I feel like I get asked for my Tokyo recommendations a lot, so I figured I might as well bite the bullet and just write a blog post that I can share with my friends. This is by no means comprehensive and it’s extremely reflective of things that my family and I like to eat and do, so use it as a starting point if you’d like and expand on it!
Places
Asakusa
If you want to avoid being packed like a bunch of sardines, show up before 10 am. It gets outrageously crowded afterwards and the streets are not super wide, so you will not want to be wandering through crowds and crowds of tourists under those conditions.
Senso-ji Temple is obviously one of the biggest attractions here, but there’s also a lot of little food places and shopping areas that are fun here.
It was still relatively tranquil the first time we went at around 9am
Side street near the temple
Tokyo Station
You could genuinely probably spend a whole two days here and still have things left over to eat and buy and wander through. This place is HUGE. They have a million pastry and dessert places, all sorts of sit-down restaurants, and even a Sanrio store. If you don’t know what to do, this place is good to get started with a bit of eating and shopping and also history.
There was a Rilakkuma store! So cute
Absolutely gorgeous jacket
Imperial Palace
It’s pretty close to Tokyo Station so you can bundle the two together. The palace is very pretty and it looks a little different in every season, although I’m sure it gets crowded during sakura season. I think it’s worth it to walk around because it’s so different from everything else in the city.
Nijubashi Bridge
Akihabara
This place is tech central, so if you’re looking at any Japanese tech, Bic Camera and Yodobashi both probably come to mind. They have lots of other locations, too, but you might as well hit all of the other ones while you’re here.
Akihabara at night, with a view of the ginkgo trees
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building / Tokyo Tower / Tokyo Skytree / Shibuya Sky
If you want to see Tokyo from the sky, these are listed in order of busyness and cost! Every, like, 20 years, they’ll build a new tall viewing point to fulfill some kind of purpose and then usually they open it up to tourists to go up and see the view.
No longer as popular as the other tall towers of the city, but the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is free and still offers a beautiful view of the city
If you're lucky, you can score a view of Mount Fuji
Harajuku / Shinjuku
This area is known for being a shopping district, and it definitely lives up to that. They have a big Daiso in Harajuku that’s three stories tall. There’s also a bunch of vintage shops in Harajuku, but I can’t vouch for or against them because I wasn’t really in my thrifting era yet. This place definitely is very touristy and targeted towards a younger audience.
The streets are really quite narrow
Shibuya
The Shibuya Crossing is so fun to walk across! You can also visit the statue of Hachiko, a famous dog known for being super loyal to his owner. Shibuya also has a lot of restaurants and department stores (109, Parco, etc.)!
The last time I was there, Shibuya Station had a lot of Jujutsu Kaisen stuff because a lot of the story is based there.
Shibuya is bustling and in fact the very stereotypical Tokyo aesthetic
Ueno
Ueno is split into two areas: Shitamachi, which is more historic and known for its museums, Ueno Park, and Ueno Zoo; and Okachimachi, which is more lively and home to the famous Ameyoko-cho shopping district.
The museums are super famous but obviously not everyone’s speed. I’ve heard the zoo is eh, but walking through the park was very serene and there’s a lot of history everywhere.
On the other hand, Ameyoko simultaneously feels super modern and super ancient, and it’s where you can get a lot of cheap eats and shopping done. Definitely check this out for a more street-market kind of vibe. It is also outrageously crowded, though.
There's a large collection of temples scattered throughout Ueno Park
Ameyoko is busy but it's a vibe unparalleled by any other place in the world, really
Roppongi Hills
I think someone likened this place to Beverly Hills? I think it’s a bit of that and Hollywood kind of vibe — it’s super upscale and touristy, but a lot of companies are located here too (Apple Tokyo is among them, as well as TV channels!). There’s a beautiful view of the Tokyo Tower, as well as sakura in the spring and Christmas lights in the winter.
Tokyo Tower in the distance
- Muji in Ginza can get crowded but it has so many stories, and you can get pretty much anything imaginable there. You might as well go for the experience.
- Uniqlo in Ginza is the flagship store you see on Instagram, but the Asakusa one also does all of the custom stuff (like embroidery and printing) and it’s significantly less crowded.
- Don Quixote is a good place as a one-stop-shop, but understand that they are generally not the cheapest option, which we discovered after going to Ameyoko in Ueno. That’s not to say it’s not cheap, because it still is compared to buying things in America, but just keep this in mind!
- Buy your Kit Kats in Ueno because it’s cheaper. Don Quixote has some specialty flavors, though.
Don Quioxte is a dangerous place
Food
These are all very obviously tailored to my taste and things that my family eat and are within a reasonable budget.
This place probably has the best curry I’ve ever had. You order from a vending machine — bring cash — then hand your ticket to the chefs behind the bar-style counter. The restaurant is quite small, seating a little under ten people, but people come and go quickly.
You can see them working on your food in the back, and before they serve you, they’ll ask if you want a (free!) raw egg on top (nama no tamago). It’s worth getting; just trust me on this one.
I don’t think you can go wrong with any of their proteins. We had their chicken and pork cutlets as well as their karaage and they were all good.
Only the BEST tonkatsu curry
You order on an iPad so there’s no opportunity to mess up your order because of a language barrier. Here you can order gyoza in bulk and in multiple ways, but my favorite is fried! They’re pretty fast and they’re a good place if you like gyoza. Everything is well-seasoned and juicy without being oily.
Their karaage is also very juicy and hot. They also have a bunch of other things like fried rice, I think?
Very shareable gyoza
This place got recommended a bit as a “hidden” place for udon on Instagram and it actually wasn’t completely overrun by tourists. We stopped by this place because it was close to our hotel and recommended.
They do offer an English menu. There are hot, cold, and dipping options for their udon, with small (regular), medium, and large options for noodle quantity. You can get udon sets that come with tempura or you can order noodles and tempura separately a la carte.
Their seafood tempura isn’t a standout option but my sister said the chicken tempura was absolutely amazing. The noodles are thick and chewy.
One of their udon sets
We went to one of their Shinjuku locations just because we were in the area — there are a lot of locations throughout Tokyo — and Ichiran is just good. I think this was the first place I ever had tonkotsu ramen when I was a kid. This is the antisocial ramen place where you order on a piece of paper and you sit in a standalone booth. They are very English-friendly! The broth is very rich but it is customizable (so you can make it lighter if that is what you prefer).
I am also an Ippudo stan, but my parents claim that what they have in Tokyo is not as good as what they have in Kyushu, so we didn’t end up going this time. But Ichiran hits at pretty much any location I’ve been to in Japan.
A true classic
Mochi donuts here are something like 100¥, so if you are a fan like I am, get them while you’re here. They have a lot of flavors, some of which are seasonal! They have other locations across Tokyo, but they’re not as ubiquitous as they are in Taiwan (a bit to my shock), so I had to really plan to go.
I forgot to take a photo until I took a bite
Miscellaneous Tips
- Tax-free has been an evolving situation in this economy, and some are saying that in the future it’s going to change to be more strict due to abuse. But for now, you need to buy 5000¥ or more to get the tax-free discount, show your passport, and they’ll wrap everything up so you can’t immediately use or consume it before you leave the country.
- A lot of things are closed on Monday and sometimes Tuesday. Check the opening hours before going anywhere!
- If you’ve seen it on Instagram, it’s probably outrageously crowded. Queue at your own risk.
- Don’t bother with a Suica card as a tourist, especially for short stays. For metro, just buy the day passes (they come in different durations) and use cash everywhere else. It’s probably better accepted anyway.