Hachiko Statue

Anyone who really wants to master the art of Tokyo romance needs to know about Hachiko. The story of the loyal dog and his dead master is well-known (if you don’t know it, Richard Gere made the rather mawkish Hachiko: A Dog’s Tale in 2009); less well-known, to the foreign community at least, is the location’s latter-day role as a meeting spot for the doe-eyed couples in the first throes of true love. Not so great as a meeting place for blind dates, however; it’s also one of Tokyo’s most densely packed districts, so unless you know who you’re looking for, you could be waiting a while.