My Solo Trip to Tokyo, Japan

I spent 3 weeks in Japan last October and saw so much! I started and ended my trip in Japan in Tokyo, and visited a bunch of places in between. This is the first video in my Japan series, just focusing on Tokyo.

Want to support me? Buy me a coffee (or bubble tea :D🧋) here! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/daphnexplores

FEATURED IN THIS VIDEO (Book online!)
– First hotel – Via Inn Prime Akasaka https://www.viainn.com/en/akasaka/
– Second hotel – Dormy Inn Shibuya (free ramen) https://dormyinn-shibuya-jingumae.h-rez.com/
– TeamLab Planets https://www.teamlab.art/e/planets/
– Maikoya Tokyo (tea ceremony and kimono) https://mai-ko.com/what-to-do-in-japan/tokyo/tea-ceremony-tokyo/
– Shibuya Sky https://www.shibuya-scramble-square.com.e.apy.hp.transer.com/sky/ticket/

SOME OF MY FAVOURITE TRAVEL TOOLS
Airalo – I use eSIMs instead of sim cards. It’s super convenient! https://airalo.pxf.io/NkN4oV
GetYourGuide – I’ve used this to book tours and activities. https://gyg.me/3LtH1unZ
Wise – I use the Wise card to pay for things when travelling, as well as being able to easily withdraw cash from ATMs. It’s a multi-currency debit card. https://wise.prf.hn/l/1MbymqZ

MY FILMING GEAR
Camera – Panasonic GH5
Lens – Panasonic Leica 12-60mm (90%+ of my footage is shot with this lens)
Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150mm f4-5.6
Shotgun microphone – Rode VideoMicro
Lavalier microphone – Rode lavalier and Wireless Go
Tripod – MeFOTO Backpacker
Mini tripod – Manfrotto PIXI evo
Drone – DJI Mavic Mini
Editing software – DaVinci Resolve

Music from Musicbed. Get a free month when you sign up here: https://www.musicbed.com/invite/IANFx

Follow me:
Instagram @daphnexplores
Website www.daphnexplores.com

This description contains affiliate links.

0:00 Introduction
0:32 Arriving in Tokyo
2:28 Shibuya, Harajuku
3:35 Meiji shrine, Yoyogi park
4:43 Shin Udon, Shinjuku
5:32 Asakusa, Sensoji
7:36 Ueno park, Tokyo National Museum
7:56 Savoy Tomato and Cheese, sushi
8:53 Tsukiji outer market
9:21 Ginza
10:46 Owl Village
11:53 TeamLab Planets
12:50 Odaiba
14:02 Tea ceremony and kimono rental
14:22 Shibuya Sky

To say it was overwhelming planning my very  first trip to Japan is an understatement.  This island nation is really not that big  area wise but there is so much to experience.  I had to come to terms with the fact that  I wouldn’t see everything in 3 weeks. 

From Tokyo to Hiroshima to historical post towns,   I still saw so much on my trip and  can’t wait to come back for more. I started my trip in Japan in  Tokyo, the capital of Japan and   the largest city in the world by population. From Narita Airport I took the Narita Express  

Train to Tokyo station which took about an hour. Because I had a large suitcase with me I decided   to wait until after rush hour to get on the Metro. I inadvertently ended up witnessing a ceremony   of sorts for what seems to be  a newly appointed official. 

For my first stay in Tokyo, I chose to  be in the Akasaka area, which is less   touristy but still very convenient. I would definitely stay here again.  A 7-Eleven was integrated right into my hotel  so you can bet that that was my very first stop.

Ramen, if you don’t already know, is a Japanese  noodle dish that has become a cultural icon in the   country and famous around the world. It’s served in a delicious broth,   often with pork slices and dried seaweed.

I also had to pop into Don Quijote to take a look as I was planning to do some  shopping later before I left Japan.  It’s a discount store chain  selling basically everything   from groceries to makeup to electronics. I spent way too long just browsing in there.

I started off the next  morning by heading to Shibuya.  Standing at the famous Shibuya scramble Crossing  it really hit me that I was finally here in Tokyo.  This crossing is the world’s  busiest pedestrian crossing.  Every 2 minutes all traffic is stopped so  that pedestrians can cross in all directions. 

For lunch I went to Gyukatsu Motomura. Something I had to learn early on was   that for popular restaurants here you have  to be strategic when you go, if you don’t   want to spend your whole day waiting. Luckily the wait wasn’t too bad when I  

Got here but it means I wouldn’t really  learn my lesson until later that day.  This place specializes in beef cutlet  that you cook yourself over a hot stone,   and I have to say the beef really  was incredibly tender and delicious.

After strolling through Takesita Street in  Harajuku, I went to visit the Meiji shrine.  Set in a peaceful forested  area within the busy city,   it’s a Shinto shrine dedicated to  Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. Right next to Meiji Shrine is Yoyogi  Park, one of the largest parks in Tokyo. 

Here I admired how large the crows of  Tokyo were compared to those in Vancouver.  I thought they were ravens at first. For dinner I headed to Udon Shin. At first glance the line didn’t   look too bad but it turns out  you have to get a ticket first,  

And it said it was a 2-hour wait but you  could leave and come back when called.  So I decided to go for a walk  around the Shinjuku area. What I didn’t realize when I finally got  called to return to the restaurant was that  

You still have to line up outside  which ended up being another hour. The next day I headed to the district of Asakusa.  Known for retaining more of Tokyo’s  historic atmosphere, it is home to Sensoji,   a Buddhist temple built in the 7th century. On the way to the temple you walk through a  

Shopping street called Nakamise, where  you can find vendors and local snacks. In the temple you can draw  your fortune called omikuji. After the temple I picked up some  Karaage, or Japanese fried chicken,   from a street stall nearby called Asakusa Chicken. From there I walk to Ueno Park,  another large public park in Tokyo. 

Here you can find the Tokyo National Museum  which houses a large collection of Japanese art. I decided to spend the next day  working in the hotel since it   was raining butI did go out for my meals. At lunch I went to Savoy Tomato and Cheese,  

A neapolitan pizza place recommended by a friend. This time I made sure to get there before opening   and so I got seated right away when they opened. And at dinner I just went to a sushi restaurant near my hotel because the hotel  gave a 10% discount for it. 

I feel like the food standards in Japan are so  high that you probably can’t go to wrong anywhere.  The sun came back out Monday morning and I got  up a bit earlier to go to Tsukiji Outer Market.  I got there just before 8 and  it was already pretty busy. 

The wholesale market, which was famous  for tuna auctions, was closed in 2018,   so only the outer market remains here,  where you can buy fresh seafood and produce.  It’s also a good place to get a fresh seafood  rice bowl, known as kaisendon, for breakfast.

From here it’s walking distance to the  Ginza district, an upscale shopping area.  Ginza 6 is a luxury shopping complex located here.  While I wasn’t here to shop they did  have a cool bookstore on their top floor. Most importantly, I was told that  the rooftop garden is quite nice. 

Ginza 6 also features a number of restaurants  so I had my lunch here at Ginza Sanada 6.  This restaurant specializes in cold soba,  buckwheat noodles served with dipping sauce.  It’s a great dish to have on hot summer days.

Japan is known to have a lot of animal cafes so I ended up visiting an owl cafe. The reservation is for an hour but for the first 15 minutes, the owls get a break, so  you can just sit and enjoy the included drink.

They teach you how to pet the different  owls and you get to feed them some mice.  While the owls were really adorable, I do  want to point out that the space did seem   a bit cramped especially considering how many  people are also in there during one time slot.

Japan has a lot of these fast food  chains where you can get set meals   for really affordable prices. Matsuya is one of them.  It specializes in Gyudon or beef bowls,  but I came here for some breakfast.  This doesn’t look all that pretty, but hey,  

It was only around 5 to 6 Canadian  dollars, so I’m not complaining. On this day I visited TeamLab Planets, an  immersive collection of art installations.  I didn’t know too much about it  coming into this other than having   seen a few photos so I was pleasantly  surprised by just how immersive it was.

Near TeamLab Planets is Odaiba, a shopping and  entertainment district on an artificial island.  The train that goes there is overground,  providing a really nice view of the city. Odaiba itself feels quite modern and surprisingly  quiet compared to everywhere else I’d been in  

Tokyo. It did also feel just slightly kitschy,  what with the Statue of Liberty replica,   but it wasn’t to the detriment  of the pleasant waterfront area. At this point I left Tokyo to explore some other  places, which will be in the next few videos. 

So fast forward in another 2 weeks, I came back  to Tokyo and spent my last few days in the Shibuya   area at a hotel that provided free ramen,  and I managed to tick off a few more things.  I ended up booking a traditional tea  ceremony with a kimono rental because  

By the time I realized I wanted to do  it in Kyoto, they were all booked up.  No filming was allowed during the tea ceremony but  I was allowed to take the kimono out afterwards.  I was surprised by just how  warm wearing a kimono is. 

Shibuya Sky is an open air  observation deck that gives   you a really good panoramic view of the city. Sunset is the best time as you get to see the   city transition from day to night,  but you will have to book ahead. And I was even here for Halloween.

Although the authorities are really cracking down on Halloween in Shibuya now, which is understandable, there were still lots of people out and about in costumes so that was still really really fun to see. Stay tuned to find out where I went  during my 2 weeks outside of Tokyo.