Asahi Super Dry Hall (Phillippe Starck, 1989) This slick project by Starck is topped by a bizarre element balanced on its roof. What is it? Is it a carrot? Sperm? Turd? Whatever it is, the wavy horizontal blotch is made even more obvious (ominous?) by celebratory lighting at nighttime along the Sumida River. Once you draw closer to this beer hall (if you dare), the entrance has the appearance of a nightclub or disco, with dark glass, opaque stairs, and more celebratory lighting. This building is sure to draw a reaction from you.

La Collezione (Tadao Ando, 1989) Ando makes his mark on Tokyo with this building, which houses a boutique store. The building has straight and curved concrete walls that are characteristic of Ando's design style.

Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (Fumihiko Maki, 1990) Maki's Gymnasium rates very favorably with the National Yoyogi Sports Center designed by Kenzo Tange a generation earlier. The complex's low and sleek silhouette is reminiscent of a hard-shelled insect or some sort of ancient Japanese armor.

Edo-Tokyo Museum (Kiyonori Kikutake, 1992) This squat-looking museum complex looms broodingly in a northeastern section of Tokyo. The monochromatic exterior blends in with the gray and rainy November sky, but the lipstick red escalator tube welcomes visitors into the belly of the beast.

Uwa Tower (Bank) This simple tower in Tokyo has exterior zigzag bracing, giving it some stylistic and structural punch.

Notable architects like Norman Foster, Mario Botta, Aldo Rossi, and Peter Eisenman all are represented by projects in Tokyo.

San-ai Dream Center (1963) This colorful cylinder by Nikken Sekkei anchors a prominent intersection in Ginza. The building is almost like a giant billboard, with glass windows, neon, and signage.

National Yoyogi Sports Center/2-1-1 Jinnan/Shibuya-ku (1964) The great Japanese architect Kenzo Tange designed these famous sports complexes for the 1964 Summer Olympics. They are considered to be sports "temples", as the ferro-concrete structures have a modern swoop to them derived from classical temple buildings. The larger of the two gymnasia buildings can hold up to 15,000 spectators for swimming and diving events. The smaller of the two holds 4000 for basketball games.

Nakagin Capsule Tower Building (1972) This legendary "Metabolist" concrete tower designed by Kisho Kurokawa jumps out of the gray urban landscape and really emphasizes how precious the square footage is in central Tokyo. Each of the 140 apartments in this high-rise is a prefabricated rectangular unit (3.6 meters long and 2.4 meters wide) with a basic set of amenities, including one round exterior window that looks like the door of a washing machine. The modular square pods are attached to a pair of service cores. At the street level there is a prototype of an apartment, and you can peek in to see how tight a fit this must be to live in.