Come for the main attraction, then discover the only-in-Japan delights nearby!
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Perfect Day #1
Art Aquarium, only-in-Japan theater, shopping gold & the world’s best coffee
Start at a living museum dedicated to every kind of goldfish under the sun, then…
Make a delicious pilgrimage to a department store food hall • Sip a cup of the world’s best coffee • Stroll through a legendary nine-story stationery store • Get a taste of outlandish kabuki theater • Ogle the art and design at Ginza Six • Sip a shocking affordable sake tasting flight
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Perfect Day #2
A recreated samurai town, a huge WWII museum,
plus a fire ceremony, drums & a garden of pure serenity…
Start at a WWII museum with a distinctly Japanese perspective, then…
Go to a fire ceremony at a temple that also has a hall of glow-in-the-dark gods, ten thousand crystal Buddhas, and a wishing fountain guarded by dragons • Stroll back in time to the museum where you can walk through a life-size samurai town • Renew your inner calm at the most serene Japanese garden in Tokyo
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Perfect Day #3
A Stroll Through Traditional Japan
Walk through a tunnel of orange torii gates at the most beautiful red & gold shrine in Tokyo, then visit…
Studio where they craft handmade art lollipops • Traditional Japanese shops that have been in business for generations • Old-fashioned shopping street with food & drink stands, traditional goods & hidden cats • The satirical puppet maker • The Edo Era woodblock paper store • The best mochi donuts in Japan
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Perfect Day #4
Unforgettable Only-in-Japan Experiences
Immerse yourself in digital fish, exploding flowers & more at TeamLab Planets, then…
Visit an insanely detailed miniatures museum with hilarious easter eggs everywhere • Browse the 1960s souvenir street • Take crazy impossible photos at the Trick Art Museum • See the five-story Gundam Unicorn robot that lights up and moves
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Perfect Day #5
Plastic food, the world’s sharpest knives, Japanese foodie goods & more
Absorb the best of Japanese culture by…shopping!
Get dressed in a kimono at Tokyo’s grandest Buddhist temple and stroll its traditional shopping street and try only-in-Japan soft serve flavors • See the world’s most beautiful lollipops • Browse for Japanese kitchen tools, dishes, lacquerware and chopsticks in the kitchenware district • Buy the best fridge magnets at the super-realistic plastic food stores • Take a sake tasting break
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Perfect Day #6
Kamakura day trip: Weird, wild & wonderful shrines and temples
Biggest bronze Buddha in Japan • The temple with a three-story tall golden Kannon, a gigantic prayer wheel & a cave of wonders • The Fox Shrine • The Money-Washing Shrine • A grand red & gold shrine with dueling lotus ponds • The Dish-Breaking Shrine • The Bamboo Temple • The temple with amazing moss steps • The Divorce Temple • The temple with a secret garden
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Perfect Day #7
The world’s most immersive digital museum, PLUS…
TeamLab Borderless, the world’s most incredible digital immersive environment • The Tomo Museum, which is as much a work of art as the ceramics treasures in its collection • Zojō-ji Temple with its hundreds of red-capped Jizo figures holding spinning pinwheels • Tokyo Tower • Memento Mori cacao mixology bar
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Three perfect evening strolls
Neon Tokyo lit up at night
Tokyo at Night #1
See Senso-ji Temple lit up like a diva • Party boats strung with lanterns motoring under neon-lit bridges as you walk along the Sumida River • Meander the neighborhood for a taste of Tokyo streets unchanged for generations
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Tokyo at Night #2
See the giant 5-story robot that lights up and moves • See killer views of the Tokyo skyline and Odaiba as you walk across the Rainbow Bridge
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Tokyo at Night #3
Stroll the red light district of Kabukicho
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And if you’re a deep dive kind of traveler…
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Deep Dive #1: A Perfect Day for Uncrowded Cherry Blossoms
Spectacular off-the-beaten path cherry blossoms that nobody knows about yet
You’ve already come thousands of miles—isn’t it worth it to go just a little further to experience the cherry blossom extravaganza of your dreams?
Stroll through the glorious Dankazura flower tunnel in Kamakura • Picnic beneath the towering pinkness at Showa Kinen Park • Hike the trails through a forest of blooming cherry trees at Tama Forest Science Garden • Marvel at the cascades of floral muchness at Jindai Botanical Gardens • Enjoy pockets of cherry goodness that even Tokyo residents don’t know about
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Deep Dive #2: A Perfect Tokyo Toilet Day
See all seventeen toilets designed by famous architects that are featured in the Wim Wenders film Perfect Days
Seventeen amazing public toilets designed by Japan’s most famous architects • See the famous ones with transparent walls that turn opaque when you lock the door • Some of them are even more breathtaking at night
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If you’d like to browse all the gardens or shrines or individual neighborhoods in Tokyo, links are on The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
If you’d like info on seasonal secrets and beyond Tokyo destinations, subscribe to my monthly e-magazine Japanagram (it’s free!)
and if you’d like to discover super quirky things to do, do a search at Only In Japan
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Jonelle Patrick writes about Japan 