metropolitan area in the world. The city is actually a prefacture consisting of 23 special wards each governed as its own city. The city has grown into adjacent wards to encompass more than 13 million people. Even with a very efficient and accessible rail and subway system, it takes a long time to go from one area of town to another and there are times during the day where they are better avoided all together.

In all we visited or drove by 12 different spots. During our subsequent days we visited some of the areas we had driven through to better experience them.
Our first stop on our tour was Tokyo Tower. The tower was built in 1958 to resemble the Eiffel Tower and it was used as a communications tower with television and radio antennas. When it was built it was the tallest tower in the world and stood 13 meters higher than the Eiffle Tower. Although no longer the tallest building in the city, it still stands as a beacon in the center of town. (Can you spot it in the panoramic picture above?)