Essentials: Tokyo

1) Want to race through the streets like in Nintendo’s Mario Kart? In Tokyo you can. Some vendors not only provide go-karts for city rides, but also costumes to dress as Mario, Yoshi, Toad, and the gang.

2) Big fish: In 2019, restaurant owner Kiyoshi Kimura bought a bluefin tuna (weight: 278 kilograms) at Toyosu Market for 2.7 million euros. A hefty price of 9,700 euros per kilogram.

3) The monster next door: Shinjuku-ku, Kabukicho, 1-19-1, Tokyo is Godzilla’s official address. The Shinjuku district awarded the lizard-like movie creature honorary citizenship, officially making him a Japanese citizen.

4) In the 1980s, Tokyo experienced a huge real estate bubble. Land prices soared – the value of the Imperial Palace grounds and gardens alone (1.15 square kilometers) was estimated at $5.1 trillion – more than the real estate value of the entire state of California at the time.

5) At 634 meters, Tokyo Skytree is the tallest freestanding television tower in the world. The height of 634 meters is no coincidence, but a play on words and numbers: Mu (6), sa (3), and shi (4) add up to make Musashi, the historical name of the region where Tokyo is located.