Heading to Tokyo" Take a look at our design-focused travel guide for ideas on shopping, eating, and staying.

Having recently launched our brand-new travel section and our sister Instagram feed, @designmilktravels, we are delighted to be running a series of travel guides in partnership with TUMI. Our next destination is a city easily lost in translation for first time visitors, but one rewarding the curious, hungry, and willing: Tokyo.

I can still clearly recollect the first time I set foot in Tokyo. I had spent a week meandering through the spiritual capital of Japan, Kyoto, lulled into a state of serenity by the organic palette and terroir of the former capital ? a quiet seduction of history and contemplative exploration. By chance, I found myself given opportunity to redirect my travels for an additional sleepless 16 hours in Tokyo before returning back to Los Angeles. Photo by Gregory Han
Two hours and 300+ miles later aboard the famed bullet train, I emerged into an explosion of colors, sounds, and an indescribable energy ? a jolt to the senses, to say the least. From my very first shoulder-to-shoulder lunch inside Tokyo Station’s Standing Bar Sushi, to navigating through the confetti parade of one-of-kind fashions of Harajuku’s famed streets, to finally finding myself seated across from an Iron Chef while being toasted by a rowdy company of ruddy-cheeked (and very inebriated) Tokyo firefighters into the early morn...