JapanQuest Journeys' Scott Gilman Featured on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Website!
Posted on June 25, 2019 within News
Cofounder and managing director of JapanQuest Journeys (JQJ), Gilman is a Japan buff and former Tokyo resident now living in Washington, D.C. His love of Japan led him to cofound JQJ seven years ago, and the company now assists as many as 1,000 Japan-bound travelers per year. A selectee of the 2018 Travel+Leisure A-list and the 2016–2018 Wendy Perrin WOW List, Gilman is recognized worldwide as a leading tour operator.
"One unique aspect of Tokyo is that you see modern features like high-tech buildings and transport networks existing side-by-side with age-old traditions," Gilman says. Just a short walk from the famed Japanese garden of Hama-rikyu, for example, is the Shiodome area with its cluster of high-rise buildings. Walk a few minutes from Azabu-Juban, a village-like residential neighborhood, and you reach the towering Roppongi Hills complex. Perhaps the perfect example is the location of Meiji Jingu Shrine, one of the most sacred Shinto sites, right next to the hustle and bustle of Harajuku, the fashion mecca for Tokyo's youth. As Gilman says often, "There's no other city like it."
"It's worth coming to Tokyo just to enjoy such contrasts, but it is also one of the safest cities in the world," he continues. "Visitors will be impressed by the politeness and kindness of the Japanese. Furthermore, they'll be amazed at the high level of service offered at restaurants and hotels. After they return home they'll never encounter anything like it. But in Japan, it is a daily given."
Tokyo has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city in the world, and foodies love it. "Not only can you experience traditional Japanese washoku cuisine, which has been named to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list, but the French, Italian, and Chinese food in Tokyo often outshines what you'll find in those countries themselves. I also recommend a visit to the Kappabashi kitchen goods wholesale district—it's a mecca for chefs."
Read more over at Timeless Tokyo.