Central Tokyo:

• ✔ Cherry Blossom Viewing (late march - april)
• Sumo tournament or sumo practice (january, may, sept)
• Tokyo International Forum
• Gardens of the Imperial Palace
• ✔ Karaoke: karaoke kan in Shibuya (glass windows overlooking Shibuya: room 601: Lost in Translation: go at 5pm)
• Flea Markets --Yoyogi Park, Ohi Racecourse Flea Market, Mottainai Flea Market, Oedo Antique Market outdoor fair held near Tokyo Station
• ✔ Tokyo Tower (visible from various location -large red & white)
• ✔ TeamLab Planets Exhibit Immersive
• Museums
• Relaxing in a hot springs bath, at an Onsen
• Walk across the Rainbow Bridge

Shibuya & Harajuku:

• ✔ Shibuya Crossing (massive intersection, also good to view from the train station above) RETURN AT NIGHT
• ✔ Hachiko Memorial Statue, Shibuya Station. Monument (waited 9 years after doggy daddy death)
• Shibuya Sky Observaton Deck
• ✔ Cat Street (incredibly beautiful pedestrian shopping street betwn Shibuya & Harajuku)
• ✔ Omotesando
• ✔ Harajuku Maze shopping area (great boutiques and vintage -- chicago vintage) Ura-Hara, the maze of backstreets behind Omotesando
• ✔ Takeshita-dori Street (crazy cheap youth clothing shopping street opposite Harajuku Station - fun to see)
• Cat or Dog Cafes (hedgehog, pig, owl, otters), Vampire Cafe in Ginza
• ✔ Yoyogi Park: Sundays - flea, Rockabilly dancers, bike rental, Meiji Shrine, Cosplay on the overpass between Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park, Sunday afternoon the best time (CHECK: yoyogi park events page)
• ✔ Meiji Jingu Temples & Shrine & Park, Shibuya
• SHOPS:
  • RagTag
  • Chicago
  • Flamingo
  • Big Love Records
  • Omote-sando Street (upscale shops)
  • JAM
  • Kinji (used clothing in Harajuku)
  • Don Quixote Mega Store

Shinjuku (Kabukicho):

• ✔ Godzilla Statue
• Yayoi Kusama Museum
• ✔ Shinjuku Gyoen National Gardens (Cherry Blossom Garden Area)
• BIG DEPT STORES:
  • ✔ Tokyu Hands (amazing everything store)
  • ✔ Takashimaya Times Square (giant upscale department store), food court on top floors, Depachika in basement selling all types of asian foods and treats (amazing!)
  • ✔ Don Quijote, 1-16-5 Kabukicho (funky floors of kitchy stuff)
  • ✔ Isetan Dept Store (3-14-1 Shinjuku) --get there right when they open
• Mandarake: Manga Mall
• ✔ Kabukicho Area (gambling, pachinko parlors: Maruhan, arcades, etc)
• ✔ Golden Gai intimate bars alleys (incredible tiny bars even if you don't go in fun to see)
• ✔ Club Sega Shinjuku Arcade
• ✔ Omoide Yokocho - (mini old japan food court like Golden Gai)
• ✔ Korea Town (stretch of korean shops and restaurants)

CLUBS:

• Shibuya: Beat Cafe Bar
• Shinjuku: Noize Bar, Godz, Bar Mother, Tangle
• Golden Gai intimate bars alleys (Hair of the Dog, Golden Gai)
• Shinjuku Nichome - gay district
• Drinks at the Park Hyatt - Lost in Translation
• Shimokitazawa - Garage & Mother
• Ruby Room - indie club Shibuya
• GarageLand - Shibuya
• DANCE CLUBS Harlem, Womb, etc

Chuo:

• ✔ Ginza shopping district, Chuo --kinda like mid town manhattan, boring
• ✔ The Tsukiji Fish Market, Chuo (go in early morning before 9am)

Roppongi+ Meguro:

• Midtown Roppongi mall connected to ritz carlton
• ✔ Roppongi Hills: Mori Art Museum (incredible) and City View + mixed architecture + National Art Center (traveling exhibitions only)
• ✔ Nakameguro: Meguro River walk around streets bordering water ravine during cherry trees blossoming, walk around Daikanyama neighborhood w/Hachiman-Dori shopping st, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (near Ebisu station :)
• Claska Hotel neighborhood

Other:

• ✔ Shimokitazawa Neighborhood surrounding Shimo-Kitazawa Station FAVORITE!!! (shops/cafes: head to neighborhood under big Shimokitazawa sign) Shops: Flamingo, Ocean Blvd, NY Joe, Reload Mall
• Cat-filled Gotokuji Temple in Setagaya
• ✔ Akihabara District (“Electric Town” massive electronics lights district), Tokyo Leisure Land, Pop Life Sex Shop, GiGo gaming, Anime
• ✔ Asakusa: Kappabashi-dori (fake food mall-kind of a bust), Senso Ji Shrine in Park (visit nakamise street: vendor stands all along the outside for treats)
• ✔ Ueno: Tokyo Nat Art Museum (boring), Ueno Park (esp cherry blossoms season), Ameyoko Arcade --open air market (not that interesting), National Science Museum (good for kids)
• Chidorigafuchi Gardens, Chiyoda
• Museum of Contemporary Art (accessible from the Oedo Subway line (E-14 station), in a suburban area)
• ✔ Koenji District FAVORITE!!! for vintage (neighborhood all around JR station: “Yakitori street” called Gado Shita, is one of the streets parallel to the train line from JR Koenji station. birthplace of punk in Tokyo. Taisho. shopping streets with a cozy atmosphere: Streets - Koenji Junjo, Koenji Pal or Koenji Look. SHOPS: Sokkyou, Kiki2, Fizz, Umber, Super Old. Whistler. Re’all. Hayatochiri. Tatouage. Slut. Big Time. Small Change. Furugisho Otora. CLUBS: UFO Club, Kôenji Cave, 20000 Den-Atsu (great punk club), Kôenji High

Day Trips

• ✔ Disneyland or Hello Kitty Land
• Fox Village!
• Odaiba modern neighborhood: O-edo Onsen Monogatari -public bath mp tattoos, Kichijoji and Studio Ghibli Museum, Hakone, Kyoto: 140 mins by train, approx $200, Mt Fuji, Shibamata Village (old japan town)
• Bunny Island

Hotel in Shinjuku:

• Century Southern Tower --NEX Narita airport express to Shinjuku, take the Southern Terrace Exit.
  • Room Tip: Ask for a room on the Shinjuku Gyoen / Takashimaya side
  • Used the bullet train from Tokyo Station to visit Kyoto (does not leave from Shinjuku station).
  • In Japan you only can use international ATM cards in post office ATM machines or at Citibank arms.
• April 2023 - Airbnb in Shinjuku “Shin Okubo Station”

Directions:

• By Train
  • From Narita International Airport (NRT)
  • 74 minutes by Narita Express (NEX)

Personal Notes:

• no tipping
• cannot find trash cans in the city yet there's no trash anywhere
• people wear masks everywhere, esp during flu season
• there are several different train line companies, don't get them confused (JR, metro, etc)
• often you pay at cash registers in restaurants (even nice ones)
• dressing rooms: often you remove your shoes and they give you a face cover to protect clothes from make-up
• you'll hear cover songs everywhere!
• their subway bathrooms are reliable and clean
• underneath dining tables are storage boxes for your purse jackets etc
• bring your passport to major dept stores for tax refunds (no tax) on items of $100 or more

JAPAN'S ART ISLANDS:

• Benesse House Museum – integrating a museum with a hotel, this is an amazing place to stay on Naoshima.
• Valley Gallery – designed by Tadao Ando, this Naoshima geometric gem capitalises on its secluded setting and houses Yayoi Kusama’s incredible Narcissus Garden installation.
• Chichu Art Museum – literally meaning ‘art museum in the earth’, this Naoshima museum is built underground and is a work of art itself.
• Yayoi Kusama’s Yellow Pumpkin – it is very cool to see the iconic installation in nature on Naoshima’s coast.
• Inujima Seirensho Art Museum – incorporating an art gallery into the ruins of a former copper refinery, this museum was built around the idea of ‘using what exists to create what is to be’ – and it’s just epic.
• Inujima Art House Project – a collection of galleries that transforms the town into a museum!
• Teshima Art Museum – this has the most striking architecture and was designed to be an artwork that interacts with its environment.
• Teshima Yokoo House – a collaboration between artist Tadanori Yokoo and architect Yuko Nagayama, they renovated an old private house to create a gallery like no other.