Dazed and jetlagged, I look down at Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing. From my vantage point in the train station a couple of storeys up, I watch hundreds of pedestrians (it’s thought that up to 3,000 cross at once) rush over the world’s busiest intersection in a hasty ‘scramble’ that’s illuminated by the flashing neon lights above.
It’s unsurprising that I’m slightly overwhelmed. After a 14-hour flight and braving the city’s remarkably efficient, yet fast-paced and crowded, subway system, I’m at the centre of one of the busiest cities in the world. It’s where 37 million people live and work (and many millions more visit as tourists), the beating heart of Japan’s economy, and home to a blur of anime, manga, Pokemon, pachinko parlours, vending machines and pet cafes.
Yet just 12 hours later and little more than 5km away I’m cycling freely through a maze of backstreets and parks, cruising by aged cherry trees with the December sun on my face and just a few locals wandering by.
Keen to escape the crowds, I’ve hopped on a bike and am exploring a very different side to the capital. As I find during my travels through Japan, by jumping on two wheels, even in the busiest cities you can slide into the rhythms of local life. I’m travelling with Wayfairer, which specialises in tailor-made holidays, and the company has arranged a private tour with Chad Feyen from Freewheeling Tokyo.
Read more: Forget driving in LA – here’s how to explore by bike
Chad, who is originally from the US state of Michigan but has lived in Japan for the past two decades, explains that his company aims to show travellers a side of the city that most tourists don’t get to see. “We want people to experience these neighborhoods like the locals do,” he tells me as we pedal out of the Sasazuka district. “Although you don’t see so many bikes in the centre, in these back streets everyone is cycling – whether that’s a mum picking up her kids or an older person on a three-wheeler. It’s about slowing down and seeing the city in a different way.”
We start our cycle still in Shibuya ward – the same area that features the famous scramble crossing – yet it feels like a world…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Independent Travel…