Tokyo is an incredible city that is a must see for anyone with a travel bug.
The city is easy to travel in but the metro is a learning curve. A must have for anyone visiting is a Tokyo Metro Pass which offers unlimited travel on the Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway lines for 24–72 hours.
Our trip started when we left the airport and entered the infamous Shinjuku visit. This area is known for bars, clubs, karaoke clubs, and a life sized Godzilla statue.
Golden Gai is a few minutes from the East exit of Shinjuku Station. The district transports you to old Tokyo with narrow streets and two story buildings. This is a meeting space for musicians, artists, writers, academics, and actors. Each bar has a specialty and typically seats no more than 5–20 customs and it’s not uncommon for certain spots to be on an introduction only basis. Bar hopping here isn’t just an experience but a sample into different worlds with each spots.
Our second day we visited Ueno Park which is Tokyo’s version of Central Park. The park had beautiful temples where you could stamp your temple passport (a popular hobby among Japanese temple fans), buy charms, and nature bathe. Beautiful oaks lined the walk with historic additions such as a wall of aging Soju barrels.
The next stop was Taro Okamoto’s Myth of Tomorrow which is an incredible artwork in Tokyo’s busiest metro station in Shibuya. The mural features mushroom clouds, flames, and dancing skeletons. It’s inspired by the atomic bombs detonated by the Unites States upon the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Okamoto was a war veteran himself. The mural is composed of 14 concrete slabs and measures a spectacular 5.5 meters tall and 30 meters long. It’s suffocating and alluring all at the same time.
“The atomic bomb explodes and the world is thrown into chaos, but humanity will overcome both disaster and fate to open a new future”” — Okamoto
Shibuya is walking distance to a plethora of incredible restaurants as well as some amazing sites including the Tokyo Dog statue of Hachiko, an Akita dog known for his unwavering loyalty to his owner. The statue commemorates Hachiko’’s habit of waiting for his owner at the station even after his owner passed away.
Another great stop when in the Shibuya district is the Nintendo store filled with statues of your childhood heroes and even Pokemon jewelry for a potential spontaneous Pikachu proposal (Say yes?)
The best view in Tokyo is Shibuya Sky aka Tokyo Skytree. It’s an open air expierence with a glass floor and views of the iconic Shibuya Scramble Crossing. Tokyo Skytree is the tallest structure in Japan providing panoramic views from multiple levels including Mt Fuji on clear days.
I hope this helps in your future trip to Tokyo! We can’t wait to go back.
