The hidden Tokyo: nine spots most itineraries miss

Most Tokyo lists are built for the first-time traveller. This one assumes you've already done Senso-ji and Shibuya, and you want something quieter.

Start in Yanaka — a slow neighbourhood the war forgot to flatten. Tin-roofed tea shops, a bookshop in a converted bath-house, and a graveyard with cat residents.

For the best skyline view, skip Skytree. Head instead to the free observation deck of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Same height range, no queue, no ticket — just a moving room and an unbroken view all the way to Mount Fuji on a clear day.

Eat at Daikokuya, a tempura institution that's been deep-frying for 130 years. The tendon — rice topped with shrimp tempura — is what every other tendon you've eaten was trying to be.

And Akihabara is more than the gadget temples. There's a 6th-floor record shop run by a former TV producer who only stocks albums he's personally signed off on. He doesn't list the address. We'll send it to you on request.