2 week Tokyo area Trip Report; tips from my third trip to Japan

Hello everyone!

I went back to Japan for the third time in January and spent about 2 weeks in the Tokyo area. Here’s a quick summary of my itinerary:

* Day 0 – Landed in Narita at 5:30 pm on a Sunday. Took me about 35 mins from landing to getting on the train to Tokyo. I had screenshots of my QR codes from Visit Japan Web which sped up the process. Picked up my Suica and was on the train to Tokyo at about 6:10 pm.
* Day 1 – Asakusa & Akihabara. Visited Sensoji & shopped for figures/games in Akiba.
* Day 2 – Harajuku & Shibuya. Visited Meiji Shrine, Takeashita Dori, & Walked to Shibuya Parco.
* Day 3 – Kichijoji & Nakano Broadway. Explored Kichijoji in the morning then went to Nakano for more figure shopping. Unfortunately Nakano was pretty disappointing compared to Akihabara.
* Day 4 – Day trip to Yokohama. Visited Gundam Factory, Redbrick Warehouse, & Yokohama Chinatown.
* Day 5 – Asakusa & Akihabra round 2. Visited Kappabashi and picked up a Japanese knife & engraved chopsticks. More figure/game shopping in Akiba.
* Day 6 – Kawagoe day trip. Commuted to Ikebukuro station & Picked up the Kawagoe discount pass.
* Day 7 – Tokyo Station Area & Shinjuku. Spent the morning exploring and shopping at Tokyo Station. Shinjuku in the afternoon.
* Day 8 – Rest day. Visited Starbucks Reserve Roastery in the morning then spent the rest of the day at an Onsen.
* Day 9 – Odaiba. Visited TeamLab Planets & Unko Musuem.
* Day 10 – Hakone Day Trip through Klook: [https://www.klook.com/activity/20537-fuji-owakudani-ropeway-hakone-ship-gotemba-outlet-trip-tokyo/?spm=SearchResult.SearchResult\_LIST&clickId=e659aa5a47](https://www.klook.com/activity/20537-fuji-owakudani-ropeway-hakone-ship-gotemba-outlet-trip-tokyo/?spm=SearchResult.SearchResult_LIST&clickId=e659aa5a47)
* Day 11 – Shibuya. Miyashita Park, Shibuya Sky.
* Day 12 – Ueno & Tokyo Tower
* Day 13 – Victory Lap Day, went back to my favourite places to eat & shop!
* Day 14 – Flew back home.

I’d like to share some general tips and insight:

**Arriving at Narita**

* Use Visit Japan Web & take screenshots of the QR codes it populates. You should have 3 in total.
* Have your first QR Code ready on your phone as soon as you get off the plane. While walking towards customs, you will see some employees with slips of paper/pictures of visit japan web. Show them your QR code and they will hand you a piece of paper and direct you towards a specific line.

**Shopping/Money**

* As everyone says, coin purses are a must given the amount of change you will be carrying.
* 7/11 has automated machines when cashing out, these machines will take your 1 yen & 5 yen coins.
* For your 10 yen coins, I recommend using those at vending machines.
* You can get rid of some change at most shops/restaurants by paying extra. For example, if your bill came to 935 yen, you can place 1035 yen on the cash tray and the employee will hand you back a 100 yen coin.
* Book offs/hard offs are amazing for finding good deals on used video games and figures.
* Tokyu Hands is a great place to shop for quality kitchen supplies, housewares, etc. I picked up some nice nail clippers from here.
* If you’re buying figures, do not buy the first one you like, especially in Akihabara. I’ve seen the same figure go from 4000-9000 yen depending on the store. If you see one you like, take note of the price and location, and return once you’ve scoped out the neighbourhood.
* If you like the drinks from vending machines, I recommend buying 6-12 packs from your local Don Quijote and saving those in your hotel/airbnb. For me, I stocked up on Oronamin C (\~890 yen for a ten pack) & Boss Coffees (\~350 yen for a six pack) vs buying them for 100-130 yen each from a vending machine.
* Daiso is a really good place to get cheap souvenirs like key chains, fans, magnets, etc.

**Commuting**

* If you’re taking the Narita Express, do note that you need to buy a reserved seat from the ticketing machines; there was a kind gentleman who helped me buy mine. When exiting the platform, you need to scan your IC card & slot in your ticket at the gate to exit.
* Get on the first/last car of a train when commuting, they’re generally the least populated cars.

**General**

* Do take note of when things open, especially if you’re an early riser. I’ve noticed that a lot of places don’t open until 10-11 am on a week day, including some breakfast spots.
* Wear comfy shoes! I’ve averaged 14 km of walking each day I was there.
* Pocket wifi’s are a must, I used [https://www.econnectjapan.com/](https://www.econnectjapan.com/) on all my 3 trips with no issues.
* Masks are worn by the general population both indoors & outdoors. I recommend buying comfortable masks that you can wear all day (I like the ones by Uniqlo).

**Recommendations**

* I highly recommend staying in Asakusa. I stayed at Hotel Gracery Asakusa and have 0 complaints. Despite it being a tourist area, the side streets off Kaminarimon are very quiet. There’s a plethora of restaurants and coffee shops, a big Don Quijote, and even a really good foreigner friendly barbershop (Barber Sugatami). The subway station has 2 lines (Ginza & Asakusa) which can get you to most places.
* For restaurants/coffee shops, these were my favourites
* T’s Tantan Vegan Ramen in Tokyo Station
* Cowcow Kitchen
* Gyukatsu Motomura Harajuku
* Reissue Cafe
* Shogun Burger
* Coffee Kan
* For figure/character goods, Ami Ami in Akihabra (not to be confused with Ami Ami 2nd, also in Akihabara). They had a lot of stock, and a lot of the character goods were cheaper than MSRP. I recall Dragon Quest items being 10-30% off, when compared to the Square Enix store.

I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have, particularly if you’re interested in any of the places/activities I’ve done above.