To kick off our trip to Japan, we spent five days and nights in Tokyo. After arriving in Tokyo on our Japan Airlines flight from Dallas and checking into our hotel, we wasted no time and headed out to explore Tokyo, the largest metropolitan area in the world!
Day 1: Our First Taste of Tokyo
Mrs. ATX and I were traveling with our Denver based travel friends, we attended their wedding in Germany a couple of years ago, and after long travel days we were in need of some food.
With the late arrival in the city and taking some time to get settled in, we decided to find somewhere close by. We took a stroll around the park near our hotel and, ultimately, the girls found a great little restaurant down an alleyway near our hotel.
The restaurant was located at the end of a side street, in a narrow alley. While not the most upscale spot, it was the perfect introduction to Tokyo and the food was great. If you’re in the area and need a quick, cheap bite, check out Tempura Shokudo Manten.
Day 2: The Imperial Palace and Shibuya
Our first full day in Tokyo was an interesting one thanks to our jet lag. I woke up around 5:30a local time and couldn’t go back to sleep. Fortunately the rest of our travel companions had the same issue so, after a trip to the gym and a quick breakfast, we headed off to see the Imperial Palace and its surrounding gardens.
It took a while to navigate the maze under our hotel to find the subway but, eventually, we made our way to the Marunouchi Line of the Tokyo Metro. 15 minutes later, we found ourselves at Kasumigaseki Station and started the 10 minute walk to the palace.
Even though it was the middle of the summer, the parklike setting made for a very nice morning walk.
Unfortunately, we didn’t check the access requirements or times before heading over to the palace and we arrived to find it closed. I’m blaming the jet lag. Tours for the palace property needed to be arranged in advance but we did managed to get into the gardens.
Since we were also too early to access the gardens, we headed over to a nearby Starbucks for some caffeine and air conditioning. Appropriately caffenated and chilled, we made our way into the gardens for a quick stroll around.
While I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, I definitely felt underwhelmed. I expected some more manicured beds and other items but it ended up feeling like a large city park. I’m still glad we did it as we needed to kill some time, but I wouldn’t seek it out.
After the gardens, we headed out to meet some of our formerly Texas, now Japan based travel buddies for lunch in Shibuya. We made the short walk over to Tokyo Station and caught the train to Shibuya Station, coming up above ground at the iconic Shibuya crossing.
We had some time to kill before lunch so the girls headed off to do some shopping while my friend and I headed off in search of a local bar. We stumbled upon a British pub in the middle of Shibuya where a group of locals was intensely watching a soccer game. It was a fun little break from the hustle and bustle outside and before long we were off to lunch.
While I didn’t take any photos, we had a great meal at Flipper’s. I hadn’t heard of the brand prior to the visit, but it is quite the big deal as the line for walk-ins stretched down the street when we arrived.
After Flippers, we split with our Japan based friends as they needed to run some errands with their son. Our group headed off towards Meiji Jingu and stumbled into a festival along the way.
As we walked through the festival, we grabbed a couple of beers, some gyoza, and an order of Japanese Long Potato as a snack, all of which was delicious.
Across the street from the festival was the entrance to Meiji Jingu, but we had a long walk to get to the shrine. I found the grounds here to be much more impressive than what we saw at the Imperial Palace earlier in the day.
After walking through the shrine grounds, we were completely exhausted. We took a train back to Shinjuku Station and made the short walk to the Hilton Tokyo where we relaxed and grabbed drinks in the Concierge Lounge. Afterward, we headed back over towards the station for dinner with our Japan based travel friends.
This was my birthday dinner and they recommended Gyukatsu Motomura ShinjukuHonten. The meal was fantastic and we had a private room in the back. The staff was phenomenal and we all had a great time.
After dinner, we split from our Japan based friends again as they needed to get their little one to bed. The non-kid group headed off to Omoide Yokocho. While the name translates to Memory Lane, everyone knows it by its nickname, Piss Alley.
Since it is located right next to Shinjuku Station, it became a popular place for businessmen to grab a beer or ten on their way home. With the lack of readily available public restrooms, one can guess how it got its name. Fortunately, they have added restrooms as the area is now a tourist attraction but you can still find dirt cheap beer and Highballs at the various shops.
For those who are worried the area may have lost its grit, I did see one of the shop owners grilling an octopus while smoking a cigarette during our visit.
We made our way through the maze of narrow alleyways before stumbling upon Bar Albatross. Like everything else in the area it was on the small side but we found seats on the roof and ordered a quick drink before turning in for the night. According to my iPhone we walked a whopping 30,000 steps on our first day, adding up to 14 miles so we decided it was time for some well deserved sleep.
Day 3: Senso-ji and Taito City
On our second full day in Japan we decided to head over to the Taito City area and explore the Senso-ji temple and surrounding area. With a leisurely morning at the hotel, we didn’t arrive in the area until 10:30a local time. Once again, we utilized the Tokyo Metro and took the Ginza Line to Tawaramachi Station. From there we made the short walk through a quiet neighborhood over to the Kaminari mon, the gate which marks the entrance to the temple grounds.
On the other side of the gate is the Nakamise Shopping Street which was crammed with people to the point of being uncomfortable. The girls tried to shop around a bit but after 20 minutes we decided to continue on to the main temple grounds.
At the end of the street you’ll find Hozomon Gate, the inner gate for the temple. The gate in its current form was constructed in 1964, replacing the gate from 1636 that was destroyed in the Tokyo air raids of 1945. A large, five-story pagoda is to the left of the gate when entering and makes for a great backdrop for photos.
Inside the temple, there was another large crowd. Senso-ji is the most visited religious site in the world with over 30 million visitors annually. While I appreciated the significance of the space, we stayed back from the shrine to not disturb those making the pilgrimage.
After leaving the temple, we took some time strolling the grounds before heading out in search of lunch. All in all, we spent roughly an hour here but, if you’re interested in all of the various cultural and religious elements, you could easily spend an afternoon here.
The girls found the Ukonya Matcha Experience Cafe nearby, along the river, so we headed over there for lunch. Unfortunately, while we found the building, we couldn’t find a way up to the restaurant via elevator and nobody in the store downstairs could help us.
While searching for a way up, we looked across the river and spotted the headquarters for the Asahi Beer Company. The building was designed to resemble a glass of beer and I think they nailed it. After seeing there was a restaurant inside, we somehow convinced the girls that this is where we should eat lunch.
Aside from a side of fries, our travel friends and I decided that a liquid lunch made the most sense. The idea being that we would use this time to relax and look for a suitable place for lunch, and relax we did.
Full on beer, but still hungry, we left Asahi and headed back across the Sumida River to TOKYO Chicken Ramen Yukikage Asakusa. The food and atmosphere were great and the staff took great care of us. If you’re in the area I highly recommend stopping by.
By the time we finished lunch it was around 2:30 in the afternoon and we needed to make a 6:00 reservation at a cocktail bar prior to dinner. We hopped on the train for the ride back to the Hilton Tokyo and managed to rest for a couple of hours before heading out again.
We met our travel companions in the lobby at 5:25p and called an Uber over to the appropriately named, Sip and Guzzle Club. After a short wait where we enjoyed a drink at the upstairs bar, we were shown to our private table down in the basement. While I don’t recall what everyone ordered, I had a whiskey forward drink with a slice of bacon on top, so I was a happy camper.
Since we are bad at logistics we took another Uber from the bar over to Teppanyaki 10 Steak & Lobster on the edge of the Ginza District near Shimbashi Station. We met up with an old classmate of our Denver based travel friends and his partner who were finishing up a month-long tour of the country before heading back to Switzerland.
The service flow here was very odd and didn’t make much sense at all, especially considering we all ordered similar meals. Once the food arrived though it was very good .
After dinner, the girls were tired and called an Uber back to the hotel, the guys decided to grab a nightcap at a cocktail bar across the street before calling it a night.
Day 4: Ginza and teamLab Planets
Our fourth day in Tokyo was the most leisurely one yet. Having recovered from our jet lag we didn’t leave the hotel until after 11:00a. From the hotel we took the metro over to Ginza, the city’s upscale shopping district, where we put a hurting on our American Express cards.
While the girls finished up their shopping, the guys headed over to the Ginza Lion Beer Hall and they joined us a short tile later. This was a true German beer hall, with a fascinating yet troubled history, and it was very popular with tourists. Since one of our Denver based travel friends is German, this made things even more entertaining as he actually knew all of the words to the songs.
The food in the beer hall was a departure from the Japanese style food that we had been enjoying over the last few days but this Texan certainly wasn’t complaining. The beer certainly helped make everything taste better.
By the time we wrapped up in Ginza, it was 2:45p and we needed to get across town to meet our Japan based travel friends for our scheduled visit to the teamLabs Planets exhibit in Toyosu.
There was a line to get in when we arrived but things moved quickly and after 20 minutes we were inside. We stashed our belongings in the provided lockers and headed through the exhibits. The setups were wild and had a variety of sensory experiences including lights, mirrors, and water.
One of the rooms was essentially a wading pool filled with milky water with fish projected onto the water. It took me a good 30-40 seconds of wading before I realized they weren’t real, that is the level of sensory overload you’re dealing with here.
After finishing the primary exhibit, there were two other areas to visit. One was an outdoor exhibit which had some large statues as well as a hanging orchid garden where the flowers moved up and down depending on where people stood.
The most fun part of the visit was the interactive playground at the rear of the space, there were quite a few different games and obstacle courses for adults and kids. It kind of made us feel like we were kids again!
When we finally left teamLab it was close to dinner time so, at the recommendation of our Japan based travel friends, we took the subway one stop to a nearby mall and grabbed sushi from a local chain. Even the chain store sushi puts our stateside offerings to shame.
Afterwards, we said farewell to our Japan friends and called an Uber back to the hotel. We dropped off our shopping bags and then went out for a quick drink in Shinjuku before calling it a night.
Day 5: Tsukiji Fish Market and Harajuku
For our final full day in Japan, Mrs. ATX was on a mission. All she wanted was to find a standing sushi bar where she could order to her heart’s content. In researching where these were, she thought there would be some at the Tsukiji Fish Market.
This was Tokyo’s primary fish market before it reverted to primarily a tourist attraction. All of the commercial buying and selling now happens at the Toyosu Market. Tourists can still visit the new market, though that is not its primary use.
Since we were all really enjoying the ability to sleep in without kids, we didn’t arrive at the market until 11:30a. We strolled through the streets but didn’t find the standing sushi bar that Mrs. ATX was after. However, we did find a great sit-down place and enjoyed some amazing fish!
While we had a great visit to the fish market, Mrs. ATX was still on the hunt for a standing sushi bar. I managed to locate one near our hotel and Shinjuku Station and we decided to take the leisurely route, walking through the Ginza neighborhood and stopping in Harajuku to check out the scene.
Harajuku is the center of Japanese youth culture and the streets were lined with brightly colored shops and filled with people dressed every way you can imagine. It felt like something from a movie and was Ironically located right across from the tranquil grounds of the Meiji Shrine that we visited earlier in the trip.
After a quick pit stop at McDonalds, I was in need of some American garbage after all of the fresh, raw, fish, we headed down the street through Harajuku and did a little bit of shopping for the kiddos back home. ATX jr. ended up with a plush Cinnamoroll caracter from this part of the trip.
After Harajuku, we finally reached the long awaited standing sushi bar, Uogashi Nihon-Ichi. This was truly a wild experience as we could just point to anything on the menu and watch it being made for us in real time.
One of the strangest sights of our trip happened here while we were eating as an elderly Japanese man, fresh out of the hospital with a neck brace and hospital band on, came walking in and proceeded to devour 20+ items. But hey, I don’t blame him, hospital food is terrible.
Full from sushi, we went back to the hotel to rest up before heading out for one last dinner in Tokyo. We strolled the streets near the station afterwards and then called it a night, heading back to pack up and get ready for our Shinkansen train to Kyoto!
Summary
We had a fantastic five day visit to Tokyo with our Denver and Japan based travel friends. While we were able to conver a lot of ground, there are still large portions of the city we didn;t have a chance to visit. We will absolutely be back for another visit, hopefully sooner rather than later.