Tokyo Travel Guide
Tokyo was a big bucket list trip for Chris, and we loved exploring the city with the amazing restaurants, bright lights and modern vibes. We flew in and took the train into town in time to drop our bags at the hotel, change and head out for our first sushi dinner. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Ginza and I highly recommend the hotel and area of town. Our walk to dinner was down a modern street in Ginza with glass sky rise buildings and pretty white string lights everywhere. It was all high end shopping and side streets full of cute shops and small restaurants.
Our first omakase dinner was at Kyubey Sushi in Ginza and it was a wonderful introduction to Tokyo. It was a small intimate place that seated 12 and we met some other couples and fellow travelers. The sushi chef prepared all small bites for us and we were able to try so many new things. It was a semi casual setting but an amazing dinner. We would definitely go back here if we make it back to Tokyo.
Things to See
Our second morning we headed to Kyoto for three days, and you can read that blog post HERE
We moved at a slower pace once we got back to Tokyo and spent our time exploring markets, eating amazing food, and seeing some of the different neighborhoods. Here are the highlights to not miss when you plan your trip.
Shibuya Crossing & Harajuku area We escaped the rain for coffee at Starbucks so we could watch the crossing at Shibuya. We try to avoid chains restaurants when we ae traveling but this was the big spot up high with views. Harajuku is a neighborhood known for its funky youth fashion and we had fun walking down Takeshita Street to see the teenybopper fashion and shops.
Team Lab museum was absolutely amazing! We purchased tickets ahead of time since they only let in a limited number of people a day, and got there right when they opened. The location was out by the water, and we had great views from then train on the way. The museum was amazing and the whole thing was interactive. The exhibits moved around and followed you from room to room.
Akihabara was the neighborhood known for anime and video games. It was the area you picture when you think of Tokyo and all of the bright neon signs everywhere. We had fun walking around, and did some Pokémon shopping for our boys.
The old Fish Market in Tokyo was a fun morning walking around. They have moved the main fish market out of town where they are doing the tuna bidding, but the old market in town still has tons of fish for sale and food stalls to find all sorts of great food. I photographed the hubby trying everything out. His favorites were a fresh strawberry in a mochi treat, and the charcoal bun with sea urchin.
Zojoji Temple was pretty to walk around, and the hundreds of baby Buddha's with pinwheels was definitely an interesting sight to see. This is one of the largest and most important Buddhist temples in Japan, and was founded back in 1393. The baby buddha statues represent the souls of unborn children, and are suppose to ease their way into the afterlife.
Sensoji Temple in the Asakusa area of town was fun to explore, but very crowded. After wandering around outside the temple we walked down Nakamise Street which was full of little bars, and tons of murals. There was a big market there too, and Chris got to try some yummy new treats- he had melon pong, which basically reminded me of a giant cream puff. And we found the best spicy fried chicken!
Things to Eat
Sushi Tou was another great omakase experience! One of our best sushi meals and definitely a spot we would go back to. The chef spoke great English and the fish was amazing . We had so much fun trying new things!
We had seen these seriously fluffy pancakes on a YouTube channel my husband follows, and had to try them out! It made for the perfect lunch spot! Several places make them but we went to Flippers - I got sweet and Chris got savory. Light and fluffy but oh so good.
Several spots that were more of a miss than a hit…. Ginza Steak was an all you can eat Kobe beef place, and while the steak was amazing and cooked in front of you, the meal was overall a little greasy, and left us feeling less than stellar the second day.
Ichibancho Teruya could go both ways - It was our last omakase sushi dinner along with being the fanciest. The setting was gorgeous, the chef was very friendly and spoke good English, and the fish was great. The thing about omakase is that they serve you bite size courses of sushi, and you don’t choose what you get. They do ask for allergies and dislikes ahead of time. Apparently fancy means all parts of the fish, and we didn’t know that ahead of time. The tuna and regular cuts of fish were definitely the best we had in Tokyo! Several courses though were a bit too adventurous for us, and overshadowed the good for me. We were served cod intestines twice, in two different ways, and fish pate. I couldn’t get past those, but if you are more adventurous than you should definitely check out the restaurant. When we got there it was just my husband and I with the chef, so there was no being rude and turning down a dish that he worked hard to prepare and was so proud of. Oh, and he was watching us eat to see our reactions.
We found a hole in the wall ramen place to get lunch one day in Akihabara, that only fit a handful of people all along a long counter. You order at a machine and wait for a seat, and then sit down and hand your ticket to the cook. It was sooo good and I got the extra spicy ramen, not pictured.
For more good eats and ideas follow food vlogger @paolofromtokyo
Most food photos are compliments of my hubby
Things to know before you go
I’m so grateful to my husband for doing a ton of research and planning for this trip. Below is some of the most helpful things we learned.
*You can buy a train pass online before you go if you plan on traveling around Japan. We purchased a 7 day pass and used it for the trains going to and from the airport as well as out to Kyoto. In the airport you turn your papers in from buying it online to get the actual travel pass. When you want to book a reservation on a train you just hand them your pass and they will print tickets for you. It does save money if you travel outside Tokyo.
*Get an I-C card (Suica) - you can buy them in a train station and load money on them at the kiosks. You do need cash to load on though, and can’t use your card. You can use this card for the metro, vending machines, and some vendors. It really comes in handy for more than just the metro.
*Buy a sim card for your phone before you go, so you can switch it out on your flight before you land. It was $30 a person to get the unlimited data sim card for the week, and was sooo worth it. With the language being so foreign for us, we had data on our photos to use google maps, look up restaurants, and use google translate.
*For the ladies, your hair dryer and curling iron will work fine in the outlets there (coming from the US) as log as they are two prong not three. We also had no issues with our phone chargers, and did not purchase any convertors.
*The country is insanely clean and safe.
I’d love to hear you thoughts, and what your favorite places were if you’ve been to Japan before!