Tokyo is a city that glitters from end to end with the latest trends and hottest technologies. The winds of the future slash across its sprawling neighborhoods like a 21stcentury samurai’s sword, leveling the old and making way for the new. With the energy of the world’s pop cultures ricocheting through its streets, no other metropolis seems so at home with the shape of things to come.

Take Roppongi, the district that is the chief gathering point for foreign business travelers looking for pleasure rather than history. Roppongi is renowned for its restaurants, bars and nonstop nightlife, but its sleazier edges are morphing toward the upscale following the construction of Roppongi Hills, a luxury complex opened in 2003 by real-estate magnate Mori Minoru. Its hundreds of new restaurants and shops, as well as its gardens, residences and a nine-screen cinema, now attract well over 100,000 visitors daily, and the Mori Tower’s 52nd-floor observation deck, dubbed “Tokyo City View,” offers an an expansive overview of evermore- towering downtown Tokyo. In fact, the Roppongi Hills development has spurred the completion of Tokyo’s tallest skyscraper to date, nearby Midtown Tower, a rival futuristic citywithin- a-city with exceptional upmarket shopping.

From either of these Roppongi skyscraper- cum-malls, nothing antiquated or traditionally Japanese is likely to float into view. The same holds for Shinjuku, the true center of modern Tokyo, home to the twin towers containing the city’s government offices. A cosmopolitan shopping and entertainment precinct, Shinjuku is a grand canyon of neon lights. And Tokyo’s newest landmark, Odaiba, the harborside development built on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay, comes out of the same international, upscale, future-oriented mold of high rises and higher prices.

Tokyo, in short, is at the cutting edge of Asian and world commerce, but its 12 million residents, accounting for 10 percent of Japan’s population, have been through some rough times. Once rated the world’s most expensive city for the business traveler, Tokyo was shaken by the economic collapse of the 1990s. Years of financial ups and downs followed. While Tokyo has certainly lost ground to Shanghai and the boom towns of China, it is steadily regaining much of its energy, wealth and luster. Tokyo’s recent economic rebound is reflected in the audacious new architecture, gradually encroaching on older neighborhoods.

Yet vivid traces of Tokyo’s history and essence remain evident even in the floating world of Roppongi. Zojoji Temple, in the shadow of Tokyo Tower, is worth a visit if only to savor a moment of quiet contemplation during the whirl of a busy day. Built in 1393, Zojoji Temple is a Buddhist complex of the Jodo sect and one of the city’s most serene shrines. One enters the main temple courtyard through a gate dating to 1605 — the oldest wooden structure in Tokyo. Within the grounds are the tombs of half a dozen Tokugawa shoguns and a cemetery lined with an extraordinary row of Jizo guardian statues.

Similar contrasts stretch across Tokyo’s trendiest neighborhoods. That’s the charm and the challenge of visiting the city today: It’s a quest to find an ancient harbor in the storm of the new, the newer and the newest. If you look hard enough, you can still find an Edo of shoguns and cherry blossoms. In Tokyo, the samurai’s sword cuts both ways, into the past as well as into the future.

LODGING

CONRAD TOKYO

Crowning the top 10 floors of the Shiodome complex since its 2005 opening, the Conrad is the newest lord of the Ginza. Its 290 very large guestrooms have spare modern Japanese elements, as well as plasma-screen TVs and wireless Internet connections. The lap pool, gym and spa, business center, executive floors and walls of glass focused on the Rainbow Bridge or Royal Hamarikyu Gardens are exc ellent add-ons, as are two of British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey’s first restaurants in Japan.$$$$
CONRAD TOKYO
Tokyo Shiodome Building
1-9-1 Higashi- Shinbashi
Minato-ku
tel 03 6388 8000
http://www.conradhotels.com

FOUR SEASONS HOTEL TOKYO AT MARUNOUCHI
Across from Tokyo Station in the center of Tokyo’s main business district and the old Imperial Palace grounds, the 57-room Four Seasons is top-rated for its location, views and cool luxury appointments. The staff is highly attentive and the rooms are spacious, each equipped with high-speed Internet access, plasma-screen TVs and DVD players. Despite its boutique dimensions, the Four Seasons maintains a 24-hour business center, French restaurant and a gym and spa.$$$$
FOUR SEASONS HOTEL TOKYO AT MARUNOUCHI
Pacific Century Place
1-11-1 Marunouchi
Chiyoda-ku
tel 03 5222 7222
http://www.fourseasons.com/marunouchi

PARK HYATT TOKYO
This is where Bill Murray stayed and Sofia Coppola filmed the 2003 hit Lost in Translation. The Park Hyatt may have lost some ground to newer 5-star deluxe offerings since then, but this is still a top Tokyo address for celebrities and executives. The ambience is surprisingly intimate, and even the humblest of guestrooms is spacious, with ample work area, Internet connection, walk-in closet and Hokkaido water-elm paneling. Among other assets are the business center, fitness and spa facilities, good lighting, spectacular views from the top floors of the 52-story Shinjuku Park Tower and free shuttle bus to Shinjuku Station.$$$$
PARK HYATT TOKYO
3-7-1-2 Nishi-Shinjuku
Shinjuku-ku
tel 03 5322 1234
http://www.tokyo.park.hyatt.com

DINING

TOFUYA UKAI

Japan’s gourmet cuisine, kaiseki-ryori, originated with the tea ceremony, and its crucial ambience extends beyond the subtle flavors and textures of its dishes to the setting, which is perfectly captured in this new Ginza restaurant with its tatami mat rooms, scrolls, laquerware and kimono-clad servers. The set dinners begin with sashimi and clear soup followed in slow order by a series of tofu-based seasonal dishes in varying styles, from grilled to steamed. This is tofu heaven. The old mansion at the foot of Tokyo Tower is actually a re-creation, but an impeccable one, evoking the essence of Japanese traditions.$$$$
TOFUYA UKAI
4-4-13 Shiba-koen
Minato-ku
tel 03 3436 1028

BON
Japanese monk Dogen devised an amazing meatless cuisine, shojin-ryori, eight centuries ago after Buddhism captured the fancy of Japan’s emperors. The Zen of eating no flesh, fish or fowl is an art practiced at Bon in a series of serene tatami rooms where more than a dozen elegant, bite-sized dishes are served from a common bowl, a bow to the Chinese Buddhist fucha-ryor cuisine served here. This contemplative repast is the extreme opposite of fast food, with two soups and six to eight plates offered over the course of several hours, beginning and ending with tea.$$$-$$$$
BON
1-2-11 Ryusen
Taito-ku
tel 03 3872 0375
http://www.fuchabon.co.jp

GONPACHI

Set in a recreated kura (warehouse), this rustic emporium is festive by design, its open kitchen is a matsuri shed where chefs tend skewers over charcoal grills and the servers spin by in Happi coats. The fare is countryside izakaya style, meaning big portions of yakatori, soba noodles, fish and fresh wasabi duck on a stick. The courtyard and balconies inspired scenes in the film Kill Bill, and former Prime Minister Junichiro feted former President Clinton here. The fancier third floor, with gardens and alcoves, serves sushi, too. There are branches in Odaiba’s Aqua City, the Ginza and Beverly Hills, but this is the most entertaining spot. $$-$$$
GONPACHI
1-13-11
Nishi-Azabu
Minato-ku
tel 03 5771 0170
http://www.gonpachi.jp

INFO TO GO

Narita International Airport (NRA) is 45 miles from the city center. The quickest way into Tokyo is via the Narita Express Train, departing every 30 minutes for Tokyo Station (one hour; about $28) or every hour for Shinjuku Station (one hour 20 minutes; about $30). The Keisei Skyliner serves Ueno Station (about $18). Limousine buses take 90 minutes or more to select hotels (about $29). Airport taxis cost $190 to $300. Once in Tokyo the 12 Metro lines start at about $1.50 per ride. Subway vending machines dispense a variety of convenient passes. Taxi fares begin at about $6 (first 2 kilometers), with no tipping necessary.

DIVERSIONS

A ramble through Tokyo’s neighborhoods, each the size of a city, is an exhilarating shuffle between past and future, limited only by your imagination. In Shinjuku, the neon heart of modern Tokyo, you can shop, eat and drink, but you can also stroll through the Meiji-era Shinjuku Garden (11 Naito-cho, Shinjuku-ku, tel 03 3350 0151, http://www.env.go.jp/garden/shinjukugyoen/english), noted for its cherry-blossom viewing. A few minutes south is one of Tokyo’s top historical draws, the Meiji Shrine and Inner Gardens (1-1 Yoyogi-cho, Shibuya-ku, tel 03 3379 5511, http://www.meijijingu.or.jp/english). The Ueno district to the north, with its landmark park, zoo, cherry trees and temples, stands shoulder to shoulder with Akihabara (Electric Town), the world’s largest electronics sales district, now specializing in the latest computer games, anime offerings and “maid cafés,” where Victorian-costumed waitresses serve their “masters” cola, coffee and ice-cream cakes. Nearby, you can enter Tokyo’s oldest temple, Sensoji (2-3-1 Asakusa, Taito-ku, tel 03 3842 0181), via the charming traditional shopping lane of Nakamise.

For family outings, try Disneyland, which has lately morphed into Tokyo Disney Resort (1-1 Maihama, Urayasu-shi, Chiba, tel 045 683 3333, http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tdr/index_e.html) and added Tokyo Disney Sea, with seven themed ports of call. The newest mega-amusement park complex is also on Tokyo Bay, at Odaiba, where a staggering array of malls are devoted to computer games (Joypolis), Chinese retail (Little Hong Kong), robots (National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation), cars (Mega Web) and shopping (Venus Fort, where even the sky is artificial). One-day unlimited travel passes on subway lines, dispensed by vending machines in Tokyo Metro stations (http://www.tokyometro.jp/e), make these and any other cross-town explorations you can dream up quick and affordable.