tl;dr Wandering around the various Tokyo districts with a train card is the best way to enjoy Tokyo. My goal in the following guide to give a couple of waypoints on each district to get your travels started. Hope you enjoy!
Akihabra, aka Akiba, aka electric town is still the destination for toys, games, and electronics. You'll be greeted by shops and flashing lights the moment you step out of the train station.
Notable stops
- Ramen: Kyushu Jangara
- Toy shop: Kotobukiya
Asakusa is the home of Sensoji, the oldest temple in Tokyo. Highly recommend visiting this area and getting your fortune from the fortune sticks Also, the entrance of Sensoji and the surrounding shopping arcades have a lot of food stalls and souvenir shops. Some things to try are senbei and dangos.
Asakusa is also a much older area and has some of the old Japan feels.
Notable stops
- Our Our Running station - cafe where you can rent a locker, go for a run along the Sumida River, and then come back and take shower all in same shop
- Sample of restaurants to visit are covered by this youtube video
- Pelican Cafe for really good bread and breakfast (it's small though so you'll have to arrive before it opens)
- Kotobukiyu - public baths that's open early at 11am; are okay with foreigners
- Hotel Mystays Asakusabashi - have rooms with 4+ beds
This is where rich people shop and also the home of all the high end brand stores. But I do recommend visiting Mitsukoshi Shopping Mall for the food and dessert stores in their basement floors. The bottom floors of nearly all shopping malls are where a variety of savory and sweet things can be found but Japan snacks are next level and Mitsukoshi has all the best foods.
Notable stops
- Stationary: Ito-ya - oldest stationery store with 8 floors of stationery goodness and an annex in the back
- Go to the basement of any of the fancy malls in Ginza for all the desserts
I usually tell people to visit B Side Label since it's a good place to find high quality stickers that are great souvenirs that aren't tacky. It's a good homing location to explore the Harajuku and Omoetesando area without hopefully getting stuck going down Takeshita street - it's where all the teens and tourist hang out. But if you do get stuck in Takeshita Street, the thing to do is to eat crepe - especially from Marion Crepe. There's also a McDonalds nearby and I only mention McDonalds since they have unique dishes that's only in Japan that rotates often.
This area is also where the Meiji Temple is located - highly recommend entering this temple area as it is an experience. Also recommend visiting Empress's Garden inside Meiji Temple.
If possible, I recommend visiting this area on Sunday - it's extra busy but you can visit Yoyogi Park which is right next to Meiji Temple. People hangout in Yoyogi Park on the weekend and you can see how Tokyo spends its one free day of the week. There's also a lot of street performances in the park and you may catch the Rockability group that hangout by the entrance of Yoyogi park
Notable stops
- The Real McCoy's - for really expensive reproduction of military jackets
- Snow Peak
- Tokyo Tarako Spaghetti - so good if you like roe
- Trattoria Niwa - highly recommend; Japan's interpretation of italian dishes using seasonal fruits and veggies from Japan
Visit Sunshine City to see the biggest Pokemon Store but warning the other side of the Ikebukuro train station is the red light district so make sure to follow the signs for Sunshine City
Notable stops
- Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo
- Pikachu Sweets Cafe
- Capcom Cafe - lots of gashapon and an arcade
Shinjuku is both a city and a ward - basically to say this area is huge.
I recommend visiting Ben Fiddich. It's an amazing cocktail bar and the staff and owner (and also the main bartender) all speak English. They're rank as one of the top 25 cocktail bar in the world but what makes Ben Fiddich unique is that the owner also owns a farm where he develops all his liquors and grows his own ingredients. I also recommend getting a shot of the 1916 Spanish Chartreuse
Notable stops
Also known as the place to go to shop. This is the home of Hachiko, the often used in movies Shibuya Scramble (it's right in front of Hachiko's statue), and the iconic 109 shopping mall. Beware, the Shibuya train station is its own city and it's very easy to get lost inside. Sometimes it's better to just exit and find what you're looking from the outside in. It's the same with the Tokyo Station.
Shibuya gets really busy but unfortunately you still have to go since there's a lot of good food places here:
Notable stops
- Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory
- Nintendo Store, Radio Eva, and other high-end brands - in Shibuya PARCO
- Meet up by Hachiko
- Shibuya Sky - observation deck that over looks the Shibuya Scramble
For music lovers and vintage, used clothing
Notable stops
- Shelter - music venue referenced in Bocchi the Rock!
Another train station that's really easy to get lost in but has a lot of restaurants and best of all dedicated snack stores - Japan cookies and candies are next level. Nearby is the Imperial Palace - there's limited tours inside but there's also a running path that goes around the palace grounds
Notable stops
- Stationary: Traveler's Company
- Tonkatsu Suzuki
- Tora-ya - traditional dessert store + tea
- Kawaii stores by the Yaesu exit - there's series of super cool shops on the Yaesu side of Tokyo Station. Good way to get the Akihabra feel without getting overwhelmed by the rated R content of Akihabra
There's a park here and a shrine in the middle of the lake. Has an Andersen bakery in the train station
Notable stops
- Ueno Zoo
- Ameyoko - bustling shopping district with lots of snacks, tiny food stalls, and cheap shopping
| What | |
|---|---|
| Stamp rally | Every train stop has its own stamp and sometimes its own mascot. You can collect all the stamps of given train line, e.g. JR Yamanote |
| Postal boxes | Most postal boxes in Japan are a standard red box but some have unique designs and you can usually find a guide of where to find them in a post office. Pro tip: there's always an ATM in a post offce |
| Manholes | Each city or area have unique manhole covers. For example, you can track down all the different pokemon manhole covers |
| Disneyland | Tokyo Disney has two parks - Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea. I recommend going to Tokyo Disney Sea and collecting all the popcorn flavors. |
| Tokyo Blackout | Using all your coins for the day (donating to temples does not count) |
| Don Quijote | It's a mega discount store chain and can be found in nearly all major cities or districts of Tokyo. Look for the penguin. It's an experience going to one of the Don Quijote store; technically you can use it to get essentials and souvenirs but it's pretty overwhelming so you probably would want to go to a convini, Uniqlo, or Daiso for actual essentials |
| Random | |
|---|---|
| Train cards | Once you arrive in Japan either get a Suica or Pasmo for faster train travels |
| Getting yen | Japan is still a cash-based society so either recommend buying yen in the US, buying yen in the airport (not the currency exchange one), or withdrawing yen from an ATM. I'd recommend going to a Japanese bank but I think they require you have an account |
| JR Rail Pass | Can only be purchased outside of Japan. May not be worth it unless you know you'll be using the shinkansen nearly everyday. JR trains aren't all shinkansen even though they travel long distance |
| Bakery chain | Lots of bakery chain but Andersen is still super good |
| Conbini | Conbini's are your best friends - you can find all snacks, meals, and travel essentials there. Must purchase are egg sandos and fried chicken. The top three are 7-11, Lawson, and Family Mart but 7-11s are more popular with natives and have the best egg pudding |
| Handkerchief | Bring or buy a handkerchief (there's a lot of options from nearly all stores) since there's not always paper towels in bathrooms and the |
| B | I | N | G | O |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Takoyaki | Crepe | Tokyo Tower | Sushi | Egg Pudding |
| Meiji Temple | Soba | Senbei | Yoyogi Park | Egg sandwich |
| Yakitori | Shabu Shabu | Free | Omurice | Gashapon |
| Crane game | Hachiko | Sensoji temple | Udon | Cake/Bakery |
| Suntory drink | Tonkatsu | Okonomiyaki | Disneyland | Sake |