There are some things that just defy description, and nowhere leaves visitors at a loss for words like Japan. Pretty much everything in The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had is something you can only see, eat, or do in Japan, but here are some experiences that might not be on your radar…
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Take photos of yourself in amazing situations at the Trick Art Museum
You’ve got fifty-four chances to take the most killer profile pic ever! The life-size change every six months (there will be more and better ones by the time you read this), and can range from being swallowed by a shark to battling ninjas to being trapped by a giant in his wineglass!
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Wander through a museum of rare goldfish varieties that changes with the seasons
The living goldfish museum known as Art Aquarium dishes up a gorgeous extravaganza of ever-changing light, color, and rare goldfish varieties that’s truly only-in-Japan.
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Hunt down the seventeen public toilets designed by famous architects
The Tokyo Toilets are all the public toilets lovingly cleaned by the main character in the Wim Wenders’ film Perfect Days. They’re just public restrooms, but each is a masterpiece of the architect’s style and vision. They’re beautiful during the day AND lit up at night
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Watch a kabuki show
Experience Japan’s most iconic traditional entertainment. And you don’t have to pay the big bucks and stay for the whole three hours if you’re merely kabuki-curious! This link explains all the ways you can get a taste of kabuki if you’d like to see this only-in-Japan art at its finest.
Here’s how to get tickets and enjoy the performance in English
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Get your 3-D self inserted into one of the incredible models at the Small Worlds Miniatures Museum
Japanese model-making is the nerdliest in the world, and this museum isn’t just a showcase for their incredible detail chops and wry sense of humor, it moves. Trains zoom, planes take off (and land), rockets blast off and Evangelion’s entire city of the future rises and falls as day cycles into night. Even if you’re not a model fanatic, this is well worth seeing, and if you’d like to leave a lasting impression, you can get yourself 3-D scanned (for a price) and inserted into one of the scenes for a year.
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Climb through a tunnel of red torii gates
You don’t have to go to Kyoto to experience the thrill of climbing through a tunnel of red torii gates!
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Ride a roller coaster through a skyscraper and take in a Japanese baseball game
How could you resist going to this amusement park, right in the middle of Tokyo?
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Visit the temple where the REAL 47 rōnin are buried
If you thought the famous tale of the 47 Japanese warriors who plotted revenge on the lord who killed their master was fiction, think again! All those stories are based on a true story, and Sengaku-ji temple is where Lord Asano and his 47 faithful samurai are actually buried. There’s a great museum where you can see sculpted portraits of all 47, their signed confession, and the receipt for Lord Kira’s head.
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Make your own plastic food
There’s a store in the restaurant supply district that not only sells those insanely realistic plastic food models you see outside restaurants, you can sign up for a two-hour workshop to learn how to make a piece of tempura and a head of lettuce! Or, if you’re short on time, you can buy kits there to take home and DIY.
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Wander through a life-sized Japanese town from the samurai era
This choice little museum recreates an entire Japanese town from the samurai era, right down to the rice pot on the stove, the fisherman’s nets interrupted mid-mend, and the outhouse behind the shrine. You can go into the houses and shops as day cycles into night and really feel what it was like to live in feudal Japan.
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See the REAL Hachiko
Okay, this is kind of macabre, but you know the famous statue of Hachiko the faithful dog who waited outside Shibuya Station for years for his master to return? The REAL Hachiko was stuffed (after a long and well-beloved life) and enshrined at the Natural Museum of Nature & Science in Ueno. But once you’re in the Japanese galleries, you’ll be glad you came, because this is a quirky and wonderfully-presented delve into all things distinctly Japanese.
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See WWII from the Japanese perspective
The Yushūkan Museum at the Yasukuni Shrine presents a rare opportunity to see WWII from the Japanese perspective, with its extensive timeline detailing everything that led up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, accompanied by an enormous collection of Japanese war memorabilia. Several rooms of personal mementos from kamikaze pilots accompany the hall of vehicles illustrating that they didn’t just fly planes.
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Explore an ever-changing (and interactive!) digital universe
By now everyone knows about TeamLab’s Borderless, but I can’t leave it out! This is truly a digital world without horizons, constantly changing and unfolding around you.
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Double your money at the Zeni-arai Benten money-washing shrine
The gods who promise to double the money you wash in the spring at the Zeni-arai Benten shrine in Kamakura must be in a generous mood because they live in one of the most beautiful shrines I’ve ever seen. Hidden away through a tunnel carved through a cliff, it’s a cool grotto of ferny walls, with trickling waterfalls and loads of small shrine buildings and torii gates.
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Go inside the giant Buddha
Yes, you can go inside the Daibutsu and see how it was made!
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See monkeys at the top of Mt. Takao
You can get there by cable car, chair lift or hiking trail, and the monkey park art the top features lots of lively & entertaining monkey families. It’s also got a nice shrine, snack bars and souvenir shops, and there’s an all-you-can-eat-and-drink beer garden that’s open from July-Oct.
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Now you see it, now you don’t, at the Ninja restaurant
If you want to see what this flaming egg turns into, make a reservation at Ninja Tokyo! I was expecting something pretty cheesy, with lousy food, but I was totally surprised. The place itself is a delightful dungeon full of drawbridges and secret passageways, staffed by ninjas who conjure up quite delicious dishes with surprising twists. This restaurant does not disappoint.
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Catch your own noodles at Chaya Kado in Kamakura
Catch your own noodles as they float past in the stream running down the middle of your table! Cold noodles dipped in a savory sauce with tempura and a beer are an unforgettable hot weather treat from May to October.
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Attack the Godzilla of pancakes in Harajuku
Japan serves up the most extreme versions of “foreign” food, and they’ve taken it to new heights with “souffle pancakes.” Harajuku is home to my favorite place to eat these ricotta-based monsters, and you’ll be sorry if you don’t try them at least once.
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SEASONAL FUN
You can’t enjoy these things all year round, but if you’re in Tokyo when they’re happening, they are well worth seeing!
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Watch a battle of the titans at a sumo tournament
For this only-in-Japan experience, you need to be in Tokyo during one of the three fifteen-day tournaments (January, May, September), but if you’re lucky enough to be here then, don’t miss watching some sumo! These mountains of muscle clash like forces of nature, and in between matches, the pomp and ceremony are as interesting to watch as the wrestling.
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Sample the traditional entertainment at a Japanese festival
Japanese festivals are an unforgettable experience no matter what time of year you’re here. Check to see what seasonal festivals are happening when you’re in town! In addition to the special annual events, the local neighborhood matsuri feature the neighborhood folk carrying one or more golden portable shrines through the streets, lots of beer and saké, and sometimes a parade in period costume.
Everyone ends up at the local shrine, where food booths, old-fashioned carnival games, and entertainments like monkey shows go late into the night. Best of all, this only-in-Japan entertainment is FREE. Local neighborhood festivals usually happen in August, and if you’re walking around and see a flyer stuck up on a telephone pole, double back on the right day/night and you won’t be disappointed!
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Be amazed and delighted by Tokyo’s holiday illuminations:
One of my favorite things to do in Tokyo is to ride the trains around to see all the free holiday Illuminations. From late-November to mid-January, neighborhoods try to out-do each other’s displays. Every one of them is a visual treat, and the best ones are choreographed and set to music.
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Or check out the old skool illuminations at Hana Biyori
There’s an annual traditional bamboo illuminations display at Yomiuriland called Hana Biyori, and a wander through this botanical garden that’s been transformed into a glowing wonderland with only traditional materials is truly an only-in-Japan delight. The small admission fee is utterly worth it!
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Wander through a winter wonderland of fairy lights at Tokyo Mega-Illumi
Be wowed by all the mega-illumination crowd-pleasers without leaving Tokyo! Tokyo Mega-Illumi has lots of lit-up landscapes and tunnels o’ glow without the journey to the outskirts.
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And here are the other places I take my friends when they come to town
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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 