In the winter of 2009-2010, we traveled to three of Asia’s largest cities. Tokyo, Japan was by far the most impressive when it came to flashy signs of modernity. Lightning fast bullet trains, expansive shrine complexes in the middle of a bustling city, and avenue upon avenue of clean, well-lighted streets give Tokyo an irresistible electric charm. Here we showcase some of our favorite pictures from Japan’s capital city.

VILNIUS—It’s 6:20 a.m. and you haven’t slept yet. Your “luxury” bus, carrying with it 15 drunk Spanish dude-bro-equivalents, has spent the past 10 hours careening through the rain-soaked Polish countryside with the primary objective of passing every car in sight (and a secondary objective, presumably, of arriving safely in Vilnius). Hand over your baggage-claim ticket and kiss the soggy ground, you’re in Lithuania.

By the time our fourth night in Shanghai rolled around, we figured we had earned the right to do something at least a little touristy, so we hopped on the No. 2 Metro line and six stops later we had crossed over (or under, as it were) the Huangpu River to arrive in Pudong, Shanghai’s financial district and home to such recognizable buildings as the Oriental Pearl Television Tower.