Or outdated. Tokyo is an ideal city for solo travel. Tables for two or more are not the default arrangement, thanks to standing sushi bars and long counters at restaurants specializing in tempura, ramen and soba. It is not uncommon to sit opposite a sushi chef and talk, or to order a meal from a restaurant ticket machine and enjoy it on a stool alongside other solo diners. At department store food halls, one can buy bento boxes, hot dumplings, and savory pancakes known as okonomiyaki and dig in at nearby tables. And at any 7-Eleven (they’re ubiquitous and a go-to lunch spot) onigiri, balls of rice filled with meat, fish or vegetables that fit in your palm, can be had for a couple of dollars for a tasty lunch on the run.

Image A takeout rice ball with nori (seaweed) from a 7-Eleven store. Credit... Kevin Miyazaki for The New York Times

If you’re concerned about safety, consider that the general crime rate in Japan is “well below” the United States national average, according to the U.S. Department of State. Violent crime exists, the State Department says, but it’s rare.

And no, you don’t need to know Japanese to get by. For instance, airport workers speak enough English to help visitors find the ticket office (agents there also speak English) for the Narita Express (N’EX) train — which was recently offering a deal for foreigners (4,000 yen round trip, or about $33 at 122 Japanese yen to the dollar) and took about 50 minutes to reach the heart of Tokyo, a swifter and less costly ride than the Airport Limousine bus (4,500 yen round trip) that can take an hour and a half to two hours. Station announcements on the Narita Express are in English. Ditto for stops on the Tokyo Metro subway. And visitors will find plenty of people in Tokyo who, even if they know only a few words of English, are willing to play an impromptu game of charades to help a tourist.

“Konnichiwa. Senso-ji Temple. Domo arigato” (“Hello. Senso-ji Temple. Thanks a lot”), I said one rainy morning, nearly exhausting my Japanese while sliding into a cab. In Tokyo I walked (looking down on occasion at decorative manhole covers emblazoned with flowers and fire engines) or rode the subway (buy a 1,000 yen day-pass for the Metro and the Toei subway if you want to simplify things). But on this particular outing I decided to see what it was like to take a taxi in Tokyo, where drivers wear white gloves and passenger doors open automatically, as if by ghosts.

On the way to Senso-ji, one of the city’s oldest temples, my driver and I carried on a conversation using broken English and Japanese, friendly smiles and the Google Translate app on my iPhone. When I urged him to accept a large bill because I liked him and lacked exact change (tipping is generally not done), he declined. I insisted. This went on until he turned to me with a wide grin, took less than the cost of the ride from my pile of yen, and said with perfect clarity: “Discount!”

The entrance to Senso-ji Temple is not unlike the exit of a Disney World ride. Through Kaminarimon Gate, beneath the enormous red lantern, past the wooden statues of the Buddhist gods of thunder and wind, the processional road to the temple is lined with stalls selling key chains, plastic Kabuki masks, and kimonos.