Here are my top 20 Things to do in Tokyo ranked in order with #1 being my favorite!
teamLab Plant is a Digital Art Museum. This was my favorite thing that I did in Tokyo as I had never seen anything quite like it. It contains several different rooms with each one creating an unique experience and activating all of your senses. You start by entering a room that can best be described as one giant bean bag. Plop yourself down and enjoy watching people try to walk through the room as they sink into the material. My favorite room had you wade through water up to your knees and the lights created digital fish swimming all around you. My second favorite exhibit was the last room where you lie on the floor and it looks like there are flowers dropping from the sky all around you. Planning your visit: The museum is located near the Shin-Toyosu or Toyosu stops. The ticket cost 3,200 yen or ~28.40 USD. You need to buy a ticket in advance and pick a day/time. They give you a 30 minute window to enter the museum to keep it from getting too crowded. You can borrow shorts from the museum if you can’t roll up your pants to wade through the water. I also wouldn’t recommend wearing a skirt because several of the rooms have mirrors on the floor and people could see up your skirt. This is very close to newly opened fish market called Toyosu Fish Market so you may want to visit the Fish Market first.
This is teamLab’s newest digital art museum that opened in the summer of 2018. I didn’t get a chance to visit this museum due to time and tickets are harder to get. I did talk to people that have been to both and it is enough of a different experience to justify visiting both museums. Planning Your Visit: Tickets are also 3,200 yen or ~28.40 USD. It is located near ?? Stop. Tickets often sell out for this new Museum so buy your tickets in advance.
When I visited Japan, I expected to see wacky, crazy, outlandish things like their game shows on tv. Well the Robot Restaurant certainly delivered on all of the above. This 80 minute show didn’t have a dull moment. In fact, it was a bit of sensory overload with so much going on at once. The show included a drum line, fighting robots, robot parades, singing, dancing, crazy costumes, and psychedelic lights.
Planning your visit: The Robot Restaurant is located about a 10 minute walk from Shinjuku station. I bought my ticket in advance through Viator. You can buy a ticket for $56 USD and it was worth every penny. I bought the option that came with a drink during the show but when I arrived they gave me a stupid keychain instead. So don’t waste your money just buy the cheaper option and buy yourself a drink at the venue. Arrive early as they give the best seats to those who arrive the earliest. While it is called a Robot Restaurant, it is best not to eat dinner there since the food options are limited and the quality of the food isn’t very high. This would be a great time to try eating in the famous nearby Piss Alley.
4. Try one of their themed cafes or restaurants
Tokyo is well-known for its’ themed restaurants and new ones continue to open. Some of the options include the Alice in Wonderland chain of restaurants, Maidreamin, Kawaii Monster Cafe, Cat Cafes, Owl Cafes, Hedgehog Cafes, etc. These places don’t necessarily have great food but are more about the ambience and outlandish decorations. I tried Alice in Magic Land located across the street from Shinjuku station. Their pasta wasn’t anything amazing but it was about $12 USD and it was cool to see the decked out restaurant. I didn’t get a chance to try any of the animal themed cafes but basically you are surrounded by real live Cats in the Cat Cafe, Owls in the Owl Cafe, etc. These cater towards the animal lovers out there.
Maidreamin can best be described as Tokyo’s version of Hooter’s. Japanese men tend to fantasize about these women with baby voices. The maids in the restaurant are meant to give you a lot of attention during your time there and cater to your needs. You have to pay an hourly table fee service of 500 yen or around $5 USD. They have some very weird traditions of songs they make you sing and phrases to repeat. I was the only female other then the maids and was surrounded by pervy men drinking alone in the restaurant ogling the girls in the tiny costumes. The guy next to me was collecting their souvenir pins with the different girls faces on them. I think he must have had 50 in this book that he was carrying. I was weirded out when he started shifting around all the pins and I couldn’t help but wonder if this was some sort of way that he ranked the girls. It was very creepy and weird experience but interesting for sure!
5. Tsukiji Market
The famous fish market shut it’s doors in October of 2018 for several reasons including detoriating conditions in the market. The inner market has closed its’ doors but the outer food stalls and restaurants have stayed open making it still a place worth visiting to try some of Japan’s great seafood. There are numerous food stalls on the street where you can try interesting and unusual seafood items.
Or you can venture inside one of the many restaurants. The fish market was still very crowded when I went in November of 2018. I tried Sushi at Sushi Zanmai. I just ordered a few pieces since I also wanted to try some of the food stalls as well.
6. Take a free walking tour – By now, you know how much I love free walking tour. Of course, I love anything free! Free walking tours are a great way to get your bearings in a new city, learn some history about the destination, get advice on free or cheap things to do in the city, and answer any burning questions that you might have. The tours are free but you are expected to compensate your tour guide with a tip for their time and effort. I generally tip around $10 per tour but I have heard tip amounts vary greatly. In Tokyo, I used Tokyo Localized to take 2 walking tours. First, their Flagship Free Walking Tour which covers history, food, and culture of Tokyo and starts from the Akhibara area. Then I took their Meiji Jingu & Harajuku Free Walking Tour Tokyo, which covered the Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park, and Takeshita Street. They also have a free Night Walking Tour in Shinjuku which got rave reviews from others on the tour. They recently added a fourth tour on Asakusa.
7. MariCAR
You get to drive the streets of Tokyo in a GoKart dressed as your favorite superhero or costume. They are best known for people driving around as Mario or Luigi from Mario Kart. Expect to be treated as a celebrity with people stopping to take pictures with you at stoplights. It is a great way to see the city of Japan and do something crazy and wacky at the same time!
Planning your visit: I regretted not signing up for this tour in advance as there was no availability once I got to Japan. You can purchase tickets directly through their website. You must have a valid international Driver’s License for this tour. There are several different tour options of 1-3 hours costing from 9000 to 15000 yen or $80USD to $133 USD. Costume rentals are additional. They recommend timing your tour to finish at sunset.
8. Take a quick day trip to Hakone and visit an onsen
This is one of my highlights from my time in Tokyo. It may be cheating since it isn’t technically in Tokyo but I am going to count it since you can go on a day trip from Tokyo. Hakone is one of the places you can go to get a good view of Mt. Fuji and it is easily accessible from Tokyo. If you aren’t familiar with an onsen, it is a typical Japanese style bath house.
Planning your visit: Read my article dedicated to a day trip.
9. Visit Meiji Jingu Shrine
I visited Meiji Jingu Shrine as part of the Meiji Jingu & Harajuku Free Walking Tour Tokyo offered by localized. When visiting the Meiji Shrine, take a picture by the barrels of sake from each prefecture in Japan. Sorry to disappoint you sake lovers out there but the barrels are empty now.
What I liked most about my visit is that we got to witness two traditional marriages at the shrine. Sometimes the best things are the ones you don’t expect. Getting to watch the traditional ceremony was a treat!
Planning your visit: You can easily walk to the Shrine from the Haajuku or Meijijingu-Mae stations. As a sign of respect, you can bow before passing the gates. To ask for a small wish, you can approach the shrine, bow twice, clap twice, throw in your money, silently say your wish, and then bow once more before leaving the shrine. If you can’t remember the steps, just watch for a minute or walk up along others and copy their movements. They say the 5cent coin with a hole in it is extra lucky so they suggest using that one for your offering but any coin will do.
10. Visit Takeshita Street
This area caters to the teenagers so all of the shops are really cheap if you want to buy something cheap from Tokyo. This street was made famous by the crazy outfits that you would see teenagers wearing while walking along the street. I think that has changed over time as I only saw one guy wearing outlandish clothes when I visited. What I did enjoy was visiting the trendy shops looking at unique clothes. I saw tutu’s, sequined outfits, animal pajamas, onesies, hats, etc. If I were to ever celebrate Halloween in Tokyo then I would head to this street for a costume!
Planning your visit: I would plan on spending about an hour walking this street. A visit isn’t complete unless you stop at one of the many crepe shops along the road. Angel Heart and Marion’s Crepes are the two most famous. If crepes aren’t your thing, they you may want to go for the rainbow colored cotton candy or drinks.
11. Walk across Shibuya Crossing
The lights all turn red at the same time to allow pedestrians to cross the street in all directions at once. It is one of the busiest intersections in the world with up to 3000 people crossing the street at the same during peak times. You think it would be completely chaotic but the Japanese remain calm and orderly when crossing this busy intersection. It reminded me of New York’s Time Square but with an order to the chaos.
Planning your visit: I think the best time to take photos is at sunset for obvious reasons or at night so you can fully capture all the city lights and the billboards in the background. It is located right outside of Shibuya Crossing Station. You can also get a good view of the chaos from the window of the Shibuya station or get a cup of coffee at Starbucks on the second floor of the Tsutaya building and enjoy the view.
12. Eat Japanese Sushi!!
Japan is famous for its’ sushi and it would be crazy not to eat sushi at least once during your visit.
Places to try: After your experience at Shibuya Crossing, visit Genki Sushi. It is a two minute walk from the famous crossing. You order from a computer in front of you and the sushi arrives on a train. It was cheap, fast and delicious! For a more traditional experience, I would eat Sushi at one of the many restaurants outside of Tsukiji Market or at the newly built Toyosu Market.
13. Visit Imperial Palace
While you can’t visit the inside of Imperial Palace, the gardens are worth a visit. They have created a beautiful Japanese style garden complete with a Koi pond. They also had a large park area where people were sitting and taking a rest.
Planning your visit: There are several gates to enter to visit the gardens. So depending on which gate you enter, it is a 10 to 15 minute walk from Otemachi, Marunouchi, or Nijubashi-Mae stations to the gardens. I made the mistake of visiting at 3:15pm thinking that they closed at 5pm but what I read online was wrong and they actually closed at 4pm in November. I think I only got to see about half of the gardens and would suggest planning your visit for an hour and half to two hours.
14. Visit the brand new Toyosu Fish Market and see a live tuna auction. The live tuna auctions are closed from October 2018-January 2019 while they transition to the newly built Toyosu Fish Market. When they open, it will be a very different experience from the previous auctions at Tsukiji Market. You will limited to seeing the auction from a viewing platform with glass windows that separates you from all the action. One of their previous issues was tourists wanting to touch all of the seafood so this has eliminated that issue. After visiting the auction, there is a wide variety of restaurants to try the fresh seafood. Many of the previous famous restaurants located at Tsukiji restaurants have relocated to Toyosu Fish Market or opened an additional location.
Planning Your Visit: The live auction is held between 4am to 5am so you will need to have a very early start if you want to catch the auction. The fish market is located at the Toyosu stop. It is free to watch the auction
15. Visit “Piss Alley” which is also known as Memory Lane or Omoide Yokocho.
This small alley originally got its’ name since people used that street to pee but now it is famous for all of the small yakitori restaurants. The restaurants are very tiny only accommodating 6-10 people at a time. They charge a cover of 500 yen or around $5 USD and require you to purchase a drink. Yakitori is small skewers of meat or vegetables that are cooked in front of you on a small grill. You get an option of having them cooked in a soy based sauce or simply with salt. Planning your visit: This alley is a two minute walk from the West exit of Shinjuku station.
16. Go to Tokyo Metropolitan Building and see a view of the city for free!! You might get many recommendations to go up to Tokyo Tower to overlook the city. But why pay 2800 yen or ~25 USD to go up to the top deck of Tokyo Tower when you can see a gorgeous view of the city for free. I recommend going around sunset or after dark to see the city all light up at night.
Planning your visit: This is about a 10 minute walk from the West Exit of Shinjuku station. I would suggest visiting there and then heading to Piss Alley to eat and ending your night with the show at Robot Restaurant. Another option is to see the view before or after your Free Nightlife Walking Tour with Localized.
17. Akihabara
Its’ nicknamed the Electric Town since the shopping area is famous for its’ electronic stores. This area is also famous for anime and video games. So you will see crazy billboards for advertisements for all of the above.
Planning your visit: Get out at Akihabara station and walk around.
18. Visit Ueno Park
My Flagship Free Walking Tour with Localized which covers history, food, and culture of Tokyo ended at Ueno Park. Not knowing about the park, I enjoyed just strolling through without an agenda to see what I would come across. I came across some shrines, giant lily pads, and a lake that you can rent paddle boats.
Planning your visit: There is a zoo within the park that you can visit for 500 Yen or ~$4.75 USD. It does have a five story pagoda that you can only visit by entering the zoo. I didn’t opt to visit the zoo but it may be worth it if you have the time. I would plan on spending 2 to 3 hours walking around.
19. Hamarikyu Gardens
It was very quiet even when I visited on the weekend. It is a great place for a beautiful stroll and to spend some time relaxing. The famous 300 year old tree is one of the highlights of the park.
Planning your visit: The Gardens cost 300 Yen or ~2.70 USD to enter. I would plan on spending 1 to 2 hours walking around the park and maybe even having tea in one of the tea houses. It is a 10 minute walk from Tsukiji Market so I would go before or after your visit there. The nearest stops are Shiodome and Shimbashi .
20. Have a drink on Golden Gai street
Golden Gai is a famous street located in the Shinjuku area famous for it’s small bars. It is similar to Piss Alley where all of the establishments are on the smaller side seating a maximum of 20 people. The street was a bit quieter then I expected when I visited but a way to see the true bar scene of Tokyo instead of the bars geared towards tourists.
Planning Your Visit: It is located around a 5 to 10 minute walk from the West exit of Shinjuku station.
Have I missed any of your favorite things to do in Tokyo?? What should I do on my next visit?? I loved Tokyo so I know I will be back one day!!
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