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Taito Tokyo and other Questions

Taito Tokyo and other Questions

Old Jan 31, 2004, 6:40 am
  #1  
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Taito Tokyo and other Questions

Can you tell me anything about the Taito district of Tokyo? The Sofitel has a good deal and I thought I meant stay there.

What area area of TOkyo is the Tokyo National Museum and are there any 5 star hotels that would be within walking distance of that whole complex of museums?

What can I do about sweating? The few times I've been to Japan I was sweating everywhere I went, even in the winter time the indoor temps seemed to be 90*. Narita is always the hottest airport regardless of what the temp is outside(in my opinion).
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Old Jan 31, 2004, 7:37 am
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cannot address 1st & 2nd paragraphs. I agree with the 3rd and found years ago the only defence for me was using "Mitchum" and dressing lightly.

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Old Jan 31, 2004, 12:08 pm
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You'll have better luck searching for "Ueno" instead, Taito-ku is a purely bureaucratic designation. I haven't stayed at the Sofitel, but I've walked past it many a time: it's a round mini-skyscraper right at the edge of Ueno Park, a famous cherry-blossom viewing spot (in the very brief season), the site of the Tokyo Zoo and a whole bunch of museums including the National Museum.

That said, it's a low-key working class district, the heart of "****amachi" as the Japanese say, and the Sofitel frankly seems a little out of place. There's good cheap shopping and eating but none of it particularly tourist-oriented (not that many things in Tokyo are). It's a bit of a slog to anywhere else, but Ueno is very well connected by the Yamanote railway, the Ginza subway line and the Keisei Skyliner straight to the airport, so you can get to pretty much anywhere in half an hour.
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Old Jan 31, 2004, 12:10 pm
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...and since UBB's filter got its panties in a twist, that was supposed to be S.h.i.tamachi, which 100% literally means "downtown" in Japanese...

And oh yes, the museums (there's a whole row of them) are on the other side of the park from the hotel, so it's a bit of a walk there too -- but a pleasant one.
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Old Jan 31, 2004, 2:00 pm
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I've stayed in this area last couple of times...

Taito is an older section of tokyo.. unlike the glizy ginza, it's a more "Down and out" section but with that said, it's not dangerous, out of the way, or even boring.

In fact.. it's more Japan than the glizy districts.. cheaper food (including sushi) and more down to earth environment.

Ueno is a nice area.. it's where the zoo is (which is a pretty sad looking zoo) as well as the national museum.. which I didn't find very interesting but when i was there they had an exhibit of those ancient scrolls called "voices from the past" and it showed the mongol invasion, the korean invasion etc.. was really interesting.

can't recommend 5* hotels since i'm a budget traveler, but no matter where you stay.. it's really, really easy to get to as it's a major subway/metro train line and shinkansen junction.

Sweating.. I don't have any idea what to say other than swear light clothes.. Nartia is a really hot airport though.

[This message has been edited by civicmon (edited Jan 31, 2004).]
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Old Feb 2, 2004, 1:25 am
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The Sofitel Tokyo is just across Shinobazu pond (part of the park/zoo area) from Ueno Station. I think it may be the best hotel (most stars) in the area. Along the east/northeast edge of the park are the museums. Besides the Tokyo National Museum some of the other museums in the area are the Orient Museum, the National Science Museum, the Shi-ta-machi Museum (showing what Tokyo used to be like in the past), the National Museum for Western Art (painting and sculpture from the Renaissance on) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Fine Art Gallery. You're also a few train/subway stops from Akihabara (the retail electronics district) and Asakusa, with its Asakusa Kannon temple and main street of souvenir stands.
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Old Feb 2, 2004, 8:01 am
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Isn't the Sofitel that really bizarre-looking, tall, thin building that looks like it would immediately collapse in an earthquake? Its shape is so bizarre, I can't even put it into words here. I would be too scared to stay there! Although it is definitely interesting to look at (in a "what were the architects smoking when they came up with that" kind of way...)
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Old Feb 3, 2004, 1:29 am
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Unimatrix One:
Isn't the Sofitel that really bizarre-looking, tall, thin building that looks like it would immediately collapse in an earthquake? Its shape is so bizarre, I can't even put it into words here.</font>
Yep, it's the one that kind of looks like a flattened (lengthwise) pagoda, which I understand was the actual architectural inspiration for this hotel.

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