Where's the best place to stay in Tokyo? I am currently looking at staying in Akasaka as I've been told it's got the best links to Tokyo as a whole. I'll be there from the 6th April for 9 days. Flying staff travel though so everything is very last minute.
So...this is the BASIC of the Tokyo subway.
Look at it like this.
Slice the map like a clock. Think about where you want to visit most and stay on that side. The way I do it is....
If you like Anime stuff, Fish market, Ginza shopping, The Imerial Garden, easy access to the airport. I would stay on the right side, between Shambashi at 04:00 up to Uneo at 02:00.
Note - Tokyo Station is where all the Shinkansen start and finishes. Whether you go up north to Sendai, it starts there, or whether you go to Osaka, it starts there. If it goes to Osaka, it will start there and it will make a stop in Shinagawa before leaving the city.
If you like more skyscrapers, more modern, then stay on the West side, I would go from as low as Meguro at about 07:00 up to Ikebukuto at 10:00.
I would AVOID staying at places NOT on the green line- Yamanote line, the reason being that almost everything you want to see and do, is on this line, making it convenient. Do not AT ALL, stay at the Hilton in Odiba. That is about 45 min 1 way from Shinjuku, about 1hr+ door to door. You will be spending 2hrs on that train daily if you stay in Odiba.
I would avoid staying between 7pm to 4pm below and 10:00 to 02:00. South side of the city are very business district, not much to do there, Shimbashi is cool because it is next to Ginza, walkable distance and it is full of bars where the salary men go drinking at night.
If you stay on Shinjuku then it is an easy way to get across to the east side. Otherwise it is easy just to stay on the Yamanote line and do the loop.
I have stayed in Ikebukuro twice, it's like a mini Shinjuku, prices slightly lower, but only like 10mins from Shinjuku on the train.
BTW, Ginza right next to Shimbashi and Yurakucho, it has its own line call the Ginza line.
Asakusa is okay, it is where the SEnsoji temple is, but you will need to change train basically every day because it is not on the Yamanote line. It is the reason why I stayed at Ikebukuro and Shimbashi. Also, the airport Monorail will stop first at Hamatsucho, and then you change to the Yamanote line if you land at Haneda. If you land in Narita then the Airport express will take you to Tokyo Station.
Most tourists will not stop at the stations between 11:00 to 2am and 04:00 to 08:00. They concentrate at the narrow band on either side.
