Tokyo, Japan

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Tokyo is a dynamically modern metropolis that nearly 12 million people call home. Exciting stimulating and safe, Tokyo offers a treasure trove of ever-unfolding surprises and discoveries that beguile the resident and visitor alike. Covering more than 800 square miles (2,000 square kilometres), it is an enormous, fascinating entity unto itself.

Although only the official capital since 1868 when the city of Edo was renamed to Tokyo, or Eastern Capital it had been the administration centre of the country since the opening years of the 17th century when Tokugawa Ieyasu unified the nation, built Edo Castle and established the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Already a city of over a million inhabitants by the mid 18th century, the large, bustling city continued to thrive, expand and embrace all that was new, unique and exciting ? much as it does today. Fires and earthquakes have taken their toll but never deterred Tokyoites, like the proverbial phoenix, from rising vigorously from the ruins.

Fast-paced, energetic and busy, the city rarely seems to rest, and this is especially true of Tokyo's many centres. Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro and Ueno; Nihombashi, Shimbashi and the famed Ginza. Each centre has its own special flavour and its enthusiastic adherents. Exclusive boutiques, enormous department stores and innumerable specialty shops entice the browser and window shopper as much as the serious buyer.

Art lovers are drawn to the many fine museums and art galleries, and the superb exhibits from around the world that are constantly on display. Music fanciers also have a wide selection of concert halls that have full schedules of both local and visiting musicians performing all types of music. Theatre is extremely active as well, whether for local adaptations from the European and American stage or the spectacular kabuki and highly refined Noh.

From traditional Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines to the high-tech Tokyo Tower, Tokyo is an unforgettable experience to savour and enjoy the year-round.