Tokyo Travel Tips
Japan was on my list of must-go travel destinations from the day I moved to China in 2015 but it took my almost 4 years to finally go. And we were only there for 3 or 4 days but we still saw some pretty cool stuff.
Capsule Hotels
Capsule hotels are a style of Japanese hotel with shared rooms full of individual sleeping pods. No personal rooms. I though it would be cool to try one out so I got one to sleep at while I waited for my friend to get to Tokyo (I arrived hours earlier than him). I had expected them to be sort of like hostels. They were not. I had read they were largely aimed at business travelers that needed somewhere to stay the night but I hadn’t thought much of it. However when I arrived in the early morning to sleep though the afternoon I found out that the capsule area was closed for cleaning from 10-1. So I didn’t really get to do much sleeping. I still think they’re pretty unique and might be worth experiencing, if that’s something you’re interested in, but make sure that they fit into your schedule. And they’re definitely only a one night thing, not a whole trip thing.
Money
You’ve probably heard that Japan is a cash based society and it is true. In the USA I often pay with a credit card and in China I pay for almost everything via QR code on my phone. To be honest it was a little weird to be in a big, modern city like Tokyo and still always need cash. But you do. I think we might have gone to some more touristy places that might have taken credit cards but the majority of places that we went only accepted cash. So make sure when you go you bring cash with you and have a way to get more in case you need any. And if you want an idea of how much you might spend check out my blog and vlog about how much I spent on the trip.
Transportation
Japan has great public transportation. There are trains, some of them bullet trains, crisscrossing the whole country and Tokyo has a big subway system to get around as well. The trains are excellent for getting around the country but they can get expensive so if you’re planning to visit more than one city it’s worth looking into the JR Pass, which might save you some money. But if you’re just staying in once city, or visiting a nearby city, it’s not worth it. You will want a subway card though to make getting around the city easier. There are a couple of cards for taking the subway in Tokyo and I’m honestly not sure what the difference is between all of them. We got Passmo cards for our traveling needs and they got us on all of the subway lines we needed to take. If you don’t have a card you need to buy a paper ticket every time you’re going to take the subway. You can get the paper tickets at machines where you choose the station you’re going to and pay accordingly. If you have a card though all you need to do is scan it on the way in and out of the subway and it takes out money based on how far you went.
Akihabara
If you’re unfamiliar with Akihabara it’s the area in Tokyo with all of the anime, manga, and game stuff. Seriously there’s a lot of it. New and used games, comics, DVDs, everything. If you have even a passing interest in anything like that you’ve got to visit Akihabara as it’s unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere else. It’s like an anime convention spread out in a city district. I found the most interesting part was the wide range of older stuff. You can find games all the way back to the NES and maybe older. And rows of used manga. Neither of which I’ve really seen anywhere in the USA or China, although they’re bound to exist somewhere. Even if you’re not too interested it’s worth a (shorter) visit just to see what an area so dedicated to comics and games looks like. A word of warning though. Akihabara also has a lot of pornography. We found that it was usually on upper floors of buildings, and the first floor at least was usually family friendly. So if you’re traveling with kids check each floor first to be safe.
Imperial Palace (Gardens)
One day we went in search of the Imperial Palace and were disappointed to find out you can’t actually go there. But the gardens surrounding the palace are open to the public and admission is free. Inside there’s a museum and some historical building with related historical facts and of course gardens. If memory serves there was even a little orchard in there. Between the history and the free entry it was a great way to spend a morning. Just don’t go expecting to see the palace or you’ll be let down…
Temples and Shrines
If you travel around Europe a lot you probably go to a lot of churches. Well temples and shrines are the equivalent in Japan. Temples are buddhist and shrines are shinto and Japan is full of both. And Tokyo is no exception. We visited four main ones, the Sensō-ji Temple, the Zōjō-ji Temple, the Meiji Jingū Shrine, and the Hanazono Jinja Shrine. We briefly saw some other small ones that we happened to walk past but those were the ones that we sought out. As a big part of the history and culture of Japan you should definitely visit at least one and if you like them there are plenty to see.
Goshuinchō
I often struggle with whether or not to buy anything to remember my trips by. A lot of the stuff peddled to tourists is kind of junk. Sometimes I’ll get a photo taken with Max somewhere. And we’ve stared to collect fridge magnets. But generally the things places sell to tourists seem kind of…meh. So it’s always good when you can find something meaningful to remember a trip by. And that’s exactly what I feel the goshuinchō is. It’s a book that you can get at temples and shrines and Japan. Then you can make a donation at the temple or shrine and the monk (I hope that’s what they’re called) will do some calligraphy and stamp the book. Each temple and shrine has a specific design that they give. It’s an excellent reminder of your trip.
Food
To be honest we didn’t try nearly enough food while we were there. But we did get ramen and sushi, maybe the two most important foods. Japan of course has tons of different kinds of ramen so if you know what you’re looking for (or can read Japanese) you can try tons of things that are similar in name but probably quite different in taste. And the sushi. Oh man. It just seemed fresher there. We got it once as a snack at a conveyor belt sushi place. In China the sushi is on the belt and you take it off and eat it but in Tokyo, where we went at least, there were cards not he conveyor belt and when you took a card off the chef made that sushi for you. It was unbelievable. Even if you don’t much care for fish you owe it to yourself to try it. We also went to some restaurants where you ordered from a machine. There was a big machine with tons of buttons on the front. You put your money in, push the button for the food you want, get a ticket, and take it to the chef to make. It took some getting used to, and some were mostly in Japanese, but they all seemed to have at least a couple with pictures and they seemed fairly affordable. They were a good option when we weren’t sure what we wanted.
Other stuff
We saw some other stuff as well but usually just in passing. One of the most notable was Kabuki-chō Street, which we walked through after seeing the Hanazono Jinja Shrine. It was pretty much exactly what you think of when you think of Tokyo. Tons of signs all over the place and all the way up buildings. We were there kind of early since it’s a nightlife district so I imagine at night it’s unbelievable. But like with Akihabara you need to be careful if you’re traveling with kids. It’s a little bit of a red-light district so there might be some things, like hostess clubs or love hotels, that you might not want to have to explain to your kids. Near our hotel we also saw a…small replica of the statue of liberty and a huge Gundam statue. One night I made my way to Tokyo Station and the Kabuki theater. The theater was closed because it was late but even from outside it was quite impressive. Some of these things all had a lot of potential but we didn’t spend enough time around them to really get a feel for them.
Tokyo was incredible and I can’t say enough great stuff about it. I only wish we had had more time there. So leave me a comment down below with what I should see and eat next time I’m there!
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