Japan (Part 5a): Tokyo

If you’re visiting Japan, you can’t miss Tokyo, which is the largest metropolitan area in the world-- anything you want to see or experience, Tokyo probably has it! From Michelin-starred restaurants, to vending machines with almost everything, to the largest fish market, to maid cafes, you are bound to see both spectacular and some very weird things during your visit. The central Tokyo area is separated into 23 city wards or districts, which are known for unique things, and after bathing in the hot springs of Hakone, we were recharged and ready to tackle them all. (Spoiler: we did not visit them all).

Upon visiting, the wards themselves aren’t alllll that different and each has a significant amount of shopping, which could be a blessing or a curse depending on your idea of a successful trip, but we will try to highlight the cool, the weird, and the tasty, throughout Tokyo’s different wards to help trip planning.

First up, is Roppongi, where our Airbnb was located, literally 2 buildings away from the Nogizaka metro station. Wherever you stay, the closer it is to a metro station, the more your tired feet will thank you after a long day of exploration. Also our Airbnb apartment was TINY, like a lot of Japanese things! We forgot to snap a pic of the actual apartment, but right outside was this park we walked through in the morning.

Roppongi is also supposed to be a popular nightlife district, we seemed to miss that memo as the only nightlife we did in the area was eat the biggest kakigori (shaved ice) ever at yelo, which closes at 5am.

Now for a tangent, but my boyfriend LOVES Japanese shaved ice, so much that he bookmarked 10 places to check out. He says his only regret was not eating shaved ice every single day, even if it was 45 degrees outside. Try kakigori, no matter how cold it is, you will be amazed. Did we mention it gets cold in Japan? Well, if going in the winter months, bring layers and warm jackets or you can be like us, and rewear the same down jacket everyday. (picture of us in jackets). Luckily, Tokyo is filled with shopping if you need…

Andy, wearing a jacket he bought in Asakusa! 

Every district had its share of giant and claustrophobic shopping malls and stores, our favorite being Don Quixote, a chain department kind of store that is open 24/7 and sells everything from snacks and candy to electronics, from souvenirs and makeup to school girl costumes (i guess those could go together…). If you ever wanted to feel like red blood cell passing through a capillary, Don Quixote and the shops in Japan are for you. They also sell suitcases to hold your extra souvenirs so there's that!

Moving on… to central Tokyo. If you want upscale shopping, the Ginza district is the place to visit, with a 10+ story Uniqlo and other designer stores, and even Belgian waffles at Manneken.

Other than that, there's numerous opportunities for nighttime urban photography as it reminded me of a sleek downtown area.

Around the Ginza district, there is the Nihonbashi and the Marunouchi districts, known to be business districts so not a TON of interesting things unless you are trying to attract a Japanese businessman, but there is Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace.

It might have been closed but we witnessed a gorgeous sunset! 

Just our luck that the Imperial Palace was closed when we visited, but Tokyo Station was open and of course had a huge mall and food court attached so we ate the best tonkatsu ever at Maisen. We did already highlight the gyu-best-food-ever-katsu, but trying the tonkatsu at Maisen or any other tonkatsu place is highly recommended.

He looks like this but he's about to have the second best meal of his life.

The fattier, the better!!

On the subject of food, OMURICE, or an omelette over fried rice, at Taimaiken in the Nihonbashi district, wasn’t worth the wait. The egg is soft scrambled, akin to the one featured in the 1985 film, Tampopo.

Can’t forget about the centrally located Tsukiji Market, home to the famous tuna auction where people line up at 5am to be allowed inside. We opted to not skimp on our beauty sleep, so we can’t give you any lining up secrets, but we arrived a little before 10am, which is the time the inner wholesale portion of the fish market is open to tourists. Numerous stalls were closing, but enough remained open for us to see some crazy seafood and experience a unique Japanese attraction. Try not to stand in the walkways as there are scooters who would hit you without remorse and wear closed toed shoes because wet fishy smelly toes doesn’t sound appealing to anyone.

Seeing all the fresh fish will make you crave a sushi breakfast and luckily for you, the outer market is packed with restaurants. Some places have stupidly long waits, like lines starting at 5 am, so if you try one, please let us know how it is! We visited Zanmai, with a statue of a funky looking chef, and we were not disappointed. Try the toro (fatty tuna) or some uni (sea urchin, not everyone’s cup of tea though, be warned) from any restaurant and it’s bound to be fresh and tasty.

Moving north, the next district of interest is Akihabara, known as an electronic and anime/manga hub. It houses the largest camera store we’ve ever been in, the Yodobashi Camera Multimedia, which has any electronic related item you’d ever want, if you can find it… On the anime/manga side of things, there are many stores selling cute and realistic cosplay costumes, including, our favorite, maid costumes. Yes, maid cafes are a thing in Japan and it's not unusual to see a maid on the street promoting her cafe. And yes, we definitely had to check out a fabled maid cafe so we went to @HomeCafe to resolve the mystery of maid cafes. We had a overall good experience and our maid/waitress was super enthusiastic and did her best to communicate in English.  If you want a story to confuse your friends, check one out, order some snacks and non-alcoholic drinks and watch the show, and don’t be embarrassed if you’re asked to participate, it’s all in good fun! Just don’t expect much from the food, like they say, no one goes to Hooters for the wings…

If you look in the direction of the rising sun, you can’t miss the tallest structure in all of Japan, the Tokyo Skytree. It is 634 meters tall, which can be read as Musashi in Japanese, the old name of the region the tower dominates. There are observation decks, numerous shops and restaurants, and even an aquarium at the base of the tower. We opted to skip the observation deck (we wanted to make it back to get ready for the club...), and just take a short stroll around the base. The best part was the walk across the Sumida River to the Skytree, but maybe we are suckers for night time river views that might be missed if taking the metro.

Going towards the tallest structure in all of Japan, the Tokyo Skytree, you must stop and explore Asakusa, the old entertainment district of Tokyo... which will be continued in a separate post!