Other than devouring lots of noodles and incredible sweets, we spent a week wondering around Tokyo, trying to see as many things as we could! From historically important shrines to culturally important markets, Tokyo has an abundance of attractions. Here’s what we were able to see.When I started this post, I made a list of the places we visited and I knew I’d have to add categories to make sense of everything. So the following attractions are split up to make it easier to dig through: neighborhood areas, historic spots, and city view lookouts. For a detailed list of when we visited each area, head to our 14 day itinerary: Neighborhood Areas: Akihabara - The video game district! One arcade stacked on top of the next for blocks on end... this place is bright, loud, and incredibly stimulating. If you are a fan of old or vintage video games, head to Super Potato. If you love more of the modern games, each arcade is organized based on game type (arcade, VR, etc). Do a bit of research, if it’s more of a unique game, see if you need to go to a certain place to find it. Chase and Quinn wanted to do VR in one of the Sega buildings so while we wanted for the hour to arrive, we wondered around a few arcades and found some music games! SO fun! Takeshita Street - Within the Harajuku area, Takeshita street is half souvenir shops, half sweet shops!! We got crepes filled with tiramisu bites, matcha ice cream, and white chocolate drizzle. We also got cotton candy, that was wider than my shoulders, with 5 different flavors wrapped around the stick! Then we got some seriously cute Japanese socks for suvies. This street is worth a visit if you’re wandering in Harajuku to begin with. Be prepared for crowds. Shibuya - Kind of the Times Square of Tokyo. Lots of great things to see and do, including the Shibuya crossing. The best place to see the frantic pedestrians cross the street is at the Starbucks up on the 2nd floor of the electronic store. We wondered across the intersection twice for fun and then later after dinner, we used it with actual purpose. Tsukiji Fish Market - Not only is this where all the local chefs get their fish for their evening dinner menu, it’s also a large market where Tokyo residents and tourists come for groceries and lunch. There are several food stalls with great breakfast and lunch menus in the outer markets. We decided to try Sushi Shou, our second option behind Sushi Dai (who was no longer taking guests due to closing times), and it was amazing! Our chef was incredible and the fish was unreal. With the 2020 olympics approaching, Tokyo is planning to use the current area of Tsukiji for venues. This will result in the relocation of the interior fish market but the outside stalls and booths are supposed to remain where they are. Only time will tell how the market continues to co-exist in the city. City Views: Roppongi Hills - One of the best views of Tokyo in all of the city. Mori Tower is exceptionally tall so you can see all parts of the city, including a perfect shot to the Tokyo Tower. You can buy a pass to the observation deck and also the Mori Art Museum, which sadly we didn’t get to visit because it was under an art exhibit change... bummer! But Roppongi Hills is such a good place to take in some scenery (day or evening). They also have a mall, a pretty great food hall and a beautiful garden just outside. You could fill a whole afternoon or evening there. Tokyo Tower - Similar to Paris's Eiffel Tower, the observation deck is at the main platform where the tower comes together to shoot up into the sky. The sky deck isn’t as high as Roppongi Hills but the views are beautiful, plus there’s a great café to sit and look out over Tokyo. Tokyo Skytree - The tallest building in Tokyo and the second tallest building in the world! Such a crazy site to see! As for views from the top, considering it's the tallest building in town, it's safe to say the views are possibly the best. And we noticed not a lot of other tall buildings were around the Skytree so the views are pretty unobstructed. We didn't plan to do the observation deck there because we had read articles that Roppongi Hills has a more interesting view of Tokyo but knowing it's the second tallest building in the world... Kinda wishing we would have gone up. Historic Spots: Senso-ji Temple A Buddhist temple and the oldest in Tokyo. Not only is it beautiful, there are a lot of wonderful traditions to partake in while visiting Senso-ji. And outside the temple grounds, there are some shops and dessert stalls to stroll around. We ended up spending the evening in the Asakusa neighborhood, grabbing dinner nearby and afterwards went back to the temple to see the Skytree lit up. Senso-ji was almost more beautiful at night, and way less crowded. Such a treat. The Imperial Palace - Only the outer grounds are accessible to the public (except on a couple dates in December and January) but to see the castle from afar as well as the Nijubashi bridge, and the moat, are totally worth a quick trip to the Chiyoda neighborhood. After the Edo period, Tokyo became the capital city and the castle was built in the late 1800s. However, during WWII, it was destroyed but the current castle was rebuilt in the same style; it was finished in 1968. Meiji-Jingu Shrine - A shinto shrine that was built as a memorial for Emperor Meiji and the Empress Shōken. Because of his role in the Meiji Restoration, Japan gained their practical imperial rule and current political system, ending the shogun and military rule. The Japanese wanted to honor the Emperor that created a more stable country and they did it inside Yoyogi Park, where Meiji spent a lot of his free time. It's a beautiful place for a morning stroll... So peaceful there. Kabuki-za Theater - I learned about Kabuki in my World Music class during undergrad and knew whenever we ventured to Japan, I'd want to get tickets to see a performance in person! It was a full day event, lasting nearly 4 hours with 3 different intermissions for audience members to enjoy lunch and dessert. The performance, an all male cast, was loud, colorful and very intriguing. Luckily, Chase and Quinn both enjoyed themselves and it wound up being more than a humoring of the music nerd! If you go, make sure and take a lunch into the theater with you. This list, combined with the cherry blossom hunting we did around several parks and gardens, made for one packed week. Plus, we didn't skip a meal so needless to say, this week was not so restful but instead, filled with amazing adventures all over Tokyo.
Until Next Time, C + D
2 Comments
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