It's a straight shot west of Shinjuku, and amongst the typical shopping, you can find little tiny alleys with 2 table restaurants and lots of unique shops. If you are sick of shopping, there is a great park that has random vendors in a flea market type atmosphere on weekends. There's a lot to see here, but not the same sensory overload as Shibuya, for example.

My friend from Hong Kong lives here. It's pretty far out there, from the city proper. But it's also pretty cheap to live, and there is a decidedly "spread out" feel to it. If you mainly spend your time in Tokyo, you may not have any idea what I'm talking about. It reminds me a little of South Carolina, the sky is a little bigger this far from the metropolis.

I walked here, because I thought it might be closer to my house then the station I usually use (it wasn't). It's a local stop, small and quaint, but with a health club, large sound absorbing wall near the station, and some upscale shops being opened. I walked around, saw a cool looking restaurant that I might want to go to (HananoMae, I think). It was pretty early, so I wanted to get coffee, and the only place around was Mister Donuts.

This is a totally Scott-esque way to start off. I picked Kanda first, because when I came here last year to visit, (before I ever decided to move here) it was where I stayed.

Only it wasn't. I stayed in Ochanomizu, which is close but not the same. Oh well. I walked around, found an udon shop that wasn't too full of salarymen, and had a 300 yen lunch of noodles and seaweed. Very healthy and cheap. There are ways to save money in Tokyo, don't believe everything you hear.