Already posted photos of Munich and New York, two of my favourite cities in the world and picked up on some differences between the two. The third candidate would be Tokyo, very different from the previous two and, in fact, so huge (the Greater Tokyo metropolis has a population of 35 million!) and varied, that it even manages to be very different from itself!

Let me demonstrate the differences.

Number one :

Akihabara. Aka Electric Town. It probably sums up most people's preconceptions of Tokyo in one go (the giant robot destroying the city and the giant reptile destroying the city are out of shot to left and right respectively); it's loud, it's bright and it's really a bit confusing - from personal experience, I can say going on your first day in the city with heavy jetlag is not a great idea!

Number two :

Meiji-jingu, Harajuku. The foremost Shinto shrine in Tokyo. Harajaku is a place of contrast in itself - go right from the station (a Toytownish replica of the Japanese idea of a European station) and you're on the Omotesando, a busy and bustling avenue where all the cool kids hung out and shopped a few years back (other parts of Tokyo are now more "in" apparently, it gets hard to keep up with fashion nowadays!), a place to see and be seen. Go left however, and you're in the oasis of calm that is Meiji-jingu, quiet, with a sense of dignity, and a great place to get away to when Tokyo's assault on the senses all gets a bit too much. In fact, you'll find shrines dotted around all over the city, sometimes in the unlikeliest spots (there's one in a street in Akihabara above, for example).

Number three:

Senso-ji, Asakusa. The largest representative of the other Japanese state religion, the Buddhist temple counterpart to the Shinto shrine above. If you thought Senso-ji would be anything like Meiji-jingu, think again. Bustling, busy, with a row of shops inside the temple gates on the way to the temple itself (!), it could hardly be more different. And yet it still manages to be quintessentially Tokyo.

It's a fantastic place, and the people are so lovely - I would urge anyone who has the chance to go. I only wish it was (a LOT) closer to me!