My 1st Tokyo trip was in June 2017. As it was our first trip as a family to Tokyo, the trip centred around the key areas of Shinjuku mostly, with a short visit to the limited areas in Shibuya, Odaiba Tokyo Bay and spending a day each in Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySEA.
The boy and hb at the world’s busiest crossing in Shibuya
The next trip I took to Tokyo was in July 2018; a couple trip with hb, and we spent most of our time in Tokyo Bay and explored some parts of Ginza.
In the shopping area of Ginza
While from this recent trip to Tokyo in Oct 2018; a solo trip, I familiarised myself with the area of Shibuya, visited key shopping spots in Shinjuku and explored new areas like Omotesando, Kichijoji, Daikanyama, Shimokitazawa, and a small area in Meguro.
The crowd on a regular Saturday afternoon at Shibuya
The general impression that people have of Tokyo, is that the train transportation system is very complex and it is not easy to find your way around. But from my 2nd trip to Tokyo with hb, we were ‘ace-ing’ our way around the city.
We travelled from Tokyo Bay to the city central, and got the hang of getting our way around Tokyo. It was after this trip, that I was confident enough to make this recent solo trip to Tokyo.
Did I get lost in this trip? Surprisingly no. These were locations in Tokyo that I were travelling to for the first time in my life, yet I was confidently taking the right train lines like the locals. Each time I jumped a train towards into a new direction, I felt relaxed and excited to check out a new place.
Armed with very little spoken Japanese, I ate with the locals in the departmental store cafes and street shops, went to areas where the locals shopped on a regular weekend. And thoroughly enjoyed myself during this solo trip. Nothing beats exploring in the streets, taking my time to take in the sights and the sounds of the surroundings and spending as much time that I want to in browsing in shops.
I managed to explore a number of places in the 6 days I had in Tokyo, as I was very focused on the locations that I felt was worth spending the limited time I had in the city.
So in the next few posts that I will be covering on the city of Tokyo, I will be sharing a compilation of places that are must-visits in that specific precinct. I hope these posts that I have written on ‘Tokyo Finds’ will not just be a travelogue for myself, but possibly be a useful guide for anyone who might be planning a trip to Tokyo and wish to make the most of their time in the city.
Tokyo Finds :
Tokyo is so much more foreigner friendly nowadays. I lived there 20 years ago when there were no English signs in the stations, no English instructions and barely anyone willing to string more than few words of English together. I was lucky enough to be able to speak the language but those who didn’t, especially those who couldn’t read Chinese either, really struggled.
Shimokita and Daikanya are my former hangouts – looking forward to hearing/seeing what you unocovered there.
Rachel Reply:
October 30th, 2018 at 9:10 am
It is! Even the subway announcements for some central line trains are in English now! I am very dependent on Google maps and wifi to get around the place, being a beginning to the Japanese language, I find hard understand even if they were to try to help me when I ask them for directions!
I like Kitazawa too and Daikanyama, enjoyed the area of Kochijoji, all areas that I will definitely return to explore more. But also liked the crowded central areas! I am a city girl at heart so I have no issues with hustle and bustle in places… there is just so much to see and explore in Tokyo!