Japan's capital city is crammed with cosplay, themed cafés and arcades, offering a unique games culture you can't experience anywhere else. If you're planning a trip to Tokyo, our series of videos should help you decide what to do while you're there.
From maimai MURASAKi to Gunslinger Stratos 3, the world's most difficult games can be found inside Japanese arcades. If you want to test your mettle in the ultimate crucible, Warehouse Kawasaki is the place to go.
Set over four floors, two of which house a dedicated recreation of the famous Kowloon Walled City, this arcade is crammed with some of Japan's most punishing titles.
Nakano Broadway is a vast, cathedral-like shopping centre that's become a point of pilgrimage for anime fans visiting Tokyo. It's packed with comics, plushies, games and other paraphernalia from nearly every anime series you can think of, and is well worth a visit.
Elsewhere, there aren't many places you can experience first-hand the thrill of battle as a Gundam pilot, but Tokyo is one of them. Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield Rev.4 can be found at the Club Sega Akihabara arcade, and gives you control with of your own mech from the anime.
Other must-visits include Otaku Bar 44Sonic where the bartender will shake up a cocktail based on your favourite anime character, Tokyo One Piece Tower, Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo, and Gee! Store Akiba.
After a hard day of gaming at the arcades, there's no better way to relax than to sit down at a Tokyo cafe with a cup of tea and a ... snake?
The city is peppered with animal cafes that, under supervision, allow you to handle the creatures that live there. Here's everywhere we visited in the video:
Tokyo caters to the tastes of all vocal chords. If you'd prefer to lubricate your pipes with premium cocktails before your big number, head to Karaoke 47 atop the Keio Plaza Hotel.
Going from plush to plushies, Karaoke COTE D'AZUR is a colourful den where you can serenade a Pokémon stuffed toy before chowing down on Pikachu pizza and cake.
There's also otaku hangout Akihabara Dear☆Stage, the Monster Hunter-themed Karaoke Pacela Akihabara Showa Dori-kan, and Karaoke Kan Shibuya-ten, which you may recognise from the songbooth in Lost in Translation.
Japan is crazy about robotics, from the super advanced and bipedal to tiny robot bullet trains that deliver your sushi.
You could stay at Henna Hotel Maihama, which only opened in March 2017, where robotic will raptors check you in at the welcome desk as animatronic fish swim past in the lobby's tank.
If you get peckish, head to Robot Restaurant. It cost a whopping 10 billion Yen ($89 million) to build and serves up an hour-long colourful performance while you feast. You can also take time out to visit Honda Welcome Plaza Aoyama for a demo of their robot ASIMO, or Tsukomo Robot Kingdom to stock up on your robotic wares.
Pepper the robot is on hand at various locations throughout the city to navigate to all these places, including at Left Luggage in Tokyo Station, Softbank shop in Yodobashi AKIBA, and two more in Ginza.
When it comes to sports games Japan has a love for the retro, from Power Smash 2 to Sports Jam.
We found cabinets for StarHorse, Alpine Racer 2, and more at the Warehouse Kawasaki arcade.
Tokyo has plenty more to offer even beyond robot restaurants and penguin bars.
For one thing you can stay at the Godzilla hotel, otherwise known as Hotel Gracery, which has stuck the eponymous reptile's head - made by the same design team from the 1992 movie - on the top floor of its skyscraper.
There's also the ultimate games arcade amusement park Joypolis in Odaiba, where you can take a break from the cabinets by taking a ride on a rollercoaster, which runs over the heads of visitors. Quench your thirst at the Capcom Bar, or Square Enix Cafe, which both offer themed food and drink themed around their various video game franchises, or Kawaii Monster Cafe in Harajuku for a more (literally) colourful experience.
Finally, don't miss Super Potato. It's a video games store in Akihabara that's packed with consoles, rare games and memorabilia, plus its top floor boasts a small arcade filled with retro games.
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