head for a pachinko parlour. These garish, noisy arcades are where prizes are won by playing something akin to pinball and are extremely popular.

But perhaps the oddest culture shock was the Japanese toilets. The Turkish-style holes in the ground in public areas such as stations were one thing, but the electric-powered beasts in hotels and restaurants were something else.

There’s an automatic pre-flush to wet the pan when you sit down, seven buttons to control the various bidet sprays and, I kid you not, a seat warmer.

Bottoms down, as they so nearly say in Japan!

A day trip to Kamakura

IT’S worth taking a day trip out of Tokyo by train to Kamakura to absorb some of Japan’s religious heritage.

The town is well-blessed with temples and shrines. Get off at Hase station for a visit to the Daibutsu, or Great Buddha.

The bronze giant, from 1252, is 11 metres high and weighs 125 tonnes and was originally covered in gilt, now eroded.

I also really liked the calming atmosphere of the Hase Kannon Buddhist temple, a 15-minute walk away. The gardens are a delight and you should also visit the low caves with the 1,000-year-old carvings. If, say, you had an Asahi-fuelled headache, there’s a goddess’s statue you can rub to get rid of it.

Take the train a couple of stops back to Kamakura itself for the Shinto shrine of Tsurugaoka Hachiman, one of the most important in Japan. A return fare is about £10 and admission to temples and shrines, if not free, is about a pound.

Dos and don'ts

DON’T blow your nose in public. A hearty sniff is acceptable.

DON’T stand your chopsticks up in your rice – it symbolises death.

DON’T underestimate sake, the Japanese rice wine. It can be a heady 20 per cent alcohol.

DO take plenty of cash. Apart from in hotels credit cards are not widely used and cash machines are few and far between.

DO try to learn a couple of Japanese words – an “arigato” (thank you) works wonders.

For more tourist information and advice, visit www.jnto.go.jp.

Tokyo 2020 Tickets

If you're looking for information on tickets for the 2020 Olympics, here are a few places to research and find out more on getting to the event: