36 Hours in Tokyo

Kosuke Okahara for The New York Times

By Shibuya station, a mass of pedestrians cross the street. More Photos »

Japan's population may be skewing older, leading the global march to demographic gridlock, but Tokyo feels like a city powered by the young. Sophisticated and sprawling, with half a dozen city centers that long ago grew together, it combines the life force of a national capital of everything — politics, finance, culture, style — with a talent for change and renewal that it earned the hard way, bouncing back after repeated flattening by earthquakes, fires and war over its 400 years of existence. The skyscraper race of the '90s has slowed down, but a new romance with the city's waterfront is flourishing, spots for sushi and pâté de foie gras are always being added to its 160,000 restaurants, and the teenagers jamming anime-inspired shopping districts update the outlandish costume of the moment every few months.

Friday

1 3 p.m. Spirit World

It's easy to forget while squeezing onto the subway or dancing to techno-pop, but Tokyo is still the seat of an emperor. At the Meiji Shrine, the deified spirit of the Emperor Meiji, the current emperor's great-grandfather, resides in a Shinto temple surrounded by 170,000 majestic trees. A 40-foot-high arched torii gateway marks your entry into this spiritual world, and a network of paths leads to the shrine. The forest feels peaceful and far from the busy city, even though this is one of Tokyo's most visited outdoor places.

2 4 p.m. The Stylish Swarm

Abandon tranquillity with a short walk to the shopper-clogged streets of the Harajuku district. Shops selling everything to outfit the fashionable teenager crowd Takeshita Dori, a jam-packed pedestrian-only alley. Omotesando, a tree-lined boulevard, projects a more mature vision of chic with European designer outlets like Dior and Louis Vuitton; Paris-inspired cafes; LaForet, a boutique complex featuring up-to-the-minute styles; and Omotesando Hills, a Tadao Ando-designed shopping arcade devoted to high-end fashion.

3 7 p.m. Consult the Sommelier

A favorite after-work stop in Tokyo is the izakaya, a pub selling small plates of bar food, typically with beer. The format gets a high-end twist at Izakaya Vin in Shibuya, where the plates (800 to 1,600 yen, or $8.25 to $16.50, at 97 yen to the dollar) feature selections like Parma ham, whitefish carpaccio and duck salad, and the libation is French wine from an extensive list. A glass is around 1,500 yen, but the sommelier closest to your table will also open a bottle for you, for a price ranging from 7,300 to 1 million yen. A well-dressed crowd munches, sips and chats at small tables spread over three floors.

4 10 p.m. Street Moves

After-dinner coffee comes with a show at the Starbucks overlooking the Scramble Intersection (more properly called the Shibuya Crossing), a hub of busy streets. Instead of walking with traffic, pedestrians are held back until the traffic lights stop all vehicles simultaneously. Then, in a triumph of crosswalk choreography, hundreds of people surge out and completely fill Hachiko Square, walking in all directions yet never colliding. They're all just going from one place to another, but it's a scene reminiscent of both performance art and the maneuvers of a Big Ten marching band, and it has become a popular attraction. If all the second-floor window seats are taken, watch from the Mark City pedestrian passage at the Shibuya train station across the street, near "The Myth of Tomorrow," a haunting "Guernica"-like mural depicting the horror of an atomic bomb detonation.

Saturday

5 10 a.m. On the Sumida

A latecomer to the notion of a recreational waterfront, Tokyo now looks to the water for more than seafood. From Hinode Pier at the edge of Tokyo Bay, take a cruise into the heart of the city on the Sumida River, passing riverside walkways and feeder canals. Commentary in Japanese and English focuses on the 13 bridges that slip by overhead, but the real point is the unusually open perspective on this congested city. Other cruises cross the bay to Odaiba, an island that has taken off as an entertainment district covered with amusement parks, museums, shopping malls and a spa that draws geothermally heated water from deep under the bay.

6 11 a.m. Sample the Senbei

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