Here’s a quick A-Z look at everything I take my friends to see in Tokyo! If you’d rather browse the full descriptions, click here • AKIHABARA AREA The famous electronics … Continue reading Browse Quick Overviews of Destinations A-Z
Tokyo has a reputation for being ultra-urban, but there are actually gorgeous (and huge!) gardens all over town. Stroll around one of these beauties to feast your eyes and restore … Continue reading The most beautiful gardens in Tokyo
Everyone thinks you have to go to Kyoto to see beautiful shrines and temples, but Tokyo boasts some incredibly amazing ones if you know where to look. These are my … Continue reading The best shrines & temples in Tokyo
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes to wander the backstreets and discover a city’s delights for yourself, here are some neighborhoods where you can’t go wrong! Read on … Continue reading Great walking neighborhoods
If you’re looking for experiences that will make your friends back home wish they’d come along, here are my favorites! • ONLY-IN-JAPAN CRAZY • Be astounded by immersive digital art … Continue reading Unforgettable experiences
There’s so much cool stuff to buy in Japan, but Tokyo is huge, and how do you know where’s the best place to shop? Fear not, I’ve got you covered! … Continue reading Where to buy great only-in-Japan stuff
If you’re looking for art exhibits, I’m going to send you back out to the wide web to see what exhibits are in town. But if quirky & entertaining and … Continue reading Museums you won’t want to leave
Yeah, it happens – monsoons and typhoons are A Thing. But don’t let the weather keep you from having all the only-in-Japan fun! Click on the images for great stuff to do … Continue reading What to do in Tokyo on a rainy day
Tokyo is one of the few places on the planet where you can have as much fun at the kid-friendly spots as they do. Feast your eyes on my favorite … Continue reading Fun with kids in Tokyo
Tokyo doesn’t have to be expensive. There are super fun free things to do all over the place, if you just know where to look. Shrines and temples dish up … Continue reading Great stuff to do in Tokyo for FREE!
Everybody always wants to crowd into Japan to see the fluffy pink things, but cherry blossom season is far from the only time that Tokyo delivers yowzah-level flower extravaganzas. So I made a … Continue reading Cherry blossom season isn’t the only great time to visit Japan
Akihabara is all about maid cafés, cosplay supply stores & all things electronic. It’s where the new, newer, newest of electronics, household goods (like smart toilet seats) and everything J-pop is sold. … Continue reading Akihabara Area
Each shop is filled with cool new stuff made with age-old methods, and is run by an artist. They all use traditional Japanese techniques to make very untraditional designs, and some shops … Continue reading Aki-Oka Artisan Co-op
This is the home of my favorite place to see and buy crafts from all over Japan: the Japan Traditional Craft Center. Walking around this store is like getting a primo art … Continue reading Aoyama-Itchome Area
This is where I often take people on their first day in Tokyo. It’s everything you think Japan should be – traditional festivals, a secret garden, temples & more. Asakusa … Continue reading Asakusa Area
I can tell you’re already asking yourself: why would anyone want to get off the train in this obscure neighborhood? Come with me, and let me show you the three … Continue reading Asakusa-bashi Area
Experience the legendary cat & coffee thing, sipping a latte and petting the kitties at a real Tokyo cat café! My favorite cat café – the Calico, in Shinjuku – has … Continue reading Calico Cat Cafe
Ebisu is a great place to find hoppin’ bars, eateries & even a beer museum. One of the most fun, authentic and cheap places to get a taste of Tokyo … Continue reading Ebisu Area
The Edo-Tokyo Museum is my favorite museum in town. Half the museum is about everyday life in the Edo Era (during the time of the shōguns, before Japan opened to the West) … Continue reading Edo-Tokyo Museum
Are you ready for a little time travel? One step inside this shitamachi museum, and we’ll find ourseves in the streets of a lovingly recreated Edo-era town. Open: Every day and … Continue reading Fukagawa-Edo Museum
Ginza is so last century, but there are still hidden delights well worth seeking out in the most famous luxury shopping ghetto in Tokyo And the Mitsukoshi department store (exit A7) is … Continue reading Ginza Area
The lucky cat temple with a magnificent wooden pagoda, Gotoku-ji is a serene and uncrowded temple seldom visited by tourists. It’s a great place to see plum blossoms (Feb) and autumn leaves … Continue reading Gotoku-ji Temple
This garden used to be the shogun’s duck hunting grounds, but now it’s an enormous stroll garden that’s beautiful in every season. Famous for its plum orchard, mid-late Feb) and cosmos … Continue reading Hama-Rikyu Teien Garden
Harajuku is home to the beautiful and serene Meiji Shrine, the wacky free entertainment of Yoyogi Park, and more cult fashion shops than you can count. First let’s stop at the Meiji … Continue reading Harajuku Area
Kamakura is stuffed with entertaining shrines and temples, but this is the only one with a hillside of gorgeous hydrangeas, a thirty-foot-tall Kannon figure covered in gold, and a candle-lit … Continue reading Hasedera Temple
Turn down the volume on your squee-meter, unless you want to lose a little more of your hearing! Check out the little prickle monsters you can snuggle up with at Tokyo’s Harry Hedgehog … Continue reading Harry Hedgehog Cafe
I love to wander through a faux Meiji Era town eating savory Japanese dumplings, then roam around the LABI electronics superstore to see all the strange toys and appliances. Inside a huge shopping … Continue reading Ikebukuro Area
I call this the “funeral goods district,” but there’s nothing depressing about the street where they sell intricately-pieced Shinto shrines and Buddhist home altars. First, let me explain why most Japanese describe … Continue reading Inari-cho Area
This place sells handcrafted stuff from all over Japan, at excellent prices. Every part of Japan has its own traditional crafts, and walking around this store is like getting a … Continue reading Japan Traditional Craft Center
I came for the azaleas, then ran back again every month, because this garden’s flower displays are seriously impressive, year round. Many botanical gardens sacrifice landscape design to cram in … Continue reading Jindai Botanical Gardens
Let’s get out of Tokyo for a day, and see some of the most entertaining shrines and temples in Japan. First, let’s go to the Zeni-Arai Benten Shrine and double our … Continue reading Kamakura Day Trip
Kamiya-cho? Why would anyone want to get off the train at Kamiya-cho? Actually, from Kamiya-cho Station, we can walk to that incongruously orange replica of the EiffelTower and a … Continue reading Kamiya-cho Area
Sure, Kanda Myōjin is a gorgeous red and gold shrine, but the best part is that this is the place where comic book artists and anime auteurs come to pray … Continue reading Kanda Myōjin Shrine
I can’t let you leave Tokyo without going to Kappabashi Street. Even if you’re not a big foodie, the kitchenware district is filled with all kinds of entertaining things, including … Continue reading Kappabashi Street
This old-fashioned neighborhood is an undiscovered gem, with a serene (and uncrowded!) garden and the Fukagawa-Edo Museum – a life-sized samurai-era town you can walk around. As you can see, … Continue reading Kiyosumi-shirakawa Area
This is my go-to garden for soul-restoring serenity. Kiyosumi Teien Garden doesn’t put on spectacular flower displays, but a walk around the greenery-cloaked lake dishes up perfect Japanese vistas at … Continue reading Kiyosumi Teien Garden
Komagome has two of the most beautiful Japanese gardens in Tokyo, stores that sell traditional goods, and an old-fashioned Japanese shopping street. Let’s start at Rikugi-en. This garden was built in 1695 by the … Continue reading Komagome Area
Stroll in a 17th century Japanese garden, cheer with the world’s craziest baseball fans, or ride a roller coaster that goes straight through a Tokyo skyscraper. Let’s start at Koshikawa Koraku-en garden, an oasis … Continue reading Koraku-en Area
Shop for big red underwear, squicky snacks & goods from a bygone era. Walking along Koshinzuka Street is like taking a step back in time, and I always see something I’ve … Continue reading Koshinzuka Street Market
This neighborhood is home to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine and the magnificent Imperial Palace moat. From an extensive World War II museum to spectacular seasonal festivals, this area is also boasts … Continue reading Kudanshita Area
The Meiji Shrine has the most spectacular weddings, coming-of-age ceremonies, festivals and traditional events in town. Many people find it more beautiful than all the brightly lacquered shrines put together. … Continue reading Meiji Shrine
This Old Tokyo shitamachi neighborhood has a temple where we can watch a fire ceremony with taiko drums, a dragon fountain that grants wishes written on dissolving paper, and is one of the most … Continue reading Monzen-nakacho Area
At Mt. Takao, you can go hiking, monkey-viewing, beer drinking & firewalking just an hour from Tokyo. Hours of cable car/chairlift to the top:8:00 – 21:15. (Note: These change seasonally. Detailed info about first … Continue reading Mt. Takao Area
Nakano Broadway is fast catching up to Akihabara as the cosplay & comic capital of Tokyo, and there’s a great grill-at-your-table restaurant for refuelling when you’ve shopped ’til you dropped. Just a short … Continue reading Nakano Area
Yanaka is one of the best, undiscovered, Old Tokyo neighborhoods in town, filled with traditional shops and excellent shrines and temples. Let’s start at the Nezu Shrine, which is my … Continue reading Yanaka Area
Nihonbashi is home to Tokyo’s most famous bridge, a department store where the best of Japanese culture is on display, and Art Aquarium, a must-see, only-in-Japan summertime event. The Mitsukoshi flagship store … Continue reading Nihonbashi Area
A village of thatch-roofed farmhouses you can go inside! You don’t have to go to Okayama to see traditional Japanese houses – the Nihon Minka-en is a beautiful natural park set … Continue reading Nihon Minka-en Thatch-Roofed Farmhouses
This off-the-beaten-path temple is famous for its peony gardens (April) and its wart-curing shrine, but it’s also a great place for seasonal festivals and markets that are not at all … Continue reading Nishiarai-Daishi Temple
Odaiba is a man-made island out in Tokyo Bay, and it’s home to the kind of experiences you’ll definitely tell your friends about when you get home. The hot spring theme park, the … Continue reading Odaiba Area
This indoor hot springs theme park is a real only-in-Japan experience – it’s like spending a day in Old Edo, with every kind of food and variety of hot … Continue reading Oedo Onsen Hot Springs
