sport (4)

Watch a sumo tournament if you are visiting Tokyo in January, May or September. These are held at the impressive Kokugikan stadium, which seats over 13,000 spectators. Obtaining tickets is much more straightforward now thanks to the Internet - booking ahead is advisable, although sometimes there are a few tickets available on the day. A really impressive option is to book a Masu-seki, which is a boxed area for four people close to the ring itself. These cost ten times the amount charged for ordinary seats, but you are - quite literally - in the centre of the action. Take a train or taxi to Kokugikan (nearest underground is Kuramae). Stop en route and buy a bento box to eat whilst you’re there - much better than the food sold on site. Although the wrestling starts at 10am, aim to arrive in the early afternoon. The most important bouts take place between 4pm and 6pm, and there is a special closing ritual to cleanse the ring after these matches have finished, which is worth seeing.

If you want to catch some sport on television go to Champions, a good bar in the Marriott hotel. Shows a lot of live sporting events like football, rugby etc. Popular with locals and ex-pats alike.

If you need a morning swim to pep you up, then you should book into the Intercontinental, which has one of largest swimming pools you’ll find in a hotel – it’s junior Olympic size and heated (a leftover from when this used to be an athletics club).

Fancy a swim? Believe it or not, you can swim outside in London. Shoreditch House – owned by Nick Jones, the man who brought us Soho House – is situated in east London and has a heated rooftop pool.

It also has a fabulous set of places to drink inside, an onsite bowling alley and a Cowshed spa. Very possibly the best place to chill out in the capital.