4 Best Sights in Ikebukuro, Tokyo

Frank Lloyd Wright fans will enjoy a glimpse into this off-the-beaten-path school building featuring his distinctive Prairie style. When Wright was in Tokyo designing the Imperial Hotel in the 1920s, he was commissioned to build this schoolhouse, which is now open to the public. Its use of local stone keeps it in harmony with its location, but that is a bit difficult to find, so your journey to find the building will take you through a small neighborhood. The brick street the building occupies is a helpful marker. Call ahead to be sure they are not closed for an event.

The original paper mill that once stood here (Japan's first) is long gone, but the memory lingers on through exhibits that cover 2,000 years of the history of paper and show the processes for milling paper from pulp and recycling and include a number of the machines used. Other exhibits illustrate the astonishing variety of products that can be made from paper.

This aquarium has some 750 kinds of sea creatures on display, plus daily behind-the-scenes tours and animal feeding sessions with staff. An English-language pamphlet is available, and most of the exhibits have some English explanation. If you get tired of the sea life, head to the Manten planetarium, where you can see 400,000 stars. And if that still isn't enough to keep you occupied, try the 60th-floor Sky Circus observatory for great views of the city and virtual reality rides.

Take the JR Yamanote Line to Otsuka, cross the street in front of the station, and change to the Toden Arakawa Line (aka Tokyo Sakura Tram)—Tokyo's last surviving trolley. Heading east, for ¥170 one way, the trolley takes you through the back gardens of old neighborhoods on its way to Oji, once the site of Japan's first Western-style paper mill, built in 1875 by Oji Paper Company, the nation's oldest joint-stock company.