3 more days in Tokyo, told via Google Maps reviews (part 5/5, 26 reviews)
I recently went to Japan for an unbelievably excellent 3-week holiday! Here’s the final part of the trip, Tokyo (again), told via 26 Google Maps reviews.
Note: This is a series of posts, with Tokyo Part 1, Takayama Part 2, Kyoto Part 3 and Part 4, and Tokyo again (this article).
Day 1 (7th September): Arrival
We arrived from Kyoto around lunchtime, still managing to have a busy afternoon and evening! A total of 13,730 steps (5.68 miles).
Shibuya Excel Tower ★★★★✰
A decent business-y hotel overlooking Shibuya Scramble, with some annoyances. We selected the high floor corner room specifically for the views, and luckily it didn’t disappoint! Watching the rush at all hours was easily the highlight. However, it was a bit of a shame the windows, the main selling point, were inexplicably not properly cleaned and had grease smears from previous guests.
Entering the hotel directly from the station is quite challenging, make sure to follow the detailed guide on the hotel’s site. Alternatively, it’s far easier to just find “Shibuya Mark City”, and look for the direct entrance on the street level. This will take you up to the lobby, where you can change elevators to get to your actual room.
Breakfast was fairly good, although seemed pretty crowded no matter what time we went, and having a long central table meant reaching past people occasionally. There is a fresh pancake machine which works well, other than that it’s all pretty typical breakfast buffet offerings and very western overall. Tasty, but nothing too surprising.
The laundry situation was also unusual, with 1 unmentioned washing machine and dryer on SOME floors, I believe 7 - 11 or so. This meant taking the lift multiple times to try and find an empty machine, and then repeating the process for the dryer. Both machines only accepted 100 Yen coins, yet there was no change machine. There were some small vending machines… but they didn’t take new 500 Yen coins! All in all, laundry was very inconvenient.
Shibuya Scramble ★★★★★
As chaotic as you’d expect! Every few minutes, a couple of hundred people flood in from all directions, with selfie-takers trying to sprint across of the crowds for the perfect shot. It’s not too bad to get across, with the regular and long crossing periods making it easy to get through.
Looking from above is far less chaotic, but provides you a great overview. Try predicting which tourist will stay on the road too long and almost get run over!
Tokyo Tower ★★★★★
Absolutely stunning views of Tokyo, especially at sunset!
We paid for the upper floor, and it’s well worth the extra cost and should be booked in advance. The main floor is a little crowded, and features a cramped shop and various brand-related events. This whole area becomes pitch black at night, with glass or glow-in-the-dark floor areas, and is overall a great way to experience the area.
However, if you have a time-slot for the additional floor you can line up at another elevator (note your time STARTS at the time listed, not “must arrive by” as the email says!) to go higher. This includes a brief promotional video, a professional photo (printed on a small promotional leaflet as you leave), a small drink, but most importantly a mirror-filled observation deck.
From this deck you can see miles and miles in all directions, with the city’s drastic appearance change during sunset providing a unique perspective. Whilst it can be quite crowded, people typically move on after taking their selfies so you can stare in peace. It’s even possible to see mt fuji sometimes!
Upon exiting there’s a strange small mall at the base, selling various mementos and snacks, with the exit hidden away and requiring careful sign following.
teamLab Borderless ★★★★✰
As one of the most Instagram-y places in Tokyo, this is obviously a place where aesthetics and visuals are prioritised above all else! Make sure to book in advance, as it can get busy at all hours on a weekend.
A free-flowing, dark, and fluid space with various rooms and corridors, this museum often feels like an accidental maze. Each room or area has unique exhibits moving across the walls and floor, with many of them actually migrating between areas. This means you might see a pretty school of fish swim away, then come across them a room or two later unexpectedly.
This effect is limited however, with most rooms having more of a looping cast of artworks. These are typically nature-based, such as fish, water, or flowers, although there’s good variety such as some corridors feature bizarre walking animations.
The space itself is dark throughout, although the layout is only confusing the first time you enter. After being in a room once, it’s fairly simple to figure out which other rooms are nearby and make your way there. The rooms by themselves vary in quality, with my favourites (typically the most otherworldly) often hidden away in side corridors, such as the “water lily” style room or vertically strobing lights. Other rooms feature mysterious balls rolling round, or large cubes in a completely dark room.
Overall it’s definitely worth visiting once, although if you visit in the evening the entrance in the basement of the mall can be hard to find! The mall itself seems empty, yet an open door leads to an escalator taking you to the correct location.
Yakitori Tsukada ★★★★★
A high-end yakitori restaurant offering a tasting menu of 10 or so dishes. All members of a group need to order the same menu, as they are served at the same time along with an explanation of what they are. We went for the “standard course” (Y4800 each), and it filled us up, but everything was so tasty I wish we’d gone for the premium!
Each course is unique, although unsurprisingly they are mostly chicken with something, however each is served so differently that it’s easy to forget there’s primarily one type of meat here. Courses are timed well, so there’s enough time for your group to talk about each dish and chat before the next one arrives, to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
Almost all cooking is done in front of you, including the occasional large fireballs! There’s a low level of conversation, but everyone was upbeat, I’d definitely recommend sitting at the counter not the larger tables. We had the matcha tiramisu at the end, a perfect dessert for two to share and finish the meal.
Overall the price was high, but we got what we paid for, clearly being the best chicken either of us have ever had. Even a dish as simple as a fried chicken wing somehow evolves through the cooking technique and seasoning! Pictured is a tsukimi tsukune.
Day 2 (8th September): Shinjuku
A meandering day that eventually ended up in Shinjuku, although the busy day yesterday meant our energy reserves were a little low! Regardless, we managed yet another high step day at 19,906 steps (9.03 miles).
IKEA Harajuku ★★★★✰
It’s hard to review this IKEA properly, since I just came in for their cheap drinks and snacks on a Monday morning! Tasty food, easy self-serve drinks, and a fairly quiet canteen.
Consecrated Sake Barrels ★★★★✰
An interesting diversion along the way to Meiji Jingu consisting of temple gifts on one side, and wines on the other side. Primarily a photo opportunity with little additional information.
Meiji Jingu ★★★✰✰
Whilst the surrounding green space is pretty good, especially for a crowded urban area, the actual shrine itself is fairly limited with far more impressive examples elsewhere. If you like this, you’ll love Kyoto!
Meiji Jingu Terrace ★★★★✰
A small food hall selling various drinks and snacks, excellent after walking through Meiji Jingu’s grounds. There’s also vending machines and a smoking area here, along with plenty of indoor and outside seats and other amenities.
A little expensive, but the convenient location within the park makes it hard to complain much.
NUIR ★★★★★
Despite not being interested in vintage luxury bags whatsoever, the calm and organised nature of NUIR needs mentioning! Upstairs in an unassuming building, the secluded shop is far larger and more full of items than expected, yet still finds space for a few seats to rest on.
Definitely worth a visit if interested in luxury vintage bags, and as a +1 the friendly staff and quiet atmosphere make it far preferable to other shops!
NANAKO ★★★★★
A simple waving cat statue in front of SEIBU Movida (with MUJI), make sure to say hello!
Milk Cheese Factory ★★★★★
This small shop within the food hall sells extremely tasty cheese cracker snacks! The free samples given out were enough to convince us to buy 2 packs, initially intended as gifts but half-eaten before we left Japan.
They seem simple, just cheese within seasoned crackers, but the flavour combinations and convenient pack size make them a convenient snack to bring out, even after they crumble!
Tonkatsu Wako ★★★★★
This restaurant’s front looks quite different to the current picture! Situated outside the actual metro plaza building, almost underneath a bridge, this is a tasty and inexpensive tonkatsu eatery.
We visited just after lunch, and whilst there were a few unique tonkatsu options we just went for classic pork. Served quickly and cooked fresh along with some gravy and hot tea, this was a perfect place for a quick meal.
Omoide Yokocho ★★★★✰
These 2 very narrow north-south alleyways feature tens of small izakayas and stalls selling basic snack food and drinks. Whilst we weren’t here at a meal time, walking down the central alleyway is highly recommended to experience the ambience!
The Giant 3D Cat ★★★✰✰
A bit of a disappointment as cat lovers! Whilst the cat does look fairly 3D at the right angle (pictured is the wrong angle!), the board is full of adverts the vast majority of the time. The large crowds in the area ensure this might be one of those things that looks best as a short video, not necessarily in person.
Kinokuniya Shinjuku ★★★★✰
A large book store with multiple floors accessible via a lift. The English books section has a pretty good selection, with plenty of books from Japanese authors as well as global classics. Staff at checkout were friendly, and wrapped the book in a paper cover.
Godzilla Head ★★★★✰
Yep, it’s a large Godzilla head at the end of a shopping road leading into a popular area of Shinjuku. Nothing to do besides take a photo of it and move on!
King Kong Statue ★★★✰✰
A small statue you might spot on your walk, nothing to do besides take a photo and move on!
Golden-Gai ★★★★✰
A few streets of tiny bars, even coming here during the day provides an intriguing atmosphere!
Quatre ★★★★✰
Tasty slices of cake, convenient for taking away, but very expensive!
Day 3 (9th September): Misc
A few final stops before we fly home on the 10th, all places that didn’t make it into earlier days! A healthy 15,488 steps (6.12 miles).
Nyankodo Bookstore ★★★★★
A wonderful little shop in Jimbocho near the metro station, containing hundreds of cat books and nothing else! All are in Japanese, but this isn’t an issue for the many, many cat photography books.
We purchased a book with professional photography of Kyoto-based cats (ねこの京都 by 岩合 光昭) after looking around for a bit, with the shop assistant letting us get on with it. Highly recommend a visit if you’re in the area!
Science & Tech Museum ★★★★★
Despite appearing closed on the outside, it’s very much open! After chatting to a friendly security guard and making our way to the ticket desk through a completely empty hallway, we purchased our tickets and made our way in.
This is obviously primarily a place for Japanese children / families, but non-Japanese adults can have lots of fun here too! There are 4 floors, each with a slightly different feel, I recommend working your way top to bottom.
There are hundreds of interactive exhibits scattered throughout, everything from an earthquake simulator to curling to cannons to walking pianos and optical illusions! You’ll need to use Google Translate for most items, but the child-friendly Japanese means it all translates well. My personal highlights are, using the floor map, 4F (construction), 5F (optical illusions), and 5H (guitar hero-style piano).
Around lunchtime you might turn a corner near 4E and suddenly discover… hundreds of Japanese school children eating their lunch! This was quite a surprise, as we’d only seen a few running around playing with the exhibits.
There’s a shop back on the ground floor, although mostly full of toys for kids (the museum’s main audience!).
Menchirashi ★★★✰✰
This extremely popular restaurant had a waiting time of around 30 minutes for lunch, so it must be great right? Well, it’s fine.
The signature dish is udon carbonara made with plenty of cheese, and it’s OK for a one-off, too unhealthy to enjoy often though. We had some tempura too, and again, that was fine. We were seated near the entrance, meaning people hungrily waiting outside did a lot of staring throughout, not a particularly relaxing environment.
Ultimately if this place had been empty and we’d just stopped in, it would be a 4/5. However the absurdly long queue makes it definitely not worth it, even though I understand that’s not entirely their fault!
Starbucks Fountain Park ★★★★★
A well-designed Starbucks offering excellent views over the nearby fountain park, with good food and drink options. It tends to be quite busy, with people sticking around to work or just socialise on hot days.
Kita-Hanebashi Gate ★★★★✰
A pretty entrance into the Imperial Palace East National Gardens, security was efficient and speedy, with no queue when we visited on a weekday lunchtime.
East National Gardens ★★★★✰
Large, well-maintained free gardens with a few entrances near the Imperial Palace. There’s plenty of shade, plus large open spaces, and is perfect for a very peaceful and relaxing walk during a weekday.
Conclusion
These final 3 days were easily the least planned part of our 5-part trip, consisting of 2 booked events (teamLab & Tokyo Tower), a vague plan for Shinjuku, and a completely unplanned final day! This flexibility was a great idea, as there were a few things (especially restaurants) that didn’t fit into our Tokyo part 1.
As our ~20 day trip came to an end, it was simply unbelievably how many different things we’d done! As the exactly 150 reviews(!) confirm, every day was busy. This is without even considering how many “things” aren’t reviewable (or aren’t worth reviewing). For example, spending 2 hours exploring a park, including various statues and areas? Probably only 1 review!
Similarly, it doesn’t contain any of the tens of stations / stops we took trains / buses / trams / metros / Shinkansens between, with us both spending around £75 (¥15000) on day-to-day transport (and a few vending machine drinks). Some of these, especially the Shinkansen and larger stations (Tokyo, Kyoto) are easily reviewable by themselves, but 150 is enough for anyone.
There’ll probably be a follow-up post covering techniques for handling the heat as a westerner (Tokyo broke consistent heat records whilst we were there!), but the structured reviews are all finished for now. I think I’m also travelled-out for now too, with 3 weeks of constant mental stimulation making me crave the boring, grey, day-to-day routine back in England!