(WT-en) Moe

Tama Toshi Monorail

Tama (多摩) is a western suburban city of Tokyo.

Understand

One of the first things you see on arrival at Tama Center train station is a glowing sign proclaiming "Tama is Hello Kitty's Town". Although there is more to Tama, getting up-close-and-personal with Sanrio's signature feline is the main draw for visitors to this suburban area of Tokyo.

Get in

The Keio and Odakyu private railways operate out of Shinjuku Station. Using either of these lines, you can reach Tama in about 40 minutes.

On the Keio line (¥330), take a Rapid (kaisoku; 快速) or Express (kyūkō; 急行) train bound for Hashimoto, and get off at Keio Tama Center (京王多摩センター). These trains generally leave from Shinjuku every 10 minutes during most of the day, with departures alternating between the main Keio platforms, and the adjacent Toei Shinjuku Line platforms. (Toei Shinjuku Line trains merge with the Keio line at Sasazuka.)

On the Odakyu line (¥360), the stop for Tama is, appropriately, Odakyu Tama Center (小田急多摩センター). You'll need to change to a Tama Line train at Shin-Yurigaoka (新百合ヶ丘).

The Tama Toshi Monorail is less useful, but connects to the JR Chuo Line at Tachikawa.

See

• Tama Zoo[1]. Like its better-known counterpart in Ueno, this park is run by the Tokyo municipal government. While it's not spectacularly large, the conditions seem more humane than at the older Ueno Zoo, which many western visitors find downright depressing. Directly across the street from the entrance to the Tama Zoo is a small train museum, including a very large model train set. No charge.
• Tama Center is a major shopping center, and if you're this far from central Tokyo, it's probably worth your while to do some shopping here before making a special trip all the way to Shinjuku or Ginza. As Tama Center has become a major destination for residents of western Tokyo, it's grown from a big lifeless mall to a local landmark. Musicians, jugglers and other performers often play at the station, and the mall is illuminated for Christmas from November 6th to the New Year. Though Christmas lights are not a Japanese tradition, neither are big suburban shopping malls. Perhaps that's why the brilliant display attracts so many visitors.

Do

The main attraction in Tama is Sanrio Puroland ([2]), a theme park dedicated to Hello Kitty and her cute clones.

Children may also enjoy a visit to Yomiuri Land, a local amusement park.

Tama Chuo Koen is a park with a lot of nature and a pretty big pond. It's nice to see people reading books, talking, and sitting on the grass.

There is a local radio station called FM-Tama. You can get local information on Tama.

If you want to watch movie, you can go to WARNER MYCAL CINEMAS Tama Center ([3]).

Buy

Visit a department store called Mitsukoshi. This department store is famous for its long-standing prestige. There are branches of Mitsukoshi throughout Japan.

Go to a cake shop Grand Cru. Their Cream-filled Rolled Sponge Cake is really popular. 840 yen for one cake.

You will see a lot of people lining up to get this delicious cake!!

It takes ten minutes from station, shopping mall CROSS GARDEN TAMA([4]) appear. It built this april, you can buy miscellaneous goods, clothes, furnitures, accessories and more! Some restaurant are in the shopping mall too.

Eat

Tama has plenty of fastfood and chain restaurants: two Wendy's, three of chain restaurant called "Saizeria", two of the same coffee shops, and two of the same kind of soba restaurants.

Eat Hawaiian food (Roco-Moco and more.) at this good Hawaiian restaurant. It is about 5 minutes walk from Keio Tama Center station.

Tama has lots of bar. They are part of all.

• Uotami〒206-0033 Tokyo,Tama-city, Ochiai 1-39-2 forth floor of Magurebu building([5]). Phone number is 042-375-9188. This store is open all the year around 17:00 to 5:00. An average prices is 2,700Yen.

• Syouya〒206-0033 Tokyo, Tama-city, Ochiai 1-9-6 second and third floor of Yamanote building.([6])Phone number is 042-372-5560. This store is open all the year around 17:00 to 4:00. An average prices is 2,500Yen.

• TenTen Tokyo, Tama-city, Ochiai 1-7-12. Phone number is 042-375-3333. This store is open all the year around 17:00 to 1:00 for Mon to Sat, 17:00 to 23:00 for Sun and holiday. An average prices is 2,500Yen.

• Hananomai Tokyo, Tama-city, Ochiai 1-8-1([7]) Phone number is 042-355-7370. This store is open all the year around 16:00 to 1:00 for Mon to Thurs, 16:00 to 3:00 for Fri and Sat. An average prices is 2,700Yen.

Drink

The name of the Hawaiian bar is Alo Alo and is located beside Denny's on Tama New Town Street.

Sleep

Splurge

The Keio Plaza Hotel Tama Center is part of this high-end chain of hotels. But in terms of service, they are not very guest friendly as compared to the previous hotels that i have put up in Tokyo. Location compared to Shinjuku is very far out of the area and travelling time is simpiliy too long for travellers with kids on tow. Hotel rates compared to Shinjuku area is a bit cheaper but would rather pay more to stay at a more convenient place. Hereby highly recommend Century Hyatt hotel, whereby services is tiptop and location is good also, even if you have missed the shuttle bus services provided by the hotel, it takes about 15 minutes to walk from Shinjuku station to the hotel.