Tokyo Megacity by Donald Richie

Tokyo Megacity offers up a brilliant bio of the world's biggest city.

First there's the historical overview of the city itself, then the profiles of the three major parts of the city -- high, low, and mid cities). What follows are one-page snapshots of the major neighbourhoods of the city. Those snapshots may be short but they capture the essential history of the areas and the character to be found on their streets today. 

The biggest learning moment from Tokyo Megacity was that all the shrines and temples that I have visited are modern rebuilds. I guess I should have realized on looking at historic pictures from the end of the Second World War that not much survived the war. 

The three to five pages of photos that accompany each essay are truly illuminating - and a nice trip to Tokyo.