Solo traveling to Japan for my first time in late December. Trip is super short as I’m traveling to the Philippines to visit family right after. Arriving 12/26 at 2:45p and leaving on 12/30 at 2p both at NRT. I only have 3 full days so I’m trying to fill it as efficiently as possible with a bit of room for wandering. Hoping to tick as many of the basic “First time in Japan” tourist shit boxes off the list. I’ll be staying near Shibuya Crossing
I made the mistake of not researching that I would be there so close to Shogatsu, so I know certain things will be closed into the lead up. I know the Yayoi Kusama and Ghibli museums (to name a few) will be closed during my stay, so those will have to wait for another trip (which will for sure happen).
Here are some of the things I wanna hit. There’s a lot of basic stuff on here so please don’t judge me 😅
-Explore Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku and Akihabra. Akiba is high on my list (typical anime nerd). Looking for suggestions of what to check out in those areas or other neighborhoods to explore. Things already on the list- Nintendo Store, Square Enix store, Pokémon Cafe, Gundam Statue
-I’d love to see Mt Fuji. Looking for a good spot near Tokyo with a good view and ideally stuff to explore around it
-I wanna visit a Shrine or two. I know there’s a few in Tokyo but this could be part of a day trip
-EAT. Looking for good sushi, ramen, curry, grilled(?) eel, soufflé pancakes, and anything else y’all think is a must try for my first trip. Ramen street and Tsukiji Market are on my radar. Also, konbini food
-Onsen. Not really sure what to expect from this outside of what I’ve seen in anime
-Bullet train day trip/half day trip. I was thinking Yokohama since it’s close and the Cup of Noodles museum is there and open during my stay. Open to cooler suggestions or what else to see in Yokohama. Osaka or Kyoto seem like too much of hassle to cram into one day, but i could be convinced
-open to a short hike or some nature. I know Yoyogi Park is near where I’m staying but if there’s something short and sweet with a good view, I’ll take recs on that too
-Tokyo DisneySea is on the table if i can’t fill out 3 days with stuff but i really don’t wanna burn a whole day at a theme park
Also wondering if a guided tour is a good move. I’m meeting a friend’s boyfriend out there for a quick bit to get the lay of the land but maybe a structured tour might get me some extra info/enjoyment.
Anyways, looking for any and all suggestions. Thanks!
TLDR; looking for recommendations to fill 3 days in Tokyo
EDIT: y’all are killing it with the recommendations. While we’re at it, anywhere to see cool street art or things of that nature?
11 comments
Tokyo tower is something to do as well
Day trip to Hakone: mountain town with onsen and hikes, travel by bullet train (Shinkansen), and it may get you a view of Mt. Fuji.
https://www.hakonenavi.jp/international/en/article/2514
Food:
Eel (unagi) is a summer specialty so will be rare if you find a place selling it in winter.
Soufflé pancakes: Flippers or A Happy Pancake are great. There’s a Flippers very near Shibuya Crossing.
Curry: it’s a chain restaurant but Coco Curry Ichibanya is delicious and cheap.
Others:
Melon bread (melon pan) is delicious and you can find fresh ones with ice cream inside around Senso-ji.
Tempura and ten-don are my absolute fave.
I recommend a day trip to Hankoe because (1) it’s really close from Tokyo, (2) there are good onsens for visiters (you need not to stay the ryokan to use the onsen facility), (3) you can see Mt.Fuji, (4) (If you have time, have proper gears and don’t mind cold weather) you can hike Mt.Kintoki in Hakone. It’s only a three hour hike but you can see really close view of Mt. Fuji from the top. However, there are also other tourist sites in Hakone such as Oowakudani valley. I believe most toursits go to these spots instead of the hike.
>Things already on the list- Nintendo Store, Square Enix store, Pokémon Cafe, Gundam Statue
You might enjoy [Sunshine City](https://sunshinecity.jp/en/) in Ikebukuro. It probably fulfills a lot of your wants/needs in that anime/manga category. It has the Pokemon Mega Center Tokyo, Pokemon Cafe, a Disney Store, Sanrio Cafe, etc.
Also [Tokyo Character Street](http://tokyostory.net/spot/tokyo-character-street/) at Tokyo Station. It’s right in the same place as your visit to Ramen Street so convenient for you
Speaking from experience, it’s almost impossible to do Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku and Akiba in one day, unless you know exactly where you want to go. At most you can probably fit Shibuya and Harajuku in one day due to their relative close proximity but even then you will definitely be pressed for time. Akiba is great on its own and if you’re more focused on anime, I would recommend dedicating morning to afternoon for Akiba, and do Shibuya or Shinjuku at night.
When in Akiba, I enjoyed going to the shiny new anime merch stores like Animate, AmiAmi, but I definitely enjoyed going bargain bin hunting more and finding pre-owned merch of older anime properties at places like Lashinbang and Surugaya.
As for food, unless you’ve already narrowed down a particular shop or food you absolutely have to try, I would suggest not being too worried about finding yummy places to eat at because good food is everywhere! If you’d like a bit of structure you can plan out a rough itinerary of which areas you’d like to go and when and scope out nearby restaurants in that area with high enough Google reviews. Also most famous places will usually come with a long queue which could take up precious time in your itinerary.
Yokohama is great and definitely deserves a day trip! It has a different vibe to Tokyo. If you’re going to Yokohama I would recommend trying Iekei style ramen at Yoshimuraya, which is where it originates from I believe.
I’m not sure if this applies to winter as well, but if you’re looking for a view of Mt Fuji, from my experience maybe the Fuji Lakes area especially Lake Kawaguchi could be a place to consider? Especially since it’s relatively easy to travel to from Tokyo (iirc you can depart from Shinjuku station but I could be mistaken here since I made the trip during the Shibazakura festival).
Mt Takao would be great for a half day hike!
Just bookmarking this for ideas for my 22 hours in Tokyo in January.
If you’re going to Yokohama, there’s a great view of Mount Fuji from the 46th floor observation deck of the Oakwood Suites (near Bashamichi), free to enter. Lots of stuff to do nearby as well as it’s close to Chinatown and Minatomirai.
Nakano Broadway has all the good vintage toy shops. Aki has the new stuff, Nakano has older stuff. It’s a big mall complex right outside the train station. Yellow line Nakano station
Day 1 – Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, Akihabara
AM – Meiji Jingu Temple, Yoyogi Park, Harajuku, Takeshita Street etc,
PM – Akihabara since you said you’re a big anime fan. You can easily stay here the whole afternoon just checking different establishment.
At night you can explore more of Shibuya especially the crossing since this is where you will stay.
Day 2 –
AM – Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, Tokyo Skytree
PM – Disney Sea
Explore more of Shibuya for different hole in the wall food. If you are big in souvenir shopping for your family you can do that at night.
Day 3 –
Mt Fuji and Hakone – just look for a tour group to join maybe on Klook or in other FB pages. Since this is winter though, I am not sure if Mt. Fuji would be visible – its something you shoul probably search. It would be a waste to go there and just see the fog/clouds covering Mt. Fuji.
If Mt. Fuji will not work out, you can check Teamlab, then explore more of Tokyo sites like the Imperial Palace, Tokyo Metropolitan Building etc.
Don’t rush your visit since you said you’l be coming back anyway.