This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/OneFun9000 on 2024-03-13 13:51:55.

Intro

This was my fourth time in Japan, so there was very little pressure to see things, and a lot of the time we were revisiting things that we’d liked from previous trips (you can see these reports on my profile). The goal of this trip was to explore different parts of the Tokyo metropolitan area. To preface, I’m not a huge foodie and I don’t eat meat, though can put up with dashi in Japan. I’m almost never willing to line up for stuff because I’m terribly impatient, so I didn’t go to particularly famous places. My travel style is fairly easygoing, with rough plans plotted out on a map and deciding on the day itself exactly what to do depending on the weather and my mood. I enjoy shopping, so I did a lot of that.

Day 1

My flight with JAL was fine. Vegetarian special meal was shamefully bad (I complained when I got home and got an acknowledgement of that fact and an apology), but the standard meals were excellent, I’m told. I find the service on JAL a bit too “Japanese”, meaning that it’s pretty stuffy and deferential. The plane was showing its age too. I’d give them another chance in the other direction, because apparently their special meal catering out of Japan is very good.

It was too cloudy to see Mt Fuji this time, unfortunately. We flew very low right over central Tokyo and it’s a great city to look at from above.

Our plane arrived at sunset, and the lines for immigration and customs were short and sweet.

We took a taxi to our hotel, Keio Plaza in Shinjuku.

Unfortunately, sleeping on the plane for a few hours really threw me out of whack and that night I didn’t get a wink of sleep.

Day 2

Given that we got no sleep, it was a pretty easygoing day. We visited the Shinjuku National Garden, including greenhouse, which I have been to before but really enjoy.

The rest of the day was some light shopping and comfort foods. The hotel complex is huge, so we had some time exploring it too. The hotel seems really popular with package groups, so sometimes breakfast would be immensely crowded and other times almost empty. The hotel is decent, though a little old-fashioned. The staff were always very kind and friendly which I appreciated. The club lounge was a pleasant place to hang out in the evenings before dinner, with lots of little cakes and treats.

I can see why people find Shinjuku station intimidating, given it is the world’s busiest(!) but having commuted using some of the other top stations I didn’t find it too bad. You just need to keep moving and keep an eye out for the signs, for the most part they are pretty logical.

Day 3

Jet lag was still knocking me down, but I managed to sleep okay and watch the sunrise in the morning.

After breakfast in the hotel, we did some walking around and then went to the Tokyo Metropolitan viewing deck as it opened, which I definitely would recommend. There was a perfect view of Mt Fuji and it wasn’t too crowded.

The next activity was TeamLabs Borderless. Meh. 3/10. I don’t get the hype. I’ve made it three times in Tokyo without going to any of them and I don’t feel like I missed out. One of the first exhibits you see is a cool, innovative light show, so I thought that would set the tone but it was actually by far the peak. It’s sold as being interactive but it’s not interactive for 99% of it, it’s just (actually fairly poor quality) projections on walls. It was funny to see how almost everybody was constantly touching the walls to see if it did anything but it didn’t.

One part of it where there were different moving projections on the walls and the floor gave me motion sickness, so at least I felt something!

It’s an accessibility nightmare too as it’s unstable ground and mostly very dark. I’m not sure how people can find themselves “immersed” in the art when you’re not allowed to sit down in the vast majority of it, and you’re spending time watching where you’re going and trying not to bump into crowds of people. You’re unlikely to get decent pictures because it’s so dark, so it doesn’t have that going for it either. The app is supposed to help you navigate and give you more information but it was very buggy and didn’t really work.

All in all, different strokes for different folks I guess but I really don’t understand the appeal.

Jetlag meant that I was able to get same-day reservations for the Kirby Cafe. It was totally on a whim since I’ve never even played a game but we thought it looked cute. For all people said the food was bad, I actually really enjoyed the pizza and the various starters! The science experiment drink was fun; I didn’t particularly like the centrepiece dessert because it was a very thick and fairly bland mousse, but it looked cool.

Day 4

21/21 Design Museum. This was much more my speed, with an exhibit on the history of typefaces around the world. Unique and interesting exhibit, and the surrounding gardens are lovely.

Lunch was at Daigo, a restaurant I’ve been to before which formerly had two Michelin stars but after a cull last year is down to one. That said, I actually enjoyed the food more the second time. Highlights included cold soba and crispy seaweed rice.

We headed to Ginza for some shopping.

Day 5

We took a day trip to Enoshima. We wanted to ride the suspended monorail, which was a lot of fun and surprisingly really fast. We had Hawaiian food near the shore, then walked to the island. It was a nice day but intermittently very windy, and you could feel the Sea Candle swaying slightly. I really loved Enoshima Island; it had quirky shops, lots of little cafes and beautiful gardens. I’d definitely recommend visiting if you have a free day and want to do something fairly relaxed. That said I can imagine at peak times that it gets very busy like everything else in Japan! We had some Japanese wine at one of the cafes in the gardens.

We had an Enoshima Pudding which is made with toasted barley, and it was delicious.

Later in the afternoon we took the Enoshima Electric Railway to Hase to see the Giant Buddha. I hadn’t realised that this railway was a tourist attraction in its own right and has featured in countless media, so when we crossed over the small bridge there was an army of people outside the train taking pictures. The buddha was impressive not so much in the size but in the construction and its history.

We headed back to Shinjuku where I’d reserved a place at Kura Sushi.

Day 6

We ventured out early to Odaiba to go to Small Worlds. Unlike almost every attraction it opens at 9am, which is a huge bonus!

I actually really loved Small Worlds. It was a little goofy but eminently enjoyable. Being there early meant that we had enough time to do all the interactive parts (basically pushing buttons and seeing what happens!) without feeling crowded. Maybe a little pricey for the size of the exhibit but I’d still recommend especially for older kids.

Then we had some okonomiyaki for lunch in DiverCity.

Later in the day we went to the department stores in Shinjuku. Dinner was at Sohonke Komatsuan, a soba restaurant at the top of Takashimaya. It was great, and had expansive views over the train lines.

Day 7

We had been aiming at a slightly less walking day, and failed! We wanted some Korean food so headed to Korea Town. We ended up in a place called Retro Dongmakgol. We probably over ordered but wanted to try lots of stuff. It was great, and the place had a really quirky vibe. The waiters spoke excellent English which caught me a little off guard because we were the only non-Asian people there.

We headed to Omotesando to visit some specific stores and bought some shoes. The main Harajuku thoroughfares were incredibly busy, so as usual we skipped it and took the side streets.

Dinner was a chilled affair in a family restaurant near the hotel.

Day 8

We headed out to the Open Air Folk House Museum. It was really lovely with lots of volunteers doing things like basket weaving, stoking fires. It’s a lot of walking though, and very steep in some parts, but I still really enjoyed myself. We stopped for a coffee at Coffee Kan, a kind of upmarket chain place which specialises in charcoal roasted coffee. They had quite delicious pancakes too.

For lunch we went to Oscar American Chinese which coincidentally I had seen recommended on this very subreddit that morning. It was amazing, though probably moreso for a European because if I lived in the US I’d find it maybe too authentic in that sense! It’s fully vegan buffet-style American Chinese food. The location is very hipster, and for some reason the merch seemed more in demand than the food! Shimokitazawa felt very hip and vibrant.

We went to Gotokuji Temple, which was a bit of a tourist trap for the cat-related section but the rest of the temple was really nice. More enjoyable actually were the side streets with some beautiful homes. I can see why people say to skip it but as a gentle wandering destination I liked it. We inadvertently caught the cat-themed train on the way back into the city, which was super cute.

Day 9

I always try to visit a weird attraction, so this trip I decided on the Museum of Package Culture. It’s on the ground floor of an office building, and the whole time we were literally the only people there, including zero staff! It’s free and reasonably i…

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