March 2025

I hope you came from the Kyoto blog, because that is where my Japan trip started first. If you did not read that, please read that blog first, then come back to this one 🙂

Otherwise, here’s a brief overview again:
My parents & I went on a trip together! It’s been 10 years since my travel bug started – I went on a trip with my parents to New York City in 2015 and you can read the blog here. What a full circle! It was a good trip with my parents. Cheers to more memories with them!

We were in Japan for 7 days total, well I guess 6.5 days if you want to count part of it for travel day. We went to Kyoto and Tokyo, and had a little bit more time in Kyoto. Ofcourse, 7 days is NOT enough in Japan. You definitely need 10 days minimum, or even 14 days minimum to see the “major” things.

I have listed the places of things to see and do, and places to eat in alphabetical order. I also added some photos & information below the list that I have experienced.

How to Get Around Tokyo
Tons of walking and taking the local trains/subways! Bring good walking shoes, because you will walk sooooo much. The trains/subways are easy to navigate with Google Maps! Google Maps is very helpful, because it tells you what platform to go to and the train # to go into (so that you can exit out faster to your destination). It also tell you each stops and the numbers as well.

Side note, my mom left Japan a day earlier than us, so we did three types of transportation to/from our stay to Narita International Airport (NRT). 

• There was a limousine bus two blocks away from our Tokyo hotel and the limousine bus was SO convenient. You line up about 15-20 minutes prior to the bus coming, the workers load your luggages for you, scans your QR code ticket, and you relax on the bus and they will drop you off at your terminal! Easy!! It took about 1.5 hours to get from the hotel to the airport. But, there are only certain times that the bus will go, so you will have to plan it out accordingly. They also have this limousine bus from the airport and will drop off at certain locations in Tokyo. This experience was very similar to the limousine bus I took from Osaka airport to Kyoto station.
• After dropping my mom off at the airport, my dad and I took the Narita Express from Narita International Airport to Shinjuku Station (where we stayed) and it was a nice ride. We bought the tickets about 20 minutes prior to the train coming and you get to select your seats. The seats are comfy and spacious and lots of area to put your luggages. 
• My dad and I had an early flight out of Tokyo! The limousine bus and Narita Express did not open early enough for us to get to the airport in time for our flight. The trains were going to be a bit long, so we opt for a taxi. It was expensive….and unfortunately, our taxi driver was tired that he forgot to press “picked up” on the Go Taxi app and we had to remind/ask him. He was so sleepy that he served a couple of times. It was very scary. Typing this out makes my heart beat faster. It was such a worrisome ride. I hope he is okay and gets lots of rest. 

Those are a couple of ways to get our Tokyo. In my Kyoto blog, I also talked about the bullet train and others transportations and all. Besides that, again, tons of walking!

Where Did I Stay?
We stayed at Shinjuku Prince Hotel in the Shinjuku neighborhood. It was a great location because everything was nearby, subway/trains, restaurants, shops, etc. The hotel itself was nice, but the bathroom was a bit on the older side. We were on the 20th floor and it was a nice view. The hotel did not have free coffee/tea in the lobby, but they did have it in the room. They have free umbrellas for you to borrow and you will need to let them know your room number. Service was fine! IF I ever come back to Shinjuku, I would stay here again, however, in general, I don’t think I would stay in the Shinjuku area and would like to explore another neighborhood in Tokyo – probably Asakusa area (because that was my 2nd choice).

How was the weather?
Oh, like I said in the Kyoto blog, it was cold and rainy….and in Tokyo, it actually snowed one of the days!!! It was NOT on the forecast and we were NOT prepared for the snow. It was sooo cold and our feet were soak and wet from the snow!! Even though it snowed, it was soooo pretty! After the snow, it cleared up! On the last two days that we were, we got some sun which was very nice – I guess cause it was a few days later in March and not early/mid March ha.

What is the currency?
Japanese Yen! Make sure to have some cash with you because some places do not take card, especially the smaller shops/markets. 

Things to Do/See
3D Cat Billboard
Akihabara Anime District
Godzilla Statue
Ginza Shopping District
Hachikō Memorial Statue
Kappabashi Kitchen Tools Street
Mega Don Quijote
Meiji Jingu Shrine
Omoide Yokocho
Senso-Ji Temple
Shibuya Street Crossing
Shinjuku Golden-Gai
Takeshita Street
Tokyo Skytree

Places to eat/drink
7/11
Kobe Beef Dining
Marugame Seimen Shibuya Dogen-zaka Shop
Wagyu Sushi Ginza USHIAWASE
Yakitori Torikizoku Shinjuku South Exit Store

Things to Do/See

3D Cat Billboard
To be honest, I thought this billboard would be A LOT bigger in person, but it is smaller haha. I did not even take a photo of it, only a video, sorry. If you are in the Shinjuku area, stop by, but I would not go out of my way to see this billboard…unless you like cats a lot, then I understand, haha. The billboard looks better at night, so if you do plan to visit, stop by at night. It is right outside of one of the exits at Shinjuku station.

Akihabara Anime District
If you are into anime, definitely check out this long street full of anime stores! I am not into anime but I was here to get some souvenirs for my little cousins.

Godzilla Statue
This area is in the heart of Shinjuku. There are a ton of restaurants & bars. Come see it at night!

Ginza Shopping District
This area has the higher end stores. We obviously did not buy anything here and window shopped haha. They have the entire street blocked off so you can roam in the middle of the road and take photos. I believe at 6pm, they will unblock the streets so that cars can get by. This area has the biggest Uniqlo – there are 12 floors!

Hachikō Memorial Statue
If you have not seen the Hachi movie…you need to watch it!! What a loyal dog!! It is an honor that we were able to see and touch the statue. However, there was a longgggg line for photos at this statue, so my parents and I did a selfie instead.

Kappabashi Kitchen Tools Street
This is in the Asakusa neighborhood and if you want to shop for some kitchen items (knife, bowls, chopsticks, etc.) – this is the street to do it!

Mega Don Quijote
The infamous store that everyone goes to! I went to a few in Tokyo & Kyoto, and you can go to mega or non mega one – I would say non mega…because it is not as crowded! I really liked the Asakusa Don Quijote. At this store, you can get a lot of souvenirs and if you bring your passport or do the tax free QR code online, you will get all the items tax free! Save yourself some money!

A quick side note, there are some stores that do tax free if you have your passport or the tax free QR code online…but most stores do not accept the QR code, which was a bummer! I was a bit scared to carry my passport around, because what if you lose it!! Anyway, I wish all of the stores accepted the tax free QR code online…because why would they not? It is on Japan’s official site. Anyway, thought over.

Meiji Jingu Shrine
Take the subway and get off at Harajuku line and walk over to Meiji Jingu Shrine. When you walk through, you will see sake barrels and more. Luckily, this day was super sunny and it was so nice to be in nature. There is also a tree where you can make a wish and/or put a letter in a box. We randomly saw a part of a Japanese wedding ceremony here – it was beautiful!

Omoide Yokocho
I liked this place better than Shinjuku Golden-Gai which I will talk about as you continue reading. There are a few alleyways with food and drinks. It is a little bit bigger than Golden-Gai area and seemed a little bit cleaner and not as many cover charges.

Senso-Ji Temple
This temple was my favorite temple that I seen in Tokyo! This was the day that it snowed! Gosh, it was so cold but soooo pretty!!! I wish I had a professional camera (with gloves LOL) because the photos would have turned out even better! I was also surprised at how many people were at the temple despite the snow and cold weather.

Shibuya Street Crossing
The famous street that everyone experiences! I believe online says that there are over 3,000 people that crosses it at once time and over 2 million people cross it per day. That is INSANE. My parents and I crossed this street multiple times for the experience, photos, and videos haha.

Also, there is a Starbucks and you can go to the 2nd level to see the video of people crossing below.

Shinjuku Golden-Gai
This place is a popular area to get drinks because of the small alleyways. Inside the bars, the ceilings looks a bit low and it looks very snugged inside – I was afraid of getting sick or thought about safety hazards haha. Some places has a cover charge and only takes cash, so make sure you have some cash!

Takeshita Street
I unfortunately did not go into this street, but I passed by it and it looked fun and lively with a lot of stores! It was very crowded around 10am though.

Tokyo Skytree
I did not go to Tokyo Skytree, but I saw it from afar and it looked super nice! I would have went up to one of the many towers in Tokyo to see the view, but, the weather was not nice, so I did not think it was worth it to go up when it was cloudy.

Places to eat/drink
7/11
Like I said in the Kyoto blog, I went to so many 7/11s to grab the famous egg sandwich, strawberry sandwich, Japanese rice balls, and many other snacks! It was easy and convenient.

Kobe Beef Dining
We stumbled upon this and wow, the kobe beef was soooo yummy!!! I wished I had more of them here at the restaurant and at different places too!! I wished I order a larger portion of just the kobe beef! If the beef is too rare for you, you can cook it on the mini circle grill to make it to your liking. The restaurant itself was nice and clean, had good service and the beer was tasty too. After we paid, the workers gave us stickers which was nice.

Marugame Seimen Shibuya Dogen-zaka Shop
I went to a couple of marugame udon restaurants here in California and the original in Hawaii. My first experience was in Oahu and it was so yummy! Ofcourse, I had to try it where it originated from: Japan! This is not the original restaurant, but it is the same marugame udon chain. The servers did not speak any English and the menu was not in English either, so I looked at the photos and pointed to one and the food was fine! I did think the soup was a bit salty and the egg was a bit too raw and cold. Other than that, it is pretty much the same concept: get the food, pay, then find your own seat and serve yourself water. After when you are done, you put it on the disposal tray and you are out! Maybe try a different marugame udon spot!

Wagyu Sushi Ginza USHIAWASE
This was my favorite place that I ate in Tokyo. It was my first time having wagyu sushi so I do not have anything to compare it to. It is a shop that you order and do takeout. They do have 1 TINY area if you wanted to eat there, but I recommend to just do takeout (but eat it quickly). Unfortunately, there is no place to sit and eat outside, so I walked over to the Ginza shopping area, sat on the sidewalk and ate it. I got 5 pieces for $37 USD (pricey, but so worth). It was very good! The packaging was great and I was able to keep the wooden box as a souvenir!

Yakitori Torikizoku Shinjuku South Exit Store
There are multiple Yakitori Torikizoku chains around Tokyo and the main thing is little small tapa meals/skewers, cheap and good drinks and food and you sit in wooden stalls. This specific location, you can walk 8-9 flights of stairs or take the 1 elevator that they have. There was a wait for this one, maybe about 20-30 minutes. You order from the ipad, enjoy your food, then pay at the front before you leave. It is a good place for a group of people to hang out, eat, drink and catch up for cheap! 

Overall, Tokyo was cool, but crowded! I prefer Kyoto over Tokyo. There is so much to do in Tokyo so definitely spend more than 2.5-3.5 days there. I wished we went to Ueno area, but it’s okay, next time!

In general, I want to go back to Japan to explore other cities such as Hakone, Mt. Fuji, Hiroshima, and so much more!

As always, thank you for visiting Vivian’s Ventures. Have you been to Tokyo? If so, tell me in the comments/reply section about your experience. What should I do if I go back? If you haven’t been, tell me what you are planning to do there. Any questions or comments, let me know. Let’s chat! #viviansventures