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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/sri_rac_ha on 2024-06-21 12:26:09+00:00.

Hi all! Had the immense blessing of a layover in Japan landing Sunday night and with my next flight leaving Thursday afternoon earlier this month. I was very busy leading up to this trip so I did way less research than I normally would have and just let the universe guide me and totally had a blast. I hope this is helpful! I feel like it’s helpful to note that I was a solo female traveler in my early 20s, and I have non-life threatening but not-to-be-taken-lightly food allergies to many things, but most seriously shellfish and sesame, so that had to be navigated. Also worth noting that I’d visited Japan before about a decade ago with family on a similar but longer layover, so I felt less pressure to hit every single tourist thing.

Day 0 and prior (Traveling)

Summary: Landed, SIM card, storage, getting my bearings

• I used the template on this sub and help from an old Japanese colleague to laminate cards that clearly stated my allergies in both English and Japanese. I actually had a large paper-sized version that I quickly stopped using because it seemed to freak out people. Instead, I was lucky that the Staples I went to (US) offered to create smaller wallet-sized versions of the card for free, which were much easier to use. I did this the week before traveling.
• I flew Japan Airlines and had their 28-allergy free meal. It sucked, but it was safe, so minimal complaints.
• Once I landed Sunday evening, I immediately bought a 5-day SIM card from a vending machine. I already had exchanged $ for Yen prior to coming to Japan, so I paid in cash. I couldn’t get the SIM card to work with my e-sim, so I ended up asking one of the SIM counters to help me. Even though it wasn’t their SIM card/they didn’t profit from me, they still did :,).
• I then immediately stored one of my check-in bags in the luggage storage. I believe it was 3000 yen for the four days. I had another almost totally empty check-in bag and you bet I used every inch of it for shopping in Japan.
• I then took the train from Narita to Asakusa. I honestly don’t know if I was supposed to pay extra/buy a specific ticket and didn’t. I just loaded up Suica on my Apple Wallet, charged it with 2000 yen to start with a credit card, and kept it moving.
• The first night, I visited Don Quixote in Asakusa, realized I was about to fall asleep while walking, and promptly went back to my hotel - I stayed in APA Hotels. I went back and forth on whether to stay in a capsule hotel in Shibuya, a hostel in Shinjuku, or a hotel in Asakusa but finally decided on a hotel. For me, I needed the personal space for the shopping, and the privacy/safety as a solo traveler without much experience and a lot of luggage.
• Almost forgot! For dinner, I was rejected by a couple places because of my allergies before I finally found a little restaurant that would serve me. It was some vinegary-noodle dish… I wasn’t a huge fan, but I was very hungry and they were very kind, so it was fine.

Day 1 (Monday)

Summary: Senso-ji, Meiji Jingu, Harajuku, Shinjuku, x2 free walking tours

• I started the morning bright and early (like 6:30am early) thanks to jetlag. After doing laundry and struggling so badly to make a Harry Potter cafe reservation (finally after a Japanese hotel employee helped me with the website on Japanese, it worked), I walked to Senso-ji shrine. Nothing was open, but it was peaceful and quiet, which I loved.
• I then impulsively decided to go to a Meiji Jingu/Olympic area/Harajuku free walking tour. If you have never done a free walking tour, you are missing out! I was unfortunately never paired with anyone for the Japanese local greeter program, so I did free walking tours instead. These are the best! For the uninitiated, you sign up, and do the tour, and after tip what you’d like. Solo travelers usually tip 10-20 USD, families more like 20-50. I actually got lost but found the tour eventually.
• Then, I walked around Harajuku/Takeshita Street. This was only supposed to take an hour or so, and then I was supposed to explore both Shibuya and Shinjuku at some point in the day. I was an idiot. I spent time at Harajuku, then went to the HP cafe, then came back because I loved it so much. Here’s where I had breakfast - a crepe and some tanghulu.
• HP Cafe! The whole area is HP themed, which I loved. I don’t love the artist, but man do I love the art! I had the Expecto Patronum mocktail and the Slytherin toastie, which were decent. I also nabbed a few cafe-exclusive merch items that were much cheaper than the HP store’s. Overall I spent 35 dollars in the cafe and another 15 dollars in the store.
• Back to Harajuku! I visited a cat cafe that I’d been too young to visit a decade prior - I’ve been to a couple in the US and this was very similarly run, so I do believe it was ethical. I then walked around, had a coin pancake, more tangulu, and got some Gashapon capsules as souvenirs.
• I was so tired at this point but I again, impulsively signed up for a Shinjuku free walking tour. This one was about the dark side of Japanese culture. The tour guide, who notably wasn’t Japanese, took us to the Tokyo Metropolitan Viewpoint (awesome, you really don’t need SkyTree or anything paid), and showed us how many more ‘shady’/illegal businesses were in plain sight. He also showed/explained to us the runaway kids, host culture, and Yakuza influence. We also walked down both Golden Gai and Memory Lane. My tour guide also charged my phone which was super sweet. I was so tired I felt drunk on my way home, and clocked in at 13 miles walked!

Day 2 (Tuesday)

Summary: Kamakura day trip and Golden Gai

• For breakfast today and the rest of my days, I went and got an onigiri from a konbini. I was able to use Google Translate camera to see if any of my allergens were present, so I felt safe eating these.
• I really regret this. I visited an otter/hedgehog cafe. The second I walked in my gut felt off but I still paid for 30 minutes. Only then did I also notice the owls and lemurs :(. It was so small and definitely was not ethical. Avoid avoid avoid!!!
• I’d asked my flight attendant where I should visit near Tokyo, and she wrote me the sweetest note recommending Kamakura. I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS PLACE ISN’T MORE HYPED. If not for her I never would have gone. It was pretty far, like 1.5 hours of transit all things considered, but sooooo worth.
• I went to the main temple, Hase-dera. I looked around, and then looked for the hydrangea path. The temple was like 500 yen? to enter, and the path was another 500 yen. The path had a 2 hour wait, so I got my ticket and went to explore.
• I walked to the beach, which was lovely. I snacked wherever I smelled a good bakery along the way, lol. The temple also had snacks!
• Finally, I came back to the path. While crowded, even with timed entry, it was crowded for very good reason. I was so lucky, the path was at 100% bloom when I visited. Man. It and all of Kamakura was gorgeous - weirdly like the coast of Italy/Greece in a way? But lovely in its own right. Lots of Japanese tourists.
• I came back to Tokyo, and I actually met up with my flight seatmate and another solo traveler I met on one of my walking tours. We got together and hit Golden Gai! We were careful to hit places that were foreigner-friendly, and went to Albatross (5/10, not easy to socialize and very pricy), Champion (not a Golden Gai-vibe, but the karaoke was so fun and it was cheap! even if we were kinda pressured to buybuybuy. I was pleased by the nonalcoholic option of oolong tea), and my favorite, which I’m wracking my brain for the name of!! It was on the 2nd floor, I’ll have to ask my fellow barhoppers if they remember what it was called. It was such a good vibe, and not tooo expensive. I loved the plum wine I tried there. I will say, there were some non-Japanese men that I think were there to encourage people to go into some other bars, but they stared at me quite a bit before my fellow barhoppers arrived and freaked me out. So I’m not sure if I could’ve done this solo. I took the 2nd to last train back to Asakusa!
• Btw, tonight and the rest of my nights, I got a cold matcha eclair from the konbini (I think it was Lawson?) as a late night snack. So MF good. I will never forget it.

Day 3 (Wednesday)

Summary: Your Name, shopping, karaoke

• I started the day by visiting the red stairs at the end of the movie Your Name. These were a bit of an adventure to find but it was nice to walk around the residential areas of Tokyo. I then went to Shibuya.
• I got a new pair of glasses at Jins. The eye test was totally free, the frames were on sale for 60 dollars, and they were ready in an hour.
• I went to GU, since I’m young and broke. Dude. I love this place. I bought lots of clothes here, and I usually don’t enjoy shopping.
• I walked around Shibuya crossing.
• I had Sushiro. This was a low of the trip - even with their allergen menu, there must have been some bad shellfish cross-contamination because I had a bad allergy attack. Luckily I stayed calm, had my meds, and took some time to rest, but this sucked.
• I visited Hands to get pens for family
• It was this point that I actually was running low on cash. I used a mix of cash/card/Suica for the rest of the trip.
• I came back to Asakusa and finally geared up for the Don Quixote run of a lifetime. I bought probably 200 USD worth of stuff, mostly for friends and family. Skincare, contacts, kitkats… …

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