Japan was always the plan, it was only a matter of when. 🙂 We planned well in advance, but even then, thanks to it being Sakura season, a lot of hotels were sold out. The visa took less than a week to get processed. Bangalore has a direct flight to Tokyo. So all you have to do is, to quote Amrita Rao, ‘JAL lijiye’. Interestingly, the pilot took off immediately after we landed, confusing all of us! We finally landed again after about 20 minutes. Tokyo was our first stop. We began, and ended, our 11-day Japan trip in Tokyo. This is our list of where to stay, what to see, and where and what to eat.
D shot while I snored.
Carry a bit of currency and a forex card. There are still many outlets, especially eateries, that take only cash. Thanks to Google Lens, language wasn’t as big a difficulty as I had thought it would be. Having said that, being prepared with the basics – Pocket Wifi (Ninja worked well for us), the uber-useful JR pass that you book in advance, gets couriered to you in a couple of days, and lets you travel on those amazing inter-city Shinkansens (bullet trains), the Welcome Suica (we only used that and didn’t really need other city-specific passes in Kyoto, Osaka etc) and N’EX tickets – would all be useful.
N’EX takes you into Tokyo and out of it (and in our case, Japan) but before we get there, we have places to go!
Stay
We started with Tokyo, stayed for a few days, then traveled a bit, and came back for a couple of days.
This is Super Hotel Premier. That’s the name, not the description. It’s very close to the Tokyo Station, and therefore convenient if you are interested in the Imperial Palace and making day trips. The buffet breakfast is decent. The best thing about the place was the lady at the reception who spoke English, and helped us store and transfer our baggage to our other Tokyo Hotel. The other saving grace was that they had a public onsen, so that gave us our first (and only) experience of going nude in public in Japan!Tokyo Stay Shinjuku was our hotel during our second Tokyo visit. We chose this because we wanted to be around Shinjuku. The location was probably the only good thing about the place. The breakfast was served at the restaurant right next door, which was actually a bar. The ambience was so ‘last night’ that on the second day, we decided to eat breakfast elsewhere!
See/Do
Our first port of call was the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace. We had planned to do the guided Palace tour as well, but those got booked the moment the calendar opened! We decided to skip the last minute registration process. The garden is huge and you can wander for a loooong time looking at lakes……or flowers……or more flowers…We had also planned to spend time inside a maid cafe at Akihabara but the maids were busy, and we didn’t fancy waiting in line for an hour. TBH, I was also not very comfortable with the entire objectification. That’s the Tokyo Skytree on the left and the Asahi Beer Hall with the Asahi Flame at the top. Is it me or does it remind you of something else?Wander around Asakusa and continue on the Sumida River Walk, where you will see photoshoots all around.Then walk across the bridge to Sumida Park, which gives you a close-up view of the Tokyo SkytreeBut the real view is the one from the Tokyo Skytree, the third tallest building in the world. A magnificent panoramic view of Tokyo in all its moods! The approach to Senso-ji is bustling and calm at the same time. Nakamise-dōri is great for some trinket shopping. As the Buddha tries to rise above everything, the Skytree looms in the backgroundShinjuka is IT! An absolute cornucopia that screams abundance for every sort of taste anyone could have! A good activity is the Shinjuku Night Free Walking Tour which takes you through the Red Light District with its love hotels, host/hostess (boyfriend/girlfriend) clubs, Golden Gai, Godzilla Road, and Piss Alley. Nobu is an entertaining tour guide. The madness that is Shibuya Crossing. Walk up to the Starbucks for a great view. And just so you get a sense of how crazy this place is, there is Godzilla! …and just in case you missed the other monsterShinjuku gyoen is the island of peace at the heart of it all. A great place to visit for a wonderful walk. Every turn brings you a new postcard……with flowers and pavilionsThe Meiji Jingu shrine is another huge area that somehow ends up being peaceful even when there is a crowd!
Eat/Drink
The Tokyo Metro Station is a maze, but one soft landing place is The Beer Hall. Beer, of course, a splendid tofu dish, Tonkatsu (pork cutlet) and beefThere is no better place to start the food scene in Tokyo than the Tsukiji Outer Market. We tried eel, oysters, sea urchins, a tamago (sweet egg) and of course, the Matcha ice cream.Sarutahiko had an excellent sakura flavoured coffeeHako for some great Japanese food. Authentic because there is no English menu! T4 Kitchen has some reliable fare. How we got here is a good example of how nice Japanese are. Our original choice of restaurant wasn’t convincing when we got there, so we decided to google alternatives. D found one that seemed decent, but Google wasn’t clear about the last 100m. We went into the building which we thought it was in on, landed on the floor, and I walked in confidently into a women’s store! When we told the person there where we wanted to go, she signaled us to follow and promptly got back into the elevator. Then she said (Google translate) she would come with us, because finding it would be difficult for us. That’s how kind and helpful they are. Unfortunately, that restaurant was also a dud, and thus we landed at T4, which we had eyed on the way.Ichiran Ramen is the place to be for ramen. They have branches all over, and the experience is unique and customised. But what we came for really, after a 50 minute long wait in a queue, was the ramen! Probably my best meal in Japan.Its competition is called Omoide Yokochō (Memory lane), or more informally Piss Alley. Two streets but a rich experience. Every place is just a hole in the wall. Most places charge an Otoshi (table charge) but give you an appetiser in lieu of that. Yakitori of everything you have eaten, and many spare parts you haven’t! If you’re particularly adventurous, ask around for Asadachi. The one on the right is Motsuni, pork intestine being the interesting ingredient. Desserts of course. Mr.Waffle in Shinjuku is a safe bet Niigata Shokurakuen in Omote-sando for SobaThat is crab cola which we didn’t try (I am allergic) and fancy barley tea which we did try!Eggs ‘n Things, Harajuku. Snooty max, and the food isn’t really worth it. Shinjuku Whisky Salon if you want to try very well crafted cocktails or different types of whiskey. Pricey, but worth it. Beef and sake and Makgeolli (<3) at Gyushige.The crepes are secondary, that Crepe Petit Varie stays open late is the point!How to end the night? Go to Kurand Sake Market, where you can drink unlimited amounts of sake of practically unlimited kinds, and get your own food (or order from outside) or eat the cup-o-noodles available. Ama-effing-zing.
Tokyo has a hurried pace, but in its many neighbourhoods – from Shinjuku to Tsukiji and Asakusa to Akihabara and even the subway station, you will find subcultures and vibes that I don’t think you’ll find anywhere else in the world. It’s a fascinating ride, and one that I would highly recommend.
They maintain it well. And yes, it’s all those things as well.
Actually, neither freeing nor weird. No one cares, so we don’t care either! 🙂 Helps that we’re never going to see them again.
I had no idea that Japanese gardens could look this beautiful! In my head, it’s always been cherry blossoms and Fujiyama and fancy loos /other tech.
How was the nude-in-public experience? Freeing or weird?
They maintain it well. And yes, it’s all those things as well.
Actually, neither freeing nor weird. No one cares, so we don’t care either! 🙂 Helps that we’re never going to see them again.