With hello kitty, kyoto geishas, and dragonball anime characters all walking virtually the same street, Japan looks to us to be about as cool as it gets. Instead of booking a flight into Narita International, visit the country’s recent incarnation in our very own accessible, approachable Japantown. Book a room (or just decamp for the day) at one of the neighborhood’s two newly renovated hotels to check out the bounty: Both feature Japanese-style amen­ities that don’t require an overnight stay.

Awash in pop-art murals, bright colors, and super-hip furniture, the manga- and anime-inspired Hotel Tomo (formerly the Miyako Inn) boasts a pair of gaming suites that have become a destination for twentysomething gamers, as well as kids’ birthday parties. The suites, which can be rented in four-hour segments or overnight, come equipped with PS3, a Wii, a six-foot-wide LCD projection screen, beanbags, funky furniture, a mini-refrigerator, and, in the overnight suite, an iPod docking station. For lovers of the traditional Japanese experience, the Hotel Kabuki (formerly the Miyako Hotel), sleek and sophisticated after a $10 million renovation, offers free Saturday classes in classic arts such as ikebana and bonsai. If you do stay overnight, activities like a tea ceremony and communal bathing at nearby Kabuki Springs & Spa are included. Day trippers can also visit the baths on their own—Kabuki has several same-sex days (bathing suits optional) and a co-ed day (suits required) each week.

A few doors down the street, Robert Redford’s new Sundance Kabuki Cinema is drawing visitors (including Japanese tourists) to the area for distinctly American entertainment. Eight theaters, a restaurant, a bar-bistro, and a stand-alone bar to explore mean you can spend the entire evening there. For a fee, viewers also select their seats in advance; if you sit in the theater with the 21-and-over balcony, you can order drinks from the adjacent bar. Just imagine Asahi in your cupholder.




Before saying sayonara to Japantown, make a stop at Mifune for some housemade ramen, soba, and udon in combination-style lunches that average less than $10 each. (The shop also sells bags of the noodles for about $4 apiece.) For a more refined meal, try the wappa-meshi at Maki. Rice and your choice of toppings, such as salmon roe and chunks of salmon or soy-glazed eel, are steamed in a pine basket.

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