This is a journal from our first family trip to Tokyo from Dallas, Texas, USA. I'm recording this for us to remember the lessons we learned so we can review this in the future when preparing for our next one.
You, the readers are of course welcome to tag along and learn from our experiences and use them to aid your own first trip to Tokyo. Of course, being this was just a weeklong trip, we barely saw what Tokyo has to offer, but it's a start.
Also be aware that some of the destinations in Tokyo may not fit what you're looking for. For example, we are not a "Disney family" so you won't find Tokyo Disney outside of this sentence.
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| From the train station to our hotel in Ginza |
First let's make things easy to navigate. Click on these shortcuts:
- If you want some tips on how to prepare. Useful if you're planning to go to Tokyo for the first time.
- If you just want to checkout where we went. Lot's of pictures and ideas on where to go.
Preparation
As a family, we think fondly of the Japanese culture, so with great anticipation we prepared for the trip way ahead of time.
We watched so many videos and websites on traveling to Japan until I thought that there's no need for us to travel there anymore.
Just kidding, if anything, those videos made us more eager to experience the Real Thing (TM). Do watch those as part of your preparation.
What to Wear
This is a winter trip, so it's cold in Tokyo. Temperature hovered around 30-50 degrees Fahrenheit (or -2 to 10 degrees in Celsius). We brought enough clothing to be warm but in layers, so we can take some layers off when needed.
Finding A Hotel
Booking the hotels takes a lot more research than booking the flight to and from Tokyo because of the number of choices. That and studying the map of Tokyo. I highly recommend finding a good map of the Tokyo districts such as Ginza, Shibuya, Shinjuku, etc.
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| Red marks the spot |
Each of these districts has one or more train stations, thus finding hotels that are within walking distance from these stations is a good strategy because you will most likely be using the trains and subway to make your way to visit the attractions located in those districts.
Online Custom Form
This is a very handy way to speed up your entry at the airport in Tokyo. Search for this "Visit Japan Web" and find the dedicated website where you can fill in the same info that you otherwise have to fill out on paper anyways and get a QR code which you can present on your smartphone to the custom officers at the airport.
It sure beats filling out the form on the airplane during air turbulence after a 14-hour flight.
Internet Connection
Districts vs Cities
A district such as Ginza, is located within a "city" called Chuo-Ku. There are other "cities" within the Tokyo Metropolis such as, Minato-Ku, Shibuya-Ku, etc. Notice that some of the city name is the same as the popular district within it, but that is not the case for most of them. For the most part, especially as a first-time visitor, you don't need to know more than the district names.
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| A very cute manhole |
Get familiar with how each district is located relative to one another; this will allow you to plan your days more easily. In this trip, we made Ginza as the base district, so for the most part, a visit to the other districts such as Ueno or Asakusa is just a matter of using Google Map to find which train to ride and then walk to the destinations.
For us, we ended up visiting one district per day except for the last day when we got a chance to revisit a district that we haven't explored enough yet.
On Walking
Speaking of walking, you will be walking. A lot. Basically, after you arrived at the train station in the district where you want to spend the day, you will be walking around everywhere. Even if you have a lot of funds for taxis, I'd still suggest walking as a fun part of the Tokyo experience. Because of that, a sturdy and comfortable pair of walking shoes is almost a must.
The Train System
The Tokyo train and subway systems are largely run by the Japan Railways Group which is the parent company for several subdivisions. For our purposes, remembering the JR logo is enough to navigate our ways within the stations.
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| In Japan they love their trains |
Here are the repeatable steps when you want to go from point A to B using the train:
- Punch in the destination in Google Maps
- Click "Direction"
- Punch in the name of the nearest station from where you are
- The result should show you which train line to take within the station
- Get to the station which is usually accessible via either stairs going underground or a big station entry at ground level
- Once you're in, find the JR logo with the name of the train line indicated by a letter with a circle with distinct color. For example, the Ginza train line is indicated with an G inside an orange circle
- Next pay attention to the stop number. Each station will have the designated number that is paired with the train line. For example, the Ginza line at the Ginza station is marked as G-08 (see the map below)
- By consulting a map in the station, you can figure out which platform to go to, to board the train going in the direction that you want
Let's get an example going. Google Maps tells you to use the Ginza line, so you already know to look for the G with orange circle when you arrived in the station. If you want to go from Ginza to Shibuya, you must find and follow the signs that indicates the platform to catch the train going from G-08 to G-01, notice that the station number decreases.
On the other hand, if you are going to Ueno, you'd want to follow signs where the station number increases like this: G-08 to G-16. Astute readers such as yourself will quickly surmise that the decreased or increased numbers indicate the direction of the train. Hold on to this nugget of knowledge.
When you arrived at the destination station, look for signs that indicate the exits from the station (marked as A1, A2, A3, etc.). Some stations are large enough that taking the wrong exit would mean walking around the station to your final destination. Conveniently, the exits on a station are indicated on Google Maps, so you can choose the one that is closer to where you're going.
If you need to, pause a second to process the info above. Getting this wrong could cause you to board the wrong train, or even when you did board the right one, it would be sheer luck. While it's not a showstopper, this will cost you time and probably more confusion and frustration.
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| Saving the space for those in a hurry |
Once you learned this, navigating the stations will soon be second nature despite the sometimes-tricky placement of the signs within the stations. Why? Because now you know what to look for.
Arriving in Tokyo
After stepping off the airplane, we were whisked away in a bus to the terminal where the series of hallways brought us through custom. Thanks to the digital custom form mentioned above, our time at the custom checkpoint was extremely short. Then we picked up our luggage and went through another custom terminal in case we need to declare something.
The first thing you want to take care of is cash. For us, right outside of the last hallway after the custom area, there is an information booth and a train ticket counter. Nearby we found an ATM where we got some cash for the trip.
If your bank's checking account doesn't have no-charge debit card for international ATM transactions, consider getting one from Charles Schwab or Fidelity. I'm not endorsing or getting paid by any of these companies, this is just a friendly advice.
The cash is also useful to buy and refill ("charge" is the term they use in Japan) the Pasmo card. What is a Pasmo card?
Paying in Style
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| An Art Gallery with King Kong |
Pasmo card (alternative to the popular Suica card which is at this particular time not available to purchase) is a very convenient way to pay for train tickets, buses, and most vending machines.
Using it is very simple, first you wave or tap it on the sensor installed on the half-gates (think New York or Boston subway entrances) which let you enter the train platforms area. Then when you arrived at the other station, you will do the same thing to exit the platform area, only this time, pay attention to the display at the half-gate, it will tell you how much did the trip cost and how much money is left in your card. Use this information to gauge when you need to recharge the card on the machines at the station but only using cash. You cannot recharge a Pasmo card using credit or debit cards.
Other than this method, most places in Tokyo do accept credit cards and for smaller food places which are everywhere and serve good food, cash.
Walking to the Hotel
We walked to the hotel from the train station where the train we took from the airport stopped. It was quite late at night, but the streets feel safe, and we just trundle along with our luggage, taking in the nighttime Tokyo scenes. The check in at the hotel is without a hitch, all hotel personnel whom we interacted with speak English fluently and we were attended very courteously into our room.
Here's a big tip, you don't tip attendees in Japan, no matter how grateful you are with their services.
First Stop: The Tsukiji Fish Market
The first place that we visited the next morning was the Tsukiji Fish Market because it is only about 20 minutes' walk from our hotel in Ginza and we felt that we'd have fun sightseeing on foot. And we were correct, along the way we picked up breakfast at a cafe (Mr. Donut).
One fascinating thing that I notice, is that the streets in Tokyo are not boring to look at. There is always something eye-catching that pops up almost at every street or intersection. I will try to highlight this fact by sprinkling photos of things that I find interesting throughout this writeup.
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| A Taiyaki place that we revisit later |
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| Iconic yet different |
After about 20 minutes of walk following the Google Maps direction, we arrived at the famous Tsukiji Fish Market area.
Now, we knew that the original attraction of this place such as the tuna auction has moved to a new place, the Toyosu Fish Market, but the outer part of Tsukiji is still there and it is still a fun place to visit. It was crowded early Sunday morning with people, food, and a quaint, family-run ceramic shop.
We stayed a while in this place just because there are so many small alleys to check out. There are of course many social media folks walking around with video cameras creating content, and here you hear many languages because there are tons of tourists including us.
We ate lunch at a rotating sushi place which has a hot waterspout for us to make our own green tea. Very neat.
Beautiful Ceramics
At the end of the main alley of the Tsukiji Outer Market, you can find the Ichi Fuji ceramic shop (since 1951) which is a unique place for finding really nice souvenirs. The layout of the shop is amazing with so many ceramic-wares from top shelves to the floor. It is amazing that none of them are stepped on.
We like this shop so much that on our last day we went back and got quite a few bowls, cha-wan (tea cups), and chopstick rests as souvenirs. All of them made the trip back to the US safely, thanks to how carefully they were hand wrapped by the owners of the shop.
Tokyo Station
After lunch we continued our trip by again deciding to walk to the next stop which is the Tokyo Station area. Again a 20 minutes' walk, we passed through the main Ginza area. Ginza is truly a place where you can see worldwide famous brand names having their own space. I am especially impressed with the architecture of the Kabuki Theater which we passed by.
Since we stayed in Ginza, there will be more photos of the area upcoming later.
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| The Kabuki Theater in Ginza |
At the Tokyo Station (Tokyo Station First Avenue shopping area, to be precise) there are plenty to see, even more people, and a corridor full of food places, ramen shops and character shops (imagine anything that can be merchandised from Sanrio to Jump manga to Studio Ghibli to toy brands and even more toy brands).
If you are easily overwhelmed by the number of people packed into a space, you may want to skip this place or find times where it's not as crowded, maybe on weekdays.
After a few hours of window shopping and finding souvenirs, enough jostling with tons of people for one day, so we took the train and head back to the hotel.
But not before we sample one of the ramen shops in the renown Ramen Street which is a collection of popular Tokyo ramen styles.
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| Iekei ramen Kakushinka TOKYO |
On to Shibuya
Spending the 2nd night at the hotel, we woke up refreshed and ready. We had our breakfast at a place called Cafe Renoir, it's a place where people seems to work or study or just lounging around. A very relaxed atmosphere with easy to order sets of egg and ham toast accompanied by soup and of course my wife and I ordered coffee.
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| Breakfast Set B with Coffee |
At the end they serve hot tea to cleanse the palate and to warm up for the walk in the brisk Tokyo winter ahead.
We boarded the train and head out to the Shibuya station. But nothing could have prepared us for what we saw outside of the train station. People. People and hundreds of other people going about from all directions around the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing. We saw it on videos many times but being there in person, is absolutely amazing. Totally different.
Shibuya is just a busy and happening place. We arrived there around midday and stayed until it was dark In the evening the area became more packed if that's even possible.
Tower Records
One of the places that we want to visit is Tower Records. Yes, THE Tower Records. While the Tower Records stores were closed in the US, the Japan branch stores -- which was a standalone company even back then, are still standing.
Eight floors of music, mostly in CD format which is still alive and strong in Japan apparently. With each floor dedicated to various genres, there's a K-Pop event going on when we were there. No idea who the band was, but it's neat to see fans interacting with them in person.
While we're in the subject of music, this is something that I really missed in the US, the ability to sample music curated by the music store. I count it as a win to discover this amazing music band by sampling their music at the (other) Tower Records in Shinjuku, while I was passing time waiting for my family.
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| Just pure awesome Jazz music |
A Katsudon Dinner
Of course being in Shibuya, we weren't lacking in the choices of places to get some dinner. But one place stood out because from the outside it seems to be quite deserted, but when we stepped in, the atmosphere is warm and there are quite a few patron on the opposite side of the entrance area, no wonder we can't see them from the outside.
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| Tonkatsu Kagurazaka Sakura |
A nice variety of Katsudon with ample serving and of course, very yummy! One note about food in general in Tokyo, you can't throw a stone without hitting at least three food places. What we love is the fact that these food places are tiny, yet all the services are well-thought out, the food is good, and the attendees are all very courteous.
Plus, if you compare the prices with the US, it is very economical for the same or better quality.
We ended the night at a different hotel. This is just to illustrate that booking a hotel needs to be done well in advance, especially if you are taking advantage of points, which is a very good strategy if you know how to do it. I personally don't, but fortunately my wife does.
Shinjuku Next
The next day we spent mostly in Shinjuku, which has a different "vibe" than Shibuya, still just as crowded, but overall atmosphere is more business-like. Since this is a weekday, we get to see people going to and from work and experience the "rush hour" at the train station.
Stampu!
In many public places in Tokyo (pretty sure it is in all Japan too), such as train stations, tourist information booths, even government buildings, they have stamps (the type that you press on ink and then impress on paper), each with unique designs. Collecting these stamps has become a mini-game in this trip that the whole family can enjoy.
The tricky part is that there isn't any fixed place where these stamps can be found, so most of the time guessing whether they even have one, or finding one even with some instructions from the attendees can be tricky.
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| Shinjuku Stamp |
In some places all we need to do is to say "Stampu!" accompanied with a gesture of pressing a stamp, and they immediately get it. The cute part is sometimes the attendee(s) would be just as excited as we are when they realize that we are looking for the stamps. In Tsukiji, the administering of the stamp was done (rather ceremoniously) by an attendee at the tourist info room.
Overall, we manage to collect 15 stamps from various places. Not bad for our first time visit.
Splitting Up
In Shinjuku we practice our remote communication as we split to find different places of interest. We communicate via SMS. This works well because we are all adults with our own phones. If you are with little children, please, please be more careful, because a sea of people is not a good place to be separated.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
The highlight in Shinjuku happened at sunset. We made our way into the part of the district where the business and official buildings are located. Our goal is to make it into the top of the tower to view the city skyline at night and if we're lucky, a glimpse of the Fujiyama.
When we entered the building, there was already a long line of people who are trying to get to the tower, when it was our turn, we were politely but quite forcefully shoved into the elevator to maximize the number of people and up we go to the 45th floor. And this is what greeted us there.
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| Caught a glimpse of the Mount Fuji at sunset |
The whole floor was open to the night view of the city, so you can see Tokyo in different directions. It is worth the line and the crowded elevator, I do wish that they turn down the heater a bit. It's hot up there.
When we made it back down, we were able to catch the light show which uses the building as a projection screen. It was beautiful, the people were sitting at a semi-circular lawn looking up to these multimedia presentation with music.
A Slice of Harajuku
Before returning to our hotel in Ginza, we thought that we could make a detour to the Harajuku Takeshita Street, which by the time we arrived are almost at closing time, being that day was a weekday. I'm sure it's a lot more lively on weekends.
We saw micro pet pigs, enormous fashion shoes, a big and well-lit Gibson Fender showroom and some residential areas in the evening.
Ueno District
The next morning, we tried a new kind of breakfast, something that my wife wanted to sample, the Ochazuke which is a rice dish served with tea or dashi (Japanese broth). We found the place online, but finding it physically turned to be a challenge. We looked for the place everywhere the Google Map indicated and couldn't find it, until we realized that the place is underground, it is part of the Shimbashi Station.
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| Dashi Chazuke en at Shimbashi Station |
This is the dashi version of the Ochazuke which means they give you broth rather than tea. I chose the Unagi which pairs tastily with the broth. It was a very good breakfast which has a home-cooking flavor to the experience.
Ameyoko Street
If you're looking for quirky interesting and leaning towards western fashion or gear, this is the place to find it. We visited this place because it is one of the recommended places in Ueno, it's right across the train station, and to find an elusive fountain pen shop (I have a separate write up that would be interesting to those who are into fountain pens or if you're the curious type).
Ueno Park
On our last day, we went back to the Ueno district to at least see one of the parks in Tokyo. Winter is not the ideal time to visit parks, but the park was far from being empty.
The temple inside the park has lovely architecture, and we didn't even have time to visit the other side of the park where the National Museum buildings are. More things to see in our future visits.
I was particularly happy to photograph this circular tree branch overlooking a distant shrine.
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| These lined up so perfectly |
We were also treated to a nice surprise, a live performance by a wind-jazz band.
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| Jazz Saxophone Ensemble HIBIChazz-K |
Asakusa District
If anything can be said about the Tokyo Metropolis, is that it is enormous. We have been spending days visiting different districts, and yet there are still more to see and do.
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| Always something interesting to see |
Asakusa is the next district and the way we explore it is probably atypical for tourist because we don't have a checklist of places, rather we just follow the direction to a place that is called Kappabashi Street, and along the way we just enjoy a stroll through neighborhoods and see up close how people live around here. We saw how the local people going about their business, children going home from school in their uniform, also tourists with their rental kimonos.
But before we reached the residential area, out of the train station we inevitably enter the Nakamise street which is a street lined with shops leading to the famous Senso-Ji temple.
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| Shin Nakamise street |
The Senso-Ji Temple
The oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo, and a grand accomplishment in traditional Japan architecture. The temple is breathtaking when seen up close. Photos can only convey so much but short from the experience. By the time we get to the temple, it's golden hour.
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| Senso-Ji temple, the main building |
We saw people at every turn in the massive temple complex where many of the buildings are open. The weather at that time was nice with the low sunlight casting warmth into the scenery.
Because you can see the Tokyo Skytree from the temple, we took the train and went there across the Sumida river. Apart from buying some packaged food souvenirs for friends back home, the rest of the shopping mall is similar to the ones we saw at the Tokyo Station Character street. Less people, which was a plus.
Akihabara District
The next morning, we stopped by the Taiyaki place that we passed by before and actually bought some. We ate them in front of the store.
In Japan, it is customary to eat your street food in front of the store and not while walking around.
Also known as the Electronic Town or Geek (Otaku) Heaven. It is a district where the pop-culture that made Japan popular worldwide is celebrated and yes, merchandized. Everything from store signs to giant billboards has anime or video game themes displayed.
Before we caught the train back to the hotel, we picked a place to get some ramen. This place is a perfect example of a very efficient utilization of space, the ramen is excellent, and they will give you extra noodle ball, up to twice, for which you can specify the softness of the noodle by raising the color-coded little sign up to the counter. Quite an effective system.
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| Tonkotsu Ramen Hakata Fu-Ryu |
Kamakura
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| What a charming scene |
Again, we are only scratching the surface of what Kamakura has to offer. One day is really not enough to visit the numerous shrines and temples to immerse yourself in the rich history of this region. But we made do with the time available.
Buying the one day train pass is definitely the way to go, you have to go to the front of the Kamakura station and buy the pass there.
We spend the day there and before we returned to Tokyo, we took a stroll on the Komachi Street and we literally stumbled upon this quaint restaurant which serve easy to order set, filling and of course delicious sets.
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| Kamakura Misui restaurant |
Ginza District
The base of our trip this time, this is the place where all of our hotels are and towards the middle of the week we developed a routine where we visited the OK Supermarket before we went back to the hotel, and then proceeded to spend the night probably the way millions of people in Japan do daily, sit in front of the TV with bento dinner.
We were lucky with the timing because we were able to watch live Sumo Wrestling tournament from the TV at our hotel. These tournaments were only held three times a year, one being in January.
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| Our evening routine, looking for great deals for dinner |
Ginza, in short is a high-end shopper's paradise. Any top tier brand of fashion, jewelry, watches, have a store in this area. These are some of the views that we were able to enjoy. We spent time in Loft, Muji, and Itoya. GU and Uniqlo would be the other trendy destinations here, but we went to the one in Shinjuku.
Hibiya is a neighboring district that is only a block away, this is where the Godzilla and the giant pig made out of hay (part of an art exhibition).
Other snapshots from the time that we spent in this lovely district. Notable is the practice of developing retail places right underneath the railroad. Some of these are very lovely, for example the Hibiya Okuroji. Also, for those who (like me) grew up with Tamiya vehicle models, there's the Tamiya Plamodel Factory Tokyo nearby.
Final Thoughts
If it hasn't been plainly laid out yet, we enjoy this trip so much. The amount of new experience was so much, during one short week. It will definitely take some time to unpack.
What we love about the trip is how courteous the local people were. So we tried our best to be a good tourist:
- Being courteous at all times.
- We chat within our group in the volume that is not disruptive to others nearby
- We don't walk around and eat or drink. We stayed near the food place and ate there.
- There is no public trash can. So, we stuff our trash in the pockets until we reached the hotel.
- We left space for those who are in a hurry in escalators.
- We responded with "Arigatou" whenever a service is rendered or when we receive directions and help.
All these helped us to experience the trip in a way that shows appreciation for the opportunity to visit someone else's place which they call home.
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