CHRISTY: Vancouver & Seattle Lifestyle, Travel, Fashion, Beauty, Business, & Food Blogger ❀

Just in May right after my wedding celebration, I decided to pack my bags and finally visit Tokyo for the first time! From all the yummy food I see to the iconic anime spots, Tokyo has always been on the top of my list. I have been to Fukuoka (Hiroshima, Kudamatsu, Miyajima) and Osaka (Nara, Kyoto, Kobe), but I still haven’t gone to Tokyo yet until now!

It was a short trip to go after 2 days in Hong Kong but I was able to squeeze in a lot of places and food I had wanted to try! Not to mention I had studied Japanese for 5 years or so and wanted to practice it again there.

Area Stayed: Akihabara – There are a few decent hotels in the area that are super close to the station. If you love anything cute or plan to buy a lot of Anime goods or even just skincare and what not, a hotel in Akihabara allows you to shop freely without worrying about having to carry too much a long way!

We were able to just drop off things as we shopped since there were so many Anime stores, gachapon places, and department stores.

Some things to bring: Sunscreen, cash (for some of the food stalls), most places did take card and transit pass if you have Apple Wallet you can pick Suica or Pasmo and refill on your phone!, wifi – I used eSim Airalo which was very simple, umbrella (in case it rains), extra jacket (it got a bit cold and rainy in May), comfortable shoes – lots of walking! Use the tablelog restaurant app to book places such as omakase spots! Highly recommend booking any activities early on such as kimono rentals (I used Yae in Asakusa).

Some food to try:

• Sushi, ramen, Cremia ice cream, yakitori (grilled chicken skewers), okonomiyaki (savory pancakes with toppings), oden (fish cake stew), sukiyaki (hot pot), monjayaki (unique to Tokyo – savory pancake batter dish), shabu shabu (meat and vegetables in simmering broth), matcha, daifuku (mochi with red bean paste and strawberry inside), warabi mochi (soft mochi), curry, izakaya (small dishes and drinks), tonkatsu (pork cutlets) they also have gyukatsu, chirashi bowl (sashimi on top of sushi rice), beef bowls, melonpan (bread), sweet potato, Hokkaido milk, melon, soba, udon, unagi, taiyaki, wagyu, onigiri

Quick tips: Some Japanese cashiers and servers know a bit of English and there are usually English menus as well.

🗓 DAY 1 – Akihabara

As I knew my husband and I would be spending the most time shopping for gifts and cute Anime goods, we decided to stay in Akihabara. It was also a convenient spot to take the subway to multiple places such as Ueno (one stop away), Asakusa, Ginza, Tokyo, Shibuya, and more. Most of the places were around 30-40 minutes away!

🗓 DAY 2 – Ueno, Ginza, Tokyo

We wanted to check out the famous Ameyokocho in Ueno so we grabbed breakfast at a bakery in the station then took the subway to Ueno. Ueno is known for the night life and izakaya restaurants, so we came at the wrong time. The shopping streets were so colourful and you can buy so many snacks and cute souvenirs.

• Morning
  • Ameyokocho in Ueno
    • My husband wanted to look at watches and there are a lot of watch stores here!
  • Lunch: Found a soba place nearby. You order at the front then wait for your number and grab your own water and utensils. It wasn’t the best soba place but we randomly walked into a place that looked good!

• Afternoon (Ginza)
  • Onwards to Ginza! It’s the high end shopping district in Tokyo.
    • Lunch: Omakase. I thought I booked a restaurant on Tablelog but turns out I didn’t so I checked the app and found another one.
    • Nissan Crossing: My husband loves cars so we stopped by this store that also has a cute cafe where you can get a latte art of a car!
    • Watches: There are a lot of watch stores here, mainly the Seiko flagship stores. You can see some of the history of the brand.
    • Excelsior Cafe: I was on the hunt for my favourite Cremia ice cream (it’s super milky and rich) and I found it here. They also have yummy drinks and food and comfortable seating to just relax a bit.
    • UNIQLO: The flagship UNIQLO store is here and I already spent some time at GU (sister brand) so I didn’t have much to buy. I took a clip of the store front with the swinging clothes!
    • Onitsuka Tiger: The famous store is here as well – one of the bigger stores.
    • Calbee+: Calbee is one of our favourite chip brands so we visited the Calbee+ store at Tokyo Station. The station is huge! There’s also the Pokemon store there too. We ordered some fresh chip snacks from the store. It’s also a great place to get souvenirs.

• Evening (Shibuya)
  • For our last stop of the day, we decided to go Shibuya!
  • Shibuya Crossing: This was so amazing. I didn’t think it would be so special but just crossing the street with so many people around me while surrounded by the bright, colourful screens put me in awe. I could cross that street many times!
  • Don Quijote: My favourite multi-levelled discount store! So many floors filled with skincare products, snacks, souvenirs, technology, and more. I spent about an hour there!

🗓 DAY 3 – Asakusa, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku

• Morning (Asakusa)
  • Yae Kimono (~US$70): After grabbing some breakfast, I went to find my kimono rental shop. I saw on YouTube that this was a recommended place that was very foreigner friendly. They also had a wide selection of kimonos! The service was amazing and they have secure lockers to store your items. I recommend dressing comfortably underneath before you go. You also get to pick a purse and get your hair done the way you like! My appointment was at 10am and I finished around 2pm but had until 5pm. It was also close to Senso-ji Temple.
  • Nakamise-dori: The super famous shopping street that leads to the Sensoji Temple. It was so hot and crowded so we didn’t explore too much of it but it’s usually known for daifuku, melonpan, taiyaki, takoyaki, and more. We had the sweet potato dessert!
  • Sawawa Matcha Store: Also stopped by this matcha shop and tried their warabimochi which was a very soft mochi that melts in your mouth. So good!
  • Conveyor Belt Sushi: I really wanted to try conveyor belt sushi in Japan and stopped by the first place we saw. It was probably a tourist trap but it was actually super good! They even had aburi sushi.
  • Sumida Park: If you want to get some pretty shots with flowers, this park was beautiful. You can also get a view of the river and see the Tokyo Tower in the background!

• Afternoon (Shinjuku)
  • One of the areas I was curious about in Tokyo was Shinjuku. I heard a lot about Shibuya but I wanted to know what was different with Shinjuku. Turns out it’s an upscale area that caters more to adults with the vibrant night life!
  • Omoide Yokocho Memory Lane: I finally visited this street that I’ve seen so many photos and references of in animations. It was such a vibe. I loved the lanterns and small stalls hidden in the street.
  • Skewers: We got called into a skewer place and saw a few people eating there too. It didn’t feel the most hygienic and was super squishy but I loved the atmosphere!
  • 3D Cat: It took a while but I was on the hunt for the 3D cat screen. I actually missed it at first near the station because the screen wasn’t showing the cat at the time. When I finally saw it, I crossed the street to have a good look! It was so cute.
  • Kabukicho district Godzilla Head: Hotel Gracery has a large and iconic statue at the top of the hotel. I had watched a lot of the new Godzilla movies and this looked so cool!

🗓 DAY 4 – Tsukiji Market, Shibuya

My husband and I weren’t about the life of waking up super early to line up for restaurants, especially not while we were still exhausted from our wedding. I have heard a lot of delicious and affordable omakase restaurants at Tsukiji Market. Instead, we went there around 10am to have sushi for breakfast.

• Morning:
  • Tsukiji Market:
    • This market is known for the sashimi. We didn’t know there was another market that’s less overpriced!
    • Nigiri Sushi: There was a stall that was selling fresh sushi in takeout boxes. The tuna toro was so delicious! It melted in our mouths.
    • Grilled Unagi and Cod: We wanted to see what unagi tasted like in Japan. We weren’t too surprised by the taste but the texture was more chewy than the usual unagi we have.
    • Melon ($5): Fruits are expensive and delicious in Japan. I had to try the melon! It was cut up already and easy to eat. So sweet and juicy! Also heads up, you usually have to stand at the stall and eat before walking and also toss your trash at the stall you purchased from.
    • Hokkaido Ice Cream Cone: There was a stall selling different flavours of ice cream. Both the ice cream and waffle cone was delicious! The ice cream had a strong Hokkaido milk flavour and the cone was buttery and soft.
    • Tanghulu: This is popular but personally I don’t really like it but it’s frozen fruits covered in hardened sugar. It was refreshing but too sweet for me.
    • Sushi Sei Honten: Finally, we stopped by this omakase restaurant that had spots. It was fresh and affordable!

• Afternoon (Shibuya)
  • Since I felt like I could spend more time in Shibuya, we stopped by again. We actually wanted to visit an office location to grab lunch and also check out the view.
  • Shibuya Crossing Starbucks: They require you to buy something so you can’t just chill there and look out onto the street!
  • Pokemon Card Lounge: If you love Pokemon like me, you’ll find this place quite interesting!
  • Pokemon Center: It was super crowded but there’s a lot you can buy. I got a super cute Alolan Vulpix plush!
  • Miyashita Park: I have always wanted to check this mall and sky garden out as a lot of vloggers have shared this place. It was so nice and refreshing!

• Evening
  • We decided to go back to Akihabara to eat the roast beef bowl at Roast Beef Ōno again. It was pretty heavy but delicious! The onion sauce was the best.

Other Notable Areas

There are so many exciting places so it’s hard to fit in them all, depending on what you’re interests are, here are some other places:

• Activities
  • Shibuya Sky
  • Cup Noodles Museum
  • Kit Kat
  • Yokohama
  • Disneyland
  • Pokemon Cafe
  • Studio Ghibli Museum
  • Meiji Shrine
  • Onsen
  • TeamLab

Other Links:

• 🍴 Check out my foodie account @christyenjoys for more!
• If you have time to go Osaka or Taipei nearby, I have a 4 Days In Osaka Itinerary or 5 Days In Taipei Itinerary!
• See the full summary of my Asia trip