5 Things You Need To Do in Tokyo
I spent 2 short but very full days in Tokyo recently and these are my top recommendations on things you absolutely need to see and do if you’re planning on going!
I literally did 45k steps in 2 days. I was running around Tokyo sweating my ass off with chafed thighs and toe blisters but it was all worth it because of these 5 things.
(See my post about the things I wish I knew before going to Tokyo here)
In no particular order, because that would be way too hard…
Here we go.
Get Ramen at Ichiran
This was one of the best food experiences of my life. I randomly found this place by looking for ramen on google maps and choosing one with good reviews that was close enough to me. (That’s how I end up finding most restaurants I end up at). I recommend going a bit early because the line when I was leaving was all the way up the stairs and down the sidewalk. I got there early evening I think around 6pm, so I’d day 5–6pm is great.
It’s kind of hidden down this stair case which goes inside to a basement sort of thing but it’s a full ass restaurant down there. It was so not what I was expecting. When you get to the entrance, you order your ramen off the touch screen display and take your ticket and stand in line.
Once you get close to being next to be seated, a host will bring you a sheet so you can specify exactly how you want your ramen done. I thought this was very cool. You can choose more or less spicy, bold, extra egg etc.
Then you wait to be seated in your booth. Once you get seated the chef will greet you and pretty quickly serve your bowl to you.
Absolutely the best ramen I’ve ever had in my life and probably ever will have. I would go back to Tokyo just to go to this place again. You absolutely must go. Fucking fire. I still think about this all the time.
Conveyor Belt Sushi (Kaiten Sushi)
One of the experiences I had on my list for Tokyo was to eat at a conveyor belt sushi bar. So that was pretty high on the priority list. Again, I did a google maps search of sushi places near me, at the time I was at Shibuya Crossing which is how I found this place.
It’s located way up on the 7th or 8th floor of this mall (I don’t remember exactly), I had no idea where I was going and was just lost in a sea of escalators. I just kept going up and around and up and around until I got to the floor with a bunch of restaurants.
I walked in and was seated, and absolutely no idea what was going on or how these places worked so I asked one of the staff. I must say everyone was really nice and helpful all of the times I was confused as fuck in Tokyo (if they spoke English)… which was a lot lol.
Basically you can take any of the dishes off the conveyor belt that you want and they’re priced based on the colour/design of the plate that they’re on. Or you can order off the iPad anything else you want, and order drinks off the iPad too (which easily switches to English).
I had a beer and a decent amount of food and I think I spent about $15 CAD. I was so happy I found this place and had this experience. 10/10. I would definitely do it again, and this place specifically was very good. It was such a vibe, everyone was so friendly and happy, the chefs were having a great time and interacting with me. Overall a top tier experience.
Shibuya Crossing
If you didn’t know, Shibuya Crossing is said to be the busiest intersection in the world. This was high on my list of to do’s as well. I went on a week day in the middle of the day. It wasn’t nearly as busy as I’ve seen in videos which I was kind of happy about. I think I crossed like 5–6 times, I was having so much fun just being there.
If I had more time I would have went back at night to experience it again. Overall a cool experience just to say you’ve crossed the street at the busiest crossing in the world. Plus there’s so much to see in that area, the LED signs and displays, the shops and malls, tons of food around there. I could have spent all day just in that one area if I had more time.
Omoide Yokochō – the Red Lantern Alley
One of the things I really wanted to see in Japan was the red lanterns. They’re so nostalgic. Big Japan vibes. I couldn’t leave without seeing some. So I goggled where I could see them in Tokyo and found this area that was not that far from where I was staying.
I feel like I’ve seen so many videos and TikTok’s and photos of this place with the tiny little alley ways with the red lanterns and the tiny little bars and restaurants that literally fit like 4 people inside.
And I found it. In real life. It was sick.
I definitely recommend going at night when you can really see the lanterns and the alleys are alive with smoke and smells from food cooking and people having beers crammed into these eenie weenie little places.
I went during the day and again at night. Again, if I had more time there I would have eaten at one of those tiny bars and had some beers.
So fucking cool.
Team Lab Tokyo
This place was definitely a highlight of my trip. I had seen so much on TikTok of this place and I had it on my list. I knew it was going to be amazing but it really blew me away.
I booked my ticket a couple days in advance. I recommend doing that. I think it usually gets fully booked. It’s a bit farther out from Shibuya or Shinjuku. You can definitely take the train to get there. I ended up taking the train to Ginza where I spent some time in the afternoon which I also recommend doing… And then I was so fed up with the trains at that point that I decided to just take a cab to Team Lab instead cause it wasn’t too much farther.
If you’re not familiar with Team Lab, it’s an interactive museum.
Have a look on my TikTok or my instagram, or just search it on TikTok so you can see other peoples posts too. Still photos really don’t do it justice.
It was a whole experience. I could have stayed in the mirrored sparkly light room for hours. I’m glad I took the time to go and made the effort to get out there.
There we have it, my top 5 recommendations for Tokyo!
If you’re going any time soon and have any questions, ask away! Unless it’s about trains. Don’t ask me about trains.
You can comment here or find me on IG here, I always check my dms.
Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed.
Bailey xo
