My wife and I want to travel to Tokyo for the first time on January 21 for eight nights. We’re planning our own itinerary and would be grateful for some guidance for above-average hotels and places of interest to visit, including Kyoto, and how best we could spend our time. – Rocky Sooriah, via e-mail

Times travel expert, Julia Brookes, responds: Stay at the InterContinental Tokyo Bay (www.intercontinental.com), a five-star hotel in a good location with bargain rates: a king-bedded room is £117 a night, room only, on your dates.

My top sightseeing tips would include a visit to Harajuku. Go on a Sunday, when you will probably see a traditional Japanese wedding by the Meiji or Togo shrines and will certainly see crowds of teenagers by the station dressed up as anime characters or punks.

Nearby Omotesando is great for shopping – from designer boutiques to the Oriental Bazaar, a huge souvenir shop. You should also get up early to visit Tsujiki fish market; eat yakitori in a café under the railway arches in Yurakucho; gawp at the amazing neon, skyscrapers and huge department stores of Ginza; see the latest electronic gizmos in Akihabara; and splurge on a cocktail in the bar at the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku.

Day return tickets on the Shinkansen bullet train to Kyoto cost about £112, and you could book a walking tour of the ancient capital with Lonely Planet author Chris Rawthorn (www.hikercentral.com, from £95 for a half day, per group).

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