The best vacation I've ever taken was a two week stay in Tokyo. Tokyo is such a rich city in culture and filled to the brim with wonderful people.
Although I saw a lot during my time there, these map points indicate my favorite stops along the trip.
If you have the opportunity to take a vacation here in the future, I advise you to seriously consider Tokyo being at the top of the list. You won't be disappointed.
Tokyo Tower is a communications and observation tower in the Shiba-koen district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. At 332.9 meters (1,092 ft), it is the second-tallest structure in Japan. The structure is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and international orange to comply with air safety regulations.Built in 1958, the tower's main sources of income are tourism and antenna leasing. Over 150 million people have visited the tower.
I visited this to see the One Piece theme park inside. I am an avid fan of the manga and it proved to be an awesome experience filled with games and attractions. If you've seen the skyscape of Tokyo more likely than not you have seen the Tokyo Tower.
This city block is a small area of Kabukicho, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, famous both as an area of architectural interest and for its nightlife. It is composed of a network of six narrow alleys, connected by even narrower passageways which are just about wide enough for a single person to pass through. Over 200 tiny shanty-style bars, clubs and eateries are squeezed into this area.
If you're one to enjoy the nightlife scene in any capacity I highly recommed visiting Golden Gai. What makes this area so special in my opinion are the size of the bars. A large majority of the bars are tiny, filled with only 5-10 person seating areas. It makes for a really unique and intimate experience. The bartenders themselves prove to be very friendly and open to spending time with anyone who walks in the door. Personally I spent most of my evenings here. My favorite is called Bar Araku.
teamLab Planets is a museum where you walk through water. It consists of four vast exhibition spaces containing seven indoor artworks, plus one outdoor piece at the entrance for a total of eight works created by art collective teamLab. By immersing the entire body with other people in these massive “Body Immersive” artworks, the boundary between the body and the artwork dissolves, the boundaries between the self, others, and the world become something continuous, and we explore a new relationship without boundaries between ourselves and the world. Visitors enter the museum barefoot, and become completely immersed with other visitors in the vast artwork spaces.
I haven't ever experienced an art exhibition like this one, when they say its fully immersive they aren't overexaggerating in the slightest. The last art installation legitimately had my losing the boundaries of my body while watching the projections on the ceiling. What they have done here is otherworldly, and incredibly difficult to put into words. Just go see it.
The Tokyo Skytree is a broadcasting and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo. It became the tallest structure in Japan in 2010 and reached its full height of 634.0 meters (2,080 ft) in March 2011, making it the tallest tower in the world, displacing the Canton Tower, and the second tallest structure in the world after the Burj Khalifa (829.8 m/2,722 ft). The tower is the primary television and radio broadcast site for the Kantō region; the older Tokyo Tower no longer gives complete digital terrestrial television broadcasting coverage because it is surrounded by high-rise buildings.
The view from the observation deck is breath taking. When you get up to the top and look out you can truly see how sprawling the metropolis of Tokyo is. For what seems like miles all you see are city structures, even the ocassional rooftop basketball court. People aren't able to be made out, as the buildings below are the size of ants. Its a marvel of human engineering.
Shibuya Crossing, or Shibuya Scramble Crossing, is a popular scramble crossing in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It is located in front of the Shibuya Station Hachikō exit and stops vehicles in all directions to allow pedestrians to inundate the entire intersection. The statue of Hachikō, between the station and the intersection, is a common meeting place and almost always crowded. Its heavy traffic and inundation of advertising have led to it being compared to the Times Square intersection in New York City and Piccadilly Circus intersection in London. Shibuya Crossing is the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing, with as many as 2,500 people crossing at a time.
I haven't ever been to Times Square but I'd bet Shibuya Crossing would give it a run for its money. This crossing has been in so many movies, tv shows, and pop culture references across the board when you're there it feels like you're a part of those references. The amount of people is staggering as well, helps reinforce how densely populated Tokyo is.
Dinosaurs, laser lights, cabaret and robots. Lots and lots of robots. One of the top tourist attractions in Tokyo is Robot Restaurant. Located in the Shinjuku nightlife district, it's one of the wildest shows on Earth. The fantastical performance venue opened in July 2012, quickly garnering an international reputation. Blaring pop music fills the room, warrior princesses fight 10-foot-tall transformer robots and sequined bikinis ricochet laser beams into every corner.
When I was there it was close to Halloween, and so the show also contained some light "horror" elements. It was sensory overload to the max, but also incredibly impressive how the performers worked together. It was seamless coordination among them. The food wasn't the best I had during my trip, but the experience was unlike anything I'll experience again.
Tokyo Character Street is a convenient shopping destination that is located right on the underground of Tokyo Station. There are more than 30 shops that sell merchandise of popular Japanese characters, anime, manga.
Japan is well known for all their cute icons. Whether it be Pikachu, Mario, Hello Kitty and this shopping destination has stores for all of them. I was able to pick up some statues of Studio Ghibli characters that I will cherish for years to come. If you're the type of person to bring back souvenirs this is your best stop to shop.
Tokyo DisneySea is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, just outside Tokyo. It opened on 4 September 2001, at a cost of 335 billion yen. The Oriental Land Company owns the park, and licenses Disney characters and themes from The Walt Disney Company. With a size of 176-acre (71.22 ha), Tokyo DisneySea attracted nearly fifteen million visitors in 2018, making it the fourth-most-visited theme park in the world.
Many of us here in the states have been fortunate enough to see either DisneyLand or DisneyWorld, and here in Tokyo there is DisneySea. I am a huge fan of theme parks, the air about them radiates happiness and joy. This is no different. The attractions are incredible, truly consistent with Disney's standards. My favorite inside the park was the Little Mermaid castle where you go "underwater" and experience the world of The Little Mermaid.
teamLab Borderless is a world of artworks without boundaries, a museum without a map created by art collective teamLab. teamLab Borderless is a group of artworks that form one borderless world. Artworks move out of rooms, communicate with other works, influence, and sometimes intermingle with each other with no boundaries. Immerse your body in borderless art in this vast, complex, three-dimensional 10,000 square meter world. Wander, explore with intention, discover, and create a new world with others.
Art is something that can excite, and of all the exhibitions I've seen this was one of the most exciting. Rivaled only by teamLab Planets (also on this list), the art literally moves along the walls. It's awe inspiring and unlike anything else in the world.
Meiji Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo, that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. The shrine does not contain the emperor's grave, which is located at Fushimi-momoyama, south of Kyoto.
Meiji Shrine was my favorite piece of oldworld Japanese culture I visited while in Tokyo. The forest around the shrine is massive and filled with beautiful wildlife. The shrine itself was serene and beautofully crafted.