Moving, Tokyo-style

I fly to Japan tomorrow (via Helsinki and Seoul, but that’s another story) and I’m readying myself for some serious movement.

On average, I end up walking about 25,000 steps a day on my visits to Japan. Sometimes, it’s significantly more. There’s so much to see and do, so many beautiful sights and neighbourhoods to wander around, that it sort of…happens.

It never feels intentional, it never feels like a mission. But come 7pm, when I’m sipping something sparkling and delicious in the hotel executive lounge, I notice the messages emanating from my feet. “Give us a break, please”. But of course then it’s time to head out for the night, catch up with friends, grab dinner and go bar-hopping.

And it’s not like I’m levitating while I’m doing it. More steps accumulate.

We always stay in the Hilton Tokyo, in Shinjuku. Most evenings are spent in Shinjuku Ni-Chome, so you can add the walk home (usually in the early hours) to the total. Of course, that’s strictly the following day, so I tend to wake up with an Apple Watch step count of about 3,500 steps. Which is strangely motivating.

All of which is to say that the walking almost cancels out the over-eating of delicious Japanese food and the delicious beers that accompany it. I’ve made a map of Tokyo’s best craft beer spots, so there will definitely be some tasting going on.

In between the walks…