First time traveling to Tokyo – November 17-27

6 comments

1. Just an FYI you won’t be able to get a suica card, you can get a tourist suica. Best bet is to see if someone you know still has a standard Suica from their last trip.

2. The Suica card situation may be a bummer. There are a few locations/tourist centers that have special tourist-priced passes for the subway which I highly recommend. They have 24-hour (one day), 48-hour (two day), and 72-hour (three day) passes. The 72-hour pass is about ¥1,500 and has been quite useful for my needs when I travel to Tokyo, and with the yen being so weak right now, it’s hard to beat the price. Be sure to keep your passport with you, as you will need to show it as proof that you’re a tourist.

   For Nikko: you will get around the area by bus for the most part. They have designated buses for certain sightseeing locations if I recall. I would highly recommend leaving earlier in the morning from Tokyo. They have special tourist pricing for the train to get up to Nikko too.

   Museums: I highly recommend the National Museum out in Ueno (adjacent to Ueno Park, which I also recommend if you like gardens and curated greenery). You can spend many hours there (I spent my time at the Japanese History section).

3. Kudos for going to Japan on your first travel abroad. You’re going to have a great time. I was going to comment about the tourist suica card—someone beat me to it. I believe you can get one at Haneda—my friend just came back and said that’s where he got his.

4. > Thursday Nov 23
   All I have planned is Yakatabune Amidatsu Boat Tour (leaving from Sumida City at 5:45pm), not sure what else to do this day

   Nov 23 is the day of [the Tori no ich](https://livejapan.com/en/in-tokyo/in-pref-tokyo/in-asakusa/article-a0000687/). It is held at several shrines in Tokyo, and the biggest is the one at the Ohtori Shrine in Asakusa or the Hanazono Shrine in Shinjuku, If you can make time, it might be nice to go see it at night.
   http://otorisama.or.jp/english.html
   https://tokyocheapo.com/events/shinjuku-tori-no-ichi-fair/
   The Ootori Shrine is located in Asakusa, so it should be near the yakatabune boat docking area, while the Hanazono Shrine is in Shinjuku, so it should be close to your hotel.

5. I recommend this [short tour-guided service](https://www.tokyolocalized.com/) to squeeze in-between your trip. The free/tip-based ones only took 1.5-2 hours for places like Shinjuku, Asakusa, Shibuya, etc., and they’re very easy to book online. I’ve joined the Shinjuku and Asakusa ones, and the local guides were awesome; very fluent in English and gave you lots of cool stories about their respective cities. You can also ask them about lesser-known food recomendation in the area, good shopping place, etc.

   Seconded the rec for Ueno, the Ueno Park area near the station is pretty much a combination of park, museums, temple, and zoo. You pay 1k entrance fee to access the main museum area, which is very much worth it imo. There’s also a very cozy traditional eatery where you can enjoy Japanese desserts and tea while enjoying the garden view, unfortunately the name escaped me atm. English text are available at most areas in the museum, most places of interest here close around 5 PM though, so it’s better to start early morning here and go somewhere else in the evening (def prioritize the National Museum if you have limited time).

   Other random recommendations: Asakusa (great place to shop, eat, sightsee, and have a rickshaw tour if you feel like it); Shimokitazawa (close to Shibuya but much less crowded, full of thrift stores and itneresting cafes); Ginza (an interesting combination of branded stores and traditional entertainment; you can watch a Kabuki performance here with the aid of translation device!); Ikebukuro (Sunshine City was the best mall/megastore I went to in Tokyo, and there were int’l cultural venues at the other part of the city); Yokohama (a harbor urban city that provides different vibe to the rest of Tokyo, full of interesting architectures and museums like the Cup Noodle Museum and Anpanman Museum); Odaiba (also a harbor city like Yokohama, but with more modern/futuristic theme).

   (a tip: take advantage of the luggage lockers available in many stations, you can rent a locker to temporarily store your stuff. Handy when waiting for check-in time or when you just don’t want to lug your stuff around during a full-day sightseeing [no matter where you go, there will be a lot of walking]).

6. Hey fellow burando appreciator! If you’re a big EGL/jfashion shopper budgeting a whole day in Harajuku is a good move (LaForet alone takes like half a day for me). Don’t bother with the food court at LaForet though, it’s all pretty bad, so be sure to eat somewhere outside so you don’t end up hangry half way through the mall. Don’t forget to check out Kiddyland while in Harajuku as well!

   Maybe also fit in a trip to a cute, nicer sit-down cafe like the q-pot cafe? How about a half day excursion to Sanrio Puroland? Ikebukuro Sunshine Mall and the Tokyo Station shops are also great for mascot/character shopping.

   Feel free to message me if you want to chat more about kawaii tourism, it’s my favorite!