VISITING TOKYO SITES

Here's how to get to Musashi Koyama: Take the Yamanote subway line to a stop called Meguro and follow signs for the Mekama commuter line. When you get to the Mekama ticket machines, buy a 100-yen ticket and go through the turnstiles. (As soon as you leave the Yamanote, the signs in English diminish, but forge ahead.)

Take any train - Meguro is a terminus - and get off at the second stop, which is Musashi Koyama. Once you exit the station, the shopping arcade is hard to miss.

r To reach Rikugien Garden, again ride the Yamanote subway to a stop called Komagome. Following the map posted at the station, walk three blocks to the garden. (The first entrance on Hongo Dori is closed, so go to the next intersection and turn right. You'll see an entrance on your right.)

It costs $3 to get in. The garden is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily except Monday, when it is closed. It's worth the 500 yen to drink matcha - frothy green tea served in a bowl - at the open-air souvenir and tea stand.