Story by Dan Ciufo, photos by Daphne Ciufo (unless otherwise noted)
Tokyo – you can’t miss it. Literally, you can’t miss it for a couple reasons, first of which is its mind-bending, awe inspiring Megatron size! Once you get past the idea of a city of 37 million people and your curiosity about “how do people live here?”, you also can’t miss the fact that there are SO many interesting things to see in this city! Much more than can be captured in a single one-week stay.
With over 60,000 restaurants and nearly 90,000 hotels and inns, any article that narrows down the top places to PLAY, STAY, and EAT to just a few is going to leave a lot of room for guessing. What will help narrow down choices to a more manageable prospect is figuring out which flavor of the city you want to experience. For us, it involved locating out of two hubs, Shinjuku City and Edogawa, both closer to what we wanted to see — the first was a hit, and the other more practical.
First, you should understand that flying in to Tokyo and getting to your lodging can be tricky with two main airports, Haneda – closer to the center part of the city, and Narita – about an hour and a half by train to the east. Public transportation is abundant, but the first time we flew in to Narita, it took us over three hours by bus to get to our lodging, and it was solid city nearly the entire way. It’s just hard to grasp the enormity of this city! Tokyo is also one of those places you don’t want to rent a car unless you’re planning to get out of Tokyo!
Where is Tokyo, Japan?
Edogawa, Anyone?
One of the enormous attractions in Tokyo is Tokyo Disney, and its nearby companion, DisneySea. In fact, it was so popular we were not able to get tickets for weeks before arrival, probably because we were there during Christmas time. If your plans include Disney, a stay either on one of the properties or in Edogawa City is recommended. As with anything, there are pros and cons – the pros of staying on a Disney property are that you have closer access and sometimes that also guarantees tickets. The cons are that you’re going to pay like an aristocrat for your rooms. Edogawa is a nice, if fairly pedestrian, budget option with relatively easy to navigate bus options that get you to Mickey in less than 30 minutes.
Another interesting side jaunt from Edogawa is called Teamlab Borderless. It’s challenging to explain, but imagine a menagerie of differently lighted rooms, maze-like, with a nearly psychedelic ambiance. It is a 10,000 square foot, borderless, three-dimensional art installation. It’s a hoot and is great for kids, utilizing different interactive rooming concepts. It is a sensory saturator!
Unicorn Gundam
It’s worth the short walk to go on to the Unicorn Gundam statue. No kidding. This guy is a nearly 7-story “life size” Gundam, an Anime/Transformer character from an Anime series, who, duh…holds secrets that could shake humanity. And he lights up and transforms at night. It’s campy but fun. For another fun couple of hours, try the Tokyo Metro Museum, which is located at Shinjuku Station.
A well-preserved set of historic subway cars in period setting, along with some hands-on activities make it an ideal place to take the children. There are other attractions in the vicinity, like the Sumo training stables, and some nice parks, but truly, if you’re not doing Disney, Edogawa is probably not going to top your list of locations to visit.
Jukin’ in Shinjuku
What you should highly consider is a stay in Shinjuku City, west and a little north of central Tokyo. This has all the buzz of the Tokyo you’ve imagined and it is positioned central to many of the tourist high spots. Short bus, train or subway rides from Shinjuku Station get you to nearly any of the highlights you wish to see in Tokyo proper.
Must-see highlights include the Yasakuni Shrine in the Imperial Palace area, and for that matter, the Imperial Palace itself. Unfortunately, opening hours for the palace are rather restricted so you might have to satisfy yourself with merely external gazing which amounts mostly to wall viewing. One interesting cultural foray is to Harajuku area, and Takeshita Dori (street) in particular. This densely packed haven of weird teen fashion and trinketry is worth exploring, if only for the absolutely killer creperies. Several creperies inhabit the area with every delicious variety festooned with fruits and whipped cream — these things are no joke!
Another “stumble-on” fascination is “Memory Lane”, or Omoide Yokochō. This is a two-person wide several block-long alleyway just on the west side of Shinjuku Station which is filled with Yakitori sellers (chicken kabobs), some street-side and some actual restaurants. It has the feel of a covered market, but it’s absolutely packed at night with locals. Many of the miniscule cookeries seem impermeable to foreigners and by reputation, don’t welcome them. It’s a highly photographed and photogenic area, especially in the evening, all narrow streets and warm lighting.
Of course, for shoppers, Shinjuku offers a plethora of high-end name brand retailers all located near the station. But if that’s not your scene, head northwest about seven minutes to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. It’s an unfortunately inauspicious name, but has a view that is unforgettable, especially at night! The observation deck offers a 360-degree panoramic view of all of Tokyo for a nominal ticket price and it’s well worth the small investment of time it takes to get there. Many also swear by the Tokyo Tower views as well.
Shibuya Crossing – People ….. Lots of People
If views are your thing, you can’t pass up a trek to Shibuya Crossing, reputedly the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. The “Shibuya Crossing” is a crazy mix of five intersecting crosswalks coming out of Shibuya Station, a rail station that disgorges nearly 2.5 million passengers in a normal week.
To stand at a couple different intersections and just stare at the giant LED billboards and press of people is to be mesmerized. There’s a Starbucks with a convenient third floor overlooking the crossing that is a perfect platform for people watching and taking a break — if you can elbow your way to a window seat! The movement of humanity becomes almost like artwork.
Yasakuni Shrine
Artwork also abounds in the form of sculptures, monuments and small gardens at the controversial Yasakuni Shrine, home to nearly 2.5 million “Kami” or Shinto dieties. The entryways are adorned with gigantic pipe Torii Gates framed on one side with the city and the other with the shrine grounds.
The beautiful Shrine and monument gardens are dedicated to those who gave their lives in defense of Japan throughout its history, which includes some who are known to be war criminals. Additionally, the associated museum maintains what some consider to be a questionable stance on the nature of the Second World war, thus the controversial aspects of the shrine. The location is just a short walk over to the Imperial Palace.
Checking open times is important as we missed the opportunity to see what is considered the premier shrine in Tokyo, the 170-acre Meiji Shrine, dedicated to the spirits of the Meiji Emperor and his wife. It’s open on most days but definitely check the spottier schedule of the nearby Imperial Palace and grounds which has more robust closures. This only scratches the surface of places to play — we didn’t talk about go-carting in costume, museums, parks, Sumo stables, Tsukiji Fish Market, Bonsai Museum, and more.
Places to Stay in Tokyo
Staying is wide open for options as well. Hotels range from reasonable to unreachable for most, and tend to be fairly small. We opted for Air BnB residences, an apartment in both Edogawa and in Shinjuku. Both were reasonable values at around a hundred dollars or less a night, a bargain in downtown Tokyo. The options weren’t four-star, but comfortable and the locations were good.
The adventure of finding places in downtown Tokyo can be “exhilarating”, especially at sub-freezing temps with accompanying winds. It’s probably worth trying to get pictures of the exact lodging location or significant landmarks. Thankfully the owner of ours had posted pictures with arrows and a local landmark (the Don Quixote retail store!) and we vectored in. But it was embarrassing knocking on an apartment door in a third-floor walkup above a seedy bar several blocks away from our actual rental! Going with a hotel that provides breakfast and even possibly an Onsen (Japanese Hot Bath) may be appealing and take a little of the guesswork out of lodging.
Shall We Dine? Eating in Tokyo
Eating on this trip was not a premium affair for us, but rather more pedestrian. Tokyo has no shortage of fine eateries, none of which we can recommend directly. Kyoto is probably head-to-head higher rated, but we really enjoyed the everyday fare which is obtainable literally everywhere. That fare consists of lots of noodleries, either Udon, Soba or Ramen. Udon are the thickest flour noodles and come in a soup, while Soba are medium thick noodles, made from Buckwheat flour and come, well, in a soup. Ramen are thinner yellowy wheat noodles that, surprisingly, come in a soup.
All can be had in spicy varieties, and especially the Udon and Soba will usually feature some type of meat. Pork is a favorite. These are all supremely satisfying when the weather turns chilly, though Soba has cold serving options. Beef seems to be a case of getting what you pay for. Higher end beef comes at a price, but is excellent, especially the Wagyu servings. The lower end (read – cheap) meats which are often found in Japanese Curry dishes (which are plentiful), and at least in my buying experience come in thin, chewy, fat-laden bits — definitely not a Texas serving.
We have found a budget option for nearly every breakfast, which consists of yogurt and “Calbee”, a flakey, oaty Japanese cereal. Any grocery or “Konbini” like Lawson or Family Mart will satisfy for about three dollars a person for a meal. For that matter, rice balls and healthy snacks from the same places can fill two travelers for lunch for about seven bucks, which allows you to splurge for dinner!
And Tokyo in Conclusion
There is SO MUCH more to Japan than Tokyo, but it’s the city you have to see on your way anywhere else. Southern, central and northern Honshu, the main island of Japan, all offer so many diverse experiences. If you have more than just a week, you’ll want to explore what there is to offer outside of the city. We spent the first part of our trip at a stunning (and freezing) UNESCO World Heritage Site called Shirikawa-go, but that’s a story for another time. Meanwhile, you might want to just google pictures to whet your appetite.
A single one-week visit will merely scratch the surface of the Tokyo experience. But in that time, you can take in a theme park, a TeamLab Borderless visit, a couple major shrines and Imperial Palace, and have time to wander the streets of Shinjuku and Shibuya, experiment with the public transportation, and get a good taste of the culture that is this crazy-big and interesting city.
