Where to stay in Tokyo, first time

"Where should I stay in Tokyo?" is secretly two questions: which district suits you, and which suits your actual days. Here's the first half. The second half is sums no article can do for you — more on that below.

The four bases that make sense first time

• Shinjuku — first-timer central. Biggest rail hub on earth, every airport bus stops here, neon all night. The catch: the station is a genuine labyrinth, and it feels more "big city" than "Japan".
• Shibuya & Harajuku — young, loud, fun. The crossing on your doorstep and the best people-watching in Asia. The catch: small rooms for the money, and weekends are a party right outside.
• Ginza / Tokyo Station — polished and calm, shinkansen downstairs. Best base for day trips or if you're heading on to Kyoto, and the easiest with older travellers. The catch: dead quiet after 9pm.
• Asakusa — old Tokyo. Senso-ji ＋ at dawn before anyone shows up, proper ryokan with tatami and futons, gentler prices. The catch: it's in the east corner, so west-side days start with a 30-minute ride.

The part district guides won't tell you

A "great location" is only great relative to your stops. Ginza is a brilliant base for a museums-and-day-trips plan and a mediocre one for a nightlife plan — same hotel, different trip.

The number that actually matters is minutes-per-day: your real stops, against each candidate base, scored by total riding. That's the whole sum behind our planner's district pick — and it often disagrees with the generic advice, because it knows your plan and the listicle doesn't.

Three rules, whatever you pick

• Two nights minimum. Hotel-hopping inside Tokyo costs half a day per move and buys you nearly nothing — the metro already puts everything in reach.
• "Near a Yamanote line station" beats "near a famous sight." The loop line is the city's spine. A plain hotel two minutes from it outperforms a charming one ten minutes from nowhere.
• Plan first, bed second. Decide your days, then let the days pick the hotel. In the planner that's one tap — choose any hotel and every day re-routes to start and end there.

Or skip the working-out

Scoring every candidate base against your real stops — the minutes-per-day sum behind the district pick — is the part no listicle can do for you. We do about 80% of that research, in roughly a minute. Plan your Tokyo days first, then let the plan pick the area: choose any hotel and every day re-routes to start and end there, travel times shown. Heading on to Kyoto or Osaka? The planner carries the same trip across cities. A solid first cut — move anything you don't like.