Dinkwads Abroad

Few cities blend the ancient and modern world in the way Tokyo does. One minute, you’re staring up at a 3D cat on the side of a building, meowing into a microphone for all of Shinjuku to hear, the next you’ve rounded a corner and stepped through time to a centuries old shrine, tucked away from while still in the center of all the hustle and bustle. It’s a city that offers something for everyone, whether you’re a history buff, a techie, an anime fan, something else, or a mix of it all like me! If you’re planning a trip there, you won’t have any issue filling your time. But if you’re looking for my top things to do in Tokyo, read on!

And if you’d like to see a day by day recap to learn how we structured these activities in Tokyo, you can check out that blog post here!

So in no specific order (but also kind of my preferential order) here are the things we did while in Tokyo!

See Tokyo Through a Free Walking Tour

My advice anywhere you go is, on your first day, try to find a walking tour. Most major cities have a ton of “free” walking tours to choose from (I put free in quotes because you should really tip the tour guide what you feel the tour was worth at the end). At the end of the tour you’ll 1) have seen most of the major sites and gotten a good amount of history and story you wouldn’t have otherwise, and 2) will get recommendations for places to eat, drink, and things to do from the tour guide. They’ll point you to places that blogs (even ones as comprehensive as mine!) don’t mention! So you can really experience things that your typical tourist might not otherwise and have a plan for the rest of your time there!

That being said, there are a multitude of free walking tours around Tokyo! Unlike a walking tour in a typical European city, where most of the sights are centrally located and within easy walking distance, Tokyo is a massive city with vastly different districts. Want to see the Electric Town? Then you’re going to want an Akihabara tour. Is it Shibuya Scramble that’s calling your name? Then that’s going to be a separate Shibuya tour. Are the massive Godzilla head and the 3D cat sign on your bucket list? Then a Shinjuku tour is the way to go! If you have the time, maybe plan a walking tour for every location you’re interested in!

For us, we only had time for one, so we booked this Akihabara and Ueno tour from Tokyo Localized. It started from Akihabara Station (Pro Tip: There’s a Vie de France right there. Change your life forever and get their apple cheese cake. Thank me later.). We then started in the main areas of Akihabara (Electric Town), getting the history of how Aki came to be what it is today while going down some lesser visited side streets.

We also stopped at Kanda Myoujin Shrine where our guide walked us through the difference between a shrine and a temple and proper etiquette for each. He also recommended we get the butter ice cream they sold at the shop next to the shrine. So if you’re not too full from the apple cheese cake, treat yo’self to that too! The tour continued on to Ameyoko Street and into Ueno Park, where he ended teaching us about the last samurai who is immortalized in a statue in the park.

To get a history lesson and learn some cultural practices, a walking tour truly is the way to go. And if you’re looking to book one, I couldn’t recommend the one we did enough!

Time Required

2.5 – 3 hours

Visit the Temples Collecting Goshuin

When we were looking up souvenirs to get from Japan, we frequently saw people mentioning goshuin. It’s something of like a scavenger hunt and a pilgrimage and a spiritual journey through history, all in one!

If you’ve never heard of goshuin, don’t worry. Despite being there twice before, I had never come across the word. But goshuin are the hand-written calligraphy stamps that you can get from shrines and temples all around Japan. Each one has its own unique stamp, so you won’t have any that are the same! This was a perfect souvenir, because it led us around to all of the different, beautiful shrines and temples. Almost like a scavenger hunt, taking us to different parts of the city!

For a full guide on collecting goshuin, including what NOT to do when collecting them, read my post here.

Time Required

This depends. You’ll likely just see a temple or shrine while you’re out doing other activities or wandering the city. It really only takes about 5-10 minutes or so to get a goshuin. But if you seek want to spend more time on the grounds, and you should, it might take a little longer.

Eat and Drink on a Shinjuku After Dark Tour

This tour really is top notch! Yoshi, our guide, was entertaining and informative the whole way through and took us to some truly spectacular restaurants and bars! We got to see the sights in Shinjuku along the way, including the Godzilla head and Omoide Yokocho. So if you opt to do this tour, you maybe don’t need another tour of Shinjuku specifically, unless you just really want to dive deep into that part of the city! But if your interest is food and drink, this tour is the way to go!

We started the tour at my favorite spot, not just that we ate on the tour, but in Tokyo, Tacchan! This is what you picture when you picture a Japanese izakaya. Have you seen Midnight Diner (if not, go watch it on Netflix)? This is Midnight Diner. It’s small, cramped, and glorious. And the food is even more glorious. I’m halfway to booking a flight to Tokyo right now, just thinking about the fun we had in that place!

I won’t spoil the rest of the places we went on this tour. You’ll just have to book it yourself to see where all it goes! But it’s definitely worth it!

Time Required

Our tour took about 3.5 hours from start to finish.

Enjoy the View from Tokyo Tower

When you picture Paris, you picture the Eiffel Tower. And when you picture Tokyo, you picture – well, maybe after Shibuya Scramble and the 3D cat – Tokyo Tower, which was designed to look like the Eiffel Tower. And with it lit up bright red at night, it certainly stands out in the city!

You can get tickets to the tower in three different tiers. The first will get you to the main deck, the second to the top deck, and the third comes with a guided tour of the building. We went with the middle option, which also came with complementary (subpar) wine at the top deck.

While the mid-tier and top-tier tickets require a reservation for the top deck, meaning you can only go up at the time you reserved, you can enter the main floor of the tower at any time during the day. The lower-tier ticket is valid on any day within 6 months of purchase. So while the mid- and high-tier tickets will get you to the top deck while the other won’t, they also require you know exactly what time you’d like to go to the top deck and arrive on time. You can learn more about the different tiers of tickets and purchase them here!

Time Required

This is totally up to you and how much time you want to spend in Tokyo Tower. They have shops at the bottom as well as exhibitions on the different floors of the tower itself. So if you’re exploring everything, you could easily spend 2-3 hours there. However, if you’re there mostly for the views, you could easily get it done in 1 hour.

Shop All the Anime Stores

Akihabara

While you can find anime stores pretty much anywhere in Tokyo, there’s one place that’s KNOWN for it: Akihabara. Also known as Electric Town, this is also where you’d find electronics as well as things like maid cafes.

Once you’re in Aki, just take your pick of whatever anime store is calling to you. Most of them have multiple floors, with each floor themed to a specific style of anime, so it’s easy to choose where you want to focus your time.

Nakano Broadway

A little further outside of the main areas of Tokyo, but still just a quick 10 minute train ride from Shinjuku is Nakano Broadway. In this single building you’ll find dozens of anime stores altogether in one place! And the bonus? They’re usually cheaper than Akihabara since it’s a little off the beaten path. Not everything is going to be cheaper than Akihabara, but there’s a solid chance that you’ll find a great deal there!

Ikebukuro

While we didn’t shop there, we read online that it’s a good option for anime shopping. However, the reason we didn’t go is that it seems that a lot of the stores are geared more towards otome, or anime specific for a female audience.

Time Required

Again, this one depends on you and how much you want to shop. Akihabara could easily take a whole day if you want to explore it thoroughly, while Nakano Broadway could be done in 3-4 hours to explore all the shops.

Shops and Temples at Asakusa

If you’re in Tokyo for the first time, there’s a good chance Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa is on your to do list. While it’s quite an impressive temple, it can get VERY busy and packed very quickly. We had been there on previous trips to Japan and it was crowded every single time. We even got there early in the morning, before the shops lining the walk up to the temple opened, and it was still shoulder to shoulder, go with the flow foot traffic.

And I’ll be honest, this isn’t my favorite temple in Tokyo, nor are the shops lining the walk up to the temple anything I feel the need to go for. That being said, if you’re there, you should still go see Senso-ji once, at least for a little bit.

But while you’re there, step away from the main temple grounds. Go to all of the other amazing things to do in the area! There are plenty of other shrines and temples right nearby that are nearly empty while everyone else is cramming into Senso-ji, and side streets full of shops selling far better souvenirs than those along the main drag. We particularly liked Mokuhankan Woodblock Print Shop for authentic woodprints and Kumihimo Kiyudo for souvenirs. Also, treat yourself to curry pan at Tokyo Curry Pan and melon pan with ice cream at Kagetsudo Kaminarimon!

Time Required

Give yourself about two hours in Asakusa. This includes the time to walk around Senso-ji while also getting away into the quieter parts of the area to do some shopping and see the smaller templs and shrines.

Temple Hop and Enjoy the Peace of Ueno Park

Ueno Park is a great oasis from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo! Because we stayed right in Ueno, we ended up there multiple times during our stay there, sometimes to enjoy some time in nature, other times to hop from temple to shrine to collect goshuin! You could easily spend a half a day exploring the park and visiting all the different temples and shrines!

Time Required

Half a day to really do all of it! But you could hit the highlights in two hours.

Shop and Eat on Ameyoko Street

Ameyoko Street is a bustling market in the middle of Ueno where you can find everything from fresh produce to souvenirs to luggage and everything in between. Don’t let my pictures fool you (they were taken at about 6:30 AM), these streets are packed with people shopping and eating most times of the day, and for good reason!

So whether you’re looking for something to eat, local snacks to take home, a sukajan jacket, or a suitcase to take everything you bought home in, there’s a good chance you can find plenty of things to do and see at Ameyoko!

Time Required

This depends on how much eating/shopping you’d like to do. I’m not much of a shopper myself, so I mostly enjoyed just walking and looking at everything. I could easily have done it in 1 hour if I didn’t stop to eat. But if you’re a big shopper and want to grab a bite there, it could easily take 2-3 hours.

Drink and Eat at Omoide Yokocho

When you picture the tight alleyways of Japan, lined with tiny restaurants and people sitting at bars, this is exactly what you’re thinking. Omoide Yokocho, or Memory Lane, is probably the most famous yokocho in Tokyo, and for good reason! It’s got so many places to eat and drink, it’s hard to choose just one! But part of the fun for me at least was walking up and down and seeing what there was. Just strolling through the alley was a vibe!

It does get quite busy, however. So while I was lucky enough to snap a picture without anyone, it’s not often that void of people. And with that many people, some of the restaurants were pretty full as well. We walked by many that had people waiting in lines, while other restaurants were quite empty. We were lucky enough to get a spot at Tacchan, despite it only having about 10 seats total! I would highly recommend making a stop there if you do!

And a word to the wise: keep an eye on the time! It’s easy to get lost in the excitement as you’re mingling with others in close quarters, making new friends for the evening. However, trains stop running before midnight in Tokyo, and you don’t want to get stranded in Shinjuku or have to pay for a VERY expensive taxi! We got so caught up in talking to our cohort at Tacchan that we had to run to the station to catch the last train!

Time Required

It’s just one block, so if you’re just going to walk the alleyway and check it out, you could easily do that in 30 minutes. However, if you want to eat or drink anywhere, plan for 1 or 2 hours. More if, like us, you end up chatting up your neighbors at the bar and having a great time!

Other Things To Do In Tokyo

There’s no shortage of activities to do in Tokyo. While we didn’t do these this time around, here’s a list of things that come highly recommended.

TeamLab

TeamLabs has two famous immersive art museums in Tokyo, where you can walk through the different interactive light installations. One is TeamLab Planets and the other is TeamLab Borderless. From what I understand, Planets is more immersive, offering sensory, tactile experiences in a linear pattern, while TeamLab Borderless is more visual and “borderless” in the sense that it’s more free-roaming and maze-like. While we’ve never done either, people seem to love it! My nephew and brother went to Planets and seemed to really enjoy it!

Thrift Shopping at Shimokitazawa

We had planned to do this, but we ended up hitting a wall at one point and had to go back to our room to rest instead! But we had read that Shimokitazawa is a hip and trendy neighborhood, great for thrifting and grabbing an artisan coffee! So I think it would definitely be worth checking out if you have the time, and I know we can’t wait to go visit it next time!

Tokyo Skytree

If you want a different view of Tokyo aside from the one you get from Tokyo Tower, Skytree is another option! Just outside of Asakusa, it’s easy to get to! While I’ve never been up there, my nephew says he prefers it to Tokyo Tower!

Imperial Palace

I’m ashamed to admit that, despite being in Tokyo 3 times, I’ve still never been to the Imperial Palace. I know, I know, as a history fan, you’d think this would’ve been first on my list. While you can’t go inside the palace, you can explore the East Gardens around it, and at least see the palace from a distance.

Harajuku

If you want to see the famous Harajuku fashion, obviously you have to go to its namesake! Harajuku is famous for kawaii (cute) fashion, and the bustling Takeshita Street is the place to go to see shops selling all things cute! Whether you’re looking for colorful street food, themed cafes, or the frilly, bright Harajuku style dresses, you’ll find it there! And you can take a quick step over to Meiji Jingu Shrine to get a serene break from all the hustle and bustle of the busy shopping street!

There’s so much more to see and do in Tokyo than I could ever cover in a single post! Whatever you’re interested in, you’ll find plenty of options to choose from! And when you’re needing a break from the activities, check out my other blogs below to find a place to eat or drink!