It's hot and humid and you find yourself amidst hundreds of other people all on their way somewhere determinedly. They are part of a seemingly effortless choreography side-stepping and sliding into impossibly small spaces and yet never jostling. They all know the moves you do not.

You fluster your way through the crowd, tripping and when you bump shoulders they're polite enough to nod and smile, but you can tell you're spoiling a careful, seamless system. Neon lights flash, trains streak overhead, there's a 155ft 3D cat peering from a billboard and ten full lanes of traffic. There’s someone drinking a cappuccino with their own face on it. In the corner, you see a gyoza stall, the smell is incredible.

How could you ever push through the crowds? Then, your husband arrives wrestling a giant yellow suitcase, trailing behind it is your three-year-old son screaming because he has seen a McDonald's sign, ‘I want an Old McDonalds’. You're sweating, you're exhausted and every single one of your senses is vibrating like Jimi Hendrix’s guitar strings on his best days.

No, this isn't a fever dream. This is Tokyo.

The newly opened OMO5 GotandaThe newly opened OMO5 Gotanda (Image: free)

So perhaps it is no surprise that there is a new trend for peaceful havens in Japan’s ultra-busy capital. Don't misunderstand me, it is truly one of the most extraordinary cities I have ever visited. I am a city girl through and through, I enjoy the jolt of fast streets, full of stories, music and history, a new bright light around every corner. I’ll take on Buchanan Street the week before Christmas anytime.

But Tokyo is home to 37.1 million people with 21.1 million annual tourists and, sure, even I needed a break while I was there. I can only imagine what it is like going through day-to-day life there, navigating to the supermarket, your morning commute or going to buy some flu medicine.

Now some enterprising businesses have started addressing this need for tranquillity in the Manga-madness of the metropolis. The first is the Shiba Park Hotel which, during the pandemic, transformed the hotel into the perfect getaway for literary lovers.

As well as all the usual things you would expect from a Tokyo hotel including breakfast with locally-sourced speciality products (I still think Tokyo Milk should be a cop show) and beds the size of carnival trucks, they also have a carefully curated collection of 1500 books in Japanese and English from the ‘past, present and future’ spread out over the hotel’s eleven floors. The concept is simple, you find a cosy spot – I was a fan of the ‘Inglenook’, a corner with an enormous sofa and the armchairs by the fireplace in the lobby – have excellent craft beer or chilled Sake and simply read and relax. Bliss.

Another silent business is Cafe Without Words, which opened last November in Harajuku. If you're unfamiliar with Harajuku, imagine 1990s Camden on steroids with added anime.

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I defy anyone to spend 10 minutes being crushed down the 500-metre Takeshita Street without needing a sedative or a very strong drink. But in this cafe, talking is expressly forbidden after you cross the threshold. Likewise, there’s no music and you're required to order with gestures. This is not just about providing an oasis in one of Tokyo’s most exciting but frenetic districts, but a philosophy too, as the cafe’s mission statement reads, ‘If words were to disappear from the world, how would you order?

A Cafe Without Words is a mysterious cafe where you can only order by gestures…We hope you’ll enjoy the new experience of thinking of ways to communicate your thoughts, and envisioning what the other person is feeling, as you place your order.’ Meanwhile, in Osaka, two hours and thirty minutes from Japan by bullet train, Shojo Cafe opened in April, the concept is very similar but many staff are deaf or hard-of-hearing and they also offer friendly, affordable sign-language classes.

My final tip for a golden moment of peace in Tokyo would be the newly opened OMO5 Gotanda, a hotel by the Hoshino Resorts group. They have been quick to respond to the needs of tourists who’ve been busy buying up aisles of tax-free cosmetics and Pokemon merch at discount store Don Quijote or getting their 20,000 steps visiting Asakusa’s beautiful Sensō-ji Temple wired on samples of matcha green tea and mochi.

From 8.30pm each night they host an ‘OMO's Chill Night Party’ where you can relax on their terrace overlooking the city. The terrace is designed as a sort of utopian zen garden, all curves, glass and pale wood, where you hop over stepping stones to the centre of a water feature where you can sip herbal tea and listen to soothing music played on vinyl as the lights of Tokyo shine back.

Tokyo is set in a stunning locationTokyo is set in a stunning location (Image: free)

A perfect opportunity to process all you’ve seen and done – which on any day in Tokyo is an inordinate amount – and loosen your shoulders a little.

Up in your room you'll also find a soundproofed floor to ceiling window – think Lost in Translation – a pair of the softest pyjamas you could wish for and an adventurous cocktail menu. I can only describe the experience as like floating in the sky and watching a silent diorama twinkle away. Utterly fascinating but also somehow deeply, deeply soothing.

Perhaps this is one of the best things about Tokyo, a city of so many facets that the balance of energy and peace allows you to fully appreciate all it has to offer.