It’s been a while since I updated this blog, and a friend of mine recommended to post some of my quora answers into my personal blog.
So, for Tokyo, I usually look for areas around the JR Yamanote Line
As you can see in the above picture, the JR Yamanote line (in green) forms a loop around Tokyo. The distance between the trains in this line is only around 4 to 5 minutes apart. So if you missed one train, you’d be able to get on the next one not far behind.
The next thing you want to consider is what are you planning to do in Tokyo.
The area around Shinjuku station (新宿駅) is a really good choice as it has lots of places of interest such as Shibuya, Harajuku and of course, Shinjuku itself. Shinjuku Station also serves other lines such as
- Odakyu Odawara Line – This is the line if you want to go to Shimokitazawa (下北沢), Kawasaki (Fujiko F Fujio Museum) and Hakone (箱根).
- Keio line
- Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line – This line cuts through the center of Tokyo instead of Yamanote Line’s loop. A good option if you want to get to the other side of Tokyo
- JR Chuo Line – like the Marunouchi Line, this line cuts throught the center of Tokyo
- Toei Ōedo Line
- Seibu Shinjuku Line
It also serves Limited Express trains such as
- Azusa (あずさ) and Super Azusa (スーパーあずさ) that goes to Matsumoto (松本), Nagano (長野県)
- Holiday Rapid Mount Fuji – as the name suggest, this is a special train only available during holiday periods that goes to Mount Fuji
- Nikkō (日光) and Spacia Nikkō (スペーシア日光) if you plan to go to Nikko
- Odoriko (踊り子) that goes to Kawazu or Izu Peninsula
So you could say that Shinjuku has a tonne of options to go here and there. The downside is, being a popular area, hotels or airbnb’s prices are a bit steep.
An alternative that is close to Shinjuku is its neighboring station, Shin-Ōkubo (新大久保駅). The nearby Ōkubo street has lots of korean themed establishments, restaurants and shops selling K-pop items. The first time I went to Tokyo, I found a small mosque in the area and some middle eastern food.
On the other side of Tokyo is Ueno station (上野駅). Ueno is part of Taito district, Tokyo. Hotels and lodgings around this area is usually quite reasonable. The area is close to Asakusa Kannon Temple (浅草寺) and Tokyo Skytree
Ueno park is right in front of the station. The park has three museums, a zoo and a lovely park for hanami (cherry blossom viewing). The station also serves several other JR lines and a couple of Tokyo metro lines. All shinkansen trains heading for the east of Japan also stops here
- Tohoku/Hokkaido shinkansen line – If you plan to go to Sendai, Morioka, Aomori and Hakodate
- Yamagata Shinkansen line – If you plan to go to Yamagata or Fukushima.
- Akita Shinkansen line – If you plan to go to Akita or Iwate
- Joetsu Shinkansen line – if you plan to go to Niigata and including Yuzawa ski area
- Hokuriku Shinkansen line – If you plan to go to Nagano, Toyama or Kanazawa
Just one station up north, there’s Uguisudani station which has a quite unique area as it has a lot of love hotels.
So there you have it, several of my preferred area to stay when visiting Tokyo.
This entry is roughly translated and expanded from my quora answer https://qr.ae/TWXlia
Bekzilla's Journey 
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