Tokyo 2025 Travel Guide: 1 Week Budget Family Travel 🇯🇵 • Itinerary & Expenses • Japan Vlog

Tokyo 2025 Travel Guide: 1 Week Budget Family Travel 🇯🇵 • Itinerary & Expenses • Japan Vlog

As soon as we step off the plane in Tokyo, we’re 
greeted by Mario and Princess Peach welcoming us   to Japan. It’s the perfect setup for the week 
of gaming, anime, and pop culture we’re about to experience. Tokyo is one of the most expensive 
cities in the world, and yeah, if you live here, that might be true. Everyone tells you it’s 
impossible to do Tokyo affordably as a family,   but we’re about to prove them all wrong. Welcome 
to our Tokyo series, where we’re tackling this sprawling metropolis one neighborhood at a time 
without emptying our savings account. Six days, six distinct areas. We’ve mapped out an adventure 
that balances the free with the absolutely   worth-it splurges—from riding anime-inspired 
spaceships across Tokyo Bay to hunting down $3 gyoza that will change your life. Every step of 
the way, we’ll show you exactly what we spend,   stay, eat, play, and learn, with the cost 
updating on the screen as we go. Our loose goal? Keep it around $300 per day for our family 
of five. Some days we nail it, other days… well, you’ll see. Our adventure actually began 
yesterday at Narita Airport with all the arrival   essentials—luggage delivery to our Airbnb, 
pocket Wi-Fi and eSim to stay connected, Keisei Skyliner tickets, dinner at a cozy 
yakitori izakaya, late-night 7-Eleven snacks, and finally hitting the sack at our 
Airbnb. Day one damage: $401.34. All right, let’s go. Feels amazing—it’s like 74°.
What is that in international units? About 23°. The journey from Katsushika to Asakusa is pretty 
straightforward—just a quick hop on the Keisei   Line. One of the things we love about Tokyo is 
that we can stay a bit further out in these local neighborhoods, and it’s still so easy to commute 
into the city. The girls are getting pretty good   at navigating the stations by now. They know 
to look for the yellow lines on the platforms, stand to the side to let people 
off first, and most importantly,   keep their voices down. It’s fascinating 
how quickly kids pick up on local customs. So we just got to Asakusa. We’ve actually stayed 
in this area a lot, so we know a lot about it,   and we’ve been here and done almost everything 
here. First thing on the agenda is something we’ve never actually done. Right outside Asakusa 
Station, there’s this super modern-looking   building—the Asakusa Culture Tourist 
Information Center. But we’re not here for tourist info. We’re heading straight up to 
the free observation deck on the eighth floor. This view is absolutely incredible. You’ve 
got Sensō-ji Temple right below us and the   massive Skytree piercing the sky in 
the background. [Cora] We’re going to go to the shops. We’re
going to that green thing over there. I’m so happy. [Adam] We are up on top of the tourist culture center now.
And you start up there, but if you come down these stairs, there’s actually a really cool viewpoint, 
and there’s really not that many people down   here. And you can kind of get this little, 
like, peephole there—get some good pictures. [Cora] You can see that Temple
I wanna go there. [Adam] All right. Walking under the massive Kaminarimon gate 
with its red lantern, we enter Nakamise Shopping Street—the path to Sensō-ji Temple. [Adam] So this is the market street that’s right in front of Sensō-ji
Temple, and it’s really pretty much just all, like, chintzy tourist stuff. So if you’re into that, it’s right up 
your alley, but we don’t come here very often. [Linds] So busy here—a lot busier than the last time 
we were over in this area. Passing under the second gate, Sensō-ji Temple comes
into view in all its glory. Right away, Lindsay spots the omikuji fortune sticks.
[Linds] You shake a metal container until a numbered stick falls out, then find your fortune in the matching drawer. Omikuji. So you’re supposed to 
drop a hundred yen in the hole, shake the tin. While you’re shaking, you make a 
wish, pray, a number will come out. You will take your sheet from the drawer of your number. 
It’ll be either a good fortune—you take it   home with you—but if it’s not, you hang 
it on the… So, number 69, bad fortune. All right.
we all take turns with 
the fortune sticks. Only Cora and I manage to draw good fortunes, while 
Lindsay, Lily, and Harper are left with   the not-so-lucky ones. That’s the gamble 
with omikuji though—sometimes you win, sometimes you tie your bad fortune to the 
nearest wire rack and leave it behind. It’s a bad fortune.
[Adam] Okay, 100 yen. What’s in 
here? Shake this guy. All right. Thirty-five. So it goes this 
way because that’s how they, uh, read and stuff. So these are your 
ones columns, then here’s your threes,   that’s a five—so 3 + 10 + 5 = 
35. Your request will be granted. Okay, that’s the Sensō-ji Temple. It’s so 
peaceful—with all the construction going on, we love it. We came here with my 
parents a couple months ago at night,   and that five-story pagoda right there—it’s all 
lit up. Ah, it’s magical, like nobody around. So if you stay in the Asakusa area, definitely come 
over here at night, because it’s freaking awesome. Leaving Sensō-ji behind, we head west through 
some of Asakusa’s lesser-known streets. So   in that building right there, there’s a 
cool, like, covered market thing. Again, it’s lots of tourist stuff, souvenirs, things 
like that—not really our cup of tea. We are on the hunt for some food though, ’cause 
we’re hungry. Tiger Gyoza—this little shop has been our go-to for perfectly crispy 
dumplings since our first trip to Tokyo. Okay, we just got to Tiger 
Gyoza. It’s one of our favorites. Beer and gyoza for lunch—sounds good. It’s good. [Lily] Mommy, do your face—[Adam] oh, she’s doing it! [Cora] Made gyoza sauce.
[Lily] Okay, so I haven’t had Tiger Gyoza—well, I have—but we haven’t had 
it yet, so I’m trying to. Okay, so that’s where we went—Tiger Gyoza—and 
it’s absolutely amazing. It was 3,600 yen,   so that’s like $25 for lunch. So, two beers, 32 
gyoza—not too bad, I don’t think. A little bit higher price than some places, but it’s really 
good, and it’s in a very touristy area, so it’s   good. So if you’re looking for a cheap, tasty bite 
to eat, that place is pretty cheap. It’s a lot cheaper than where we just went, and you’ll get 
filled up. It’s like ramen, gyoza, things like that. And then this one right here—this Fukushin—it’s 
really good and it’s a lot cheaper. I think we get out of there for dinner for like 
$15 with a couple beers. There’s a lot   of options around here. You don’t have to go 
get the high-end, expensive sushi every night, and you don’t have to get the yakiniku 
every night—although those are very good. And hey, did you know we wrote 
a guidebook on Tokyo? Find all these great places to eat and more in the 
neighborhood guide section of our brand new   guidebook OneWeek World School Guide to 
Affordable Family Travel in Tokyo. Grab your copy through the QR code on the 
screen or the link in the description. We’re going to go across this 
major street here though, and this is where we usually stay. 
And then this is where, like,   Kappabashi Dori is—so it’s a couple streets 
down. That’s where the fake food and kitchen supply stuff is. So we’ll go check that out.
This is Kappabashi Street, or Kappabashi Dori, and as you can see, it’s just filled with tons 
of, like, kitchen, restaurant things—pots, pans, knives. If you want a knife, I bought a knife 
down here a couple years ago. Kappabashi Dori, also known as Kitchen Town—this street stretches 
for nearly a kilometer and is packed with every   kind of kitchen tool imaginable. But what 
we’re really here for are the shops selling those incredibly realistic food samples you 
see in restaurant windows all over Japan. All right, this is one of the fake food… 
uh, shops now. The first sample food store we visit has everything from ramen to ice cream 
parfaits—all made from plastic or wax, but looking good enough to eat. Everything in the store is 
those sample foods that are, like, out in front of the restaurants. So like, there’s bowls of ramen 
and sushi—and it’s awesome. It looks so real. [Cora giggling] Pizza hat! Then we find another sample food shop, and this 
one’s dangerous—at least for our budget. The   girls spot some adorable miniature food magnets 
and keychains, and before you know it, we’re walking out with way more tiny plastic food than 
we planned. But hey, when in Kitchen Town, right? I guess… that was a lot more than I was wanting 
to spend. Somehow we got talked into buying ¥5,995 worth of stuff. I was wanting to only spend 
around ¥3,000 for all the girls, so I don’t know. I think we’re going to go to the park now. knock knock. Who’s 
there? Banana. Banana who? Banana. Banana who? Banana. Banana who? Orange. Orange who? 
Orange you glad I stopped saying banana? Yes, I am. Right there—that is MINN Kappabashi, and MINN 
is a hotel chain around Japan—around Tokyo, I think it’s around Japan. We usually stay 
there when we stay in the Asakusa area. It’s   awesome. We love it. They have two bedrooms—like 
full two bedrooms—and living room and kitchens. It’s a little pricey though, so if you’ve got 
it in your budget and you want to stay in the   Asakusa area, which is an awesome 
area to stay—there’s tons of food, stuff like that—I would stay there. 
Check our description for a link. Headed to the park to let the 
girls play for a bit. All right, so that last sample food place we were at—they 
also do classes so you can make your own food. You just have to schedule a time, but they do 
book up, so I would schedule sooner than later. Having stayed in Asakusa many times 
before, we know all the best local   spots—including this playground that’s been 
a favorite of our girls over the years. Anything else going on today? Uh, I think we’re going to go to the Skytree. This girl just came over—we were over there—and 
I said, “Hi, konnichiwa,” and now she thinks we speak Japanese, and she’s been following us 
around and we don’t know what she’s saying. [Cora] But, she wants to be our friend. Yeah, just play with her. Sure—you 
don’t have to speak the same language.  Come on, Lily, let’s go.
I found the grasshopper! You found a grasshopper?
Yeah. Today they even make a new friend. It’s amazing 
how play transcends any language barriers. We’re going to the Skytree 
now. That was the playground,   and now we just need to go catch a 
subway—and it’s on the other side of Asakusa now—and then one stop, I 
think, and we’ll be at the Skytree. The covered market is down that way, and it 
runs parallel with this street here, but we’ve never really been down this street,   so we thought we’d take this street 
instead. It’s neat—sunnier though. Heading toward the Skytree now, we pass through 
an area filled with signs reminding everyone   not to walk and eat—a common rule in most 
parts of Tokyo. We cut through the mall to reach the Tobu Skytree Line Station. It may 
seem like a shortcut to go through the mall,   but actually, I think it’s the 
only way to get to the platform. Just one stop on the train across the bridge,   and we’ll be at the base of 
Japan’s tallest tower—Skytree. Right there—that is the entrance to the Sumida 
Aquarium, which is awesome. They have, like,   amazing jellyfish displays there. Uh, 
we did go there. Here’s some footage of it—it’s awesome. We’re not going today though. 
We’re going to go find a treat, ’cause Cora is sad because she just ran into a wall. So our 
kids are kind of accident-prone today—oh man. At the base of the Skytree, 
there’s this massive shopping   complex called Tokyo Solamachi. The mall 
is packed with character stores—Pokemon, Studio Ghibli, and of course, 
plenty of Skytree-themed shops. So this is another one of 
those malls with tons of, like, branded characters and franchises. 
But we’re going to take you to Character Street at Tokyo Station. I don’t know if 
we’ll go to Tokyo Station Character Street,   but it’s there. I’ll put it on the map and 
you can go if that’s something you want to do. Yeah, that’s Japan for you. I mean, that’s 
kind of the culture—it’s kind of what it is. There’s an anime shop here. These are so good. What do you think, Harpy? They’re all right. Like a DumDum.
I think it’s pretty good. All right, we’re going to… 
I don’t know what we’re doing. After exploring the mall, we spot this perfect   little setup outside—a van selling 
cold beers, snacks, and shaved ice. Finding a spot in the shade of the 
Skytree—well, trying to find shade.   It’s actually really sunny today.
Yes, I should actually be filming this way, because look at that. It’s amazing.
But we’ll sit here, we’ll have our beers—come by. Nothing beats an ice-cold beer and 
some shaved ice while gazing up at   one of the world’s tallest structures. 
Except maybe a second ice-cold beer and some chips while gazing up at one 
of the world’s tallest structures. No trip to Japan is complete without hitting up a 
Daiso. It’s basically Japan’s version of a dollar store. While everything isn’t exactly 100 yen 
anymore, most items are still incredibly cheap. It’s especially great for picking up those 
little souvenirs that won’t break the bank. Okay, but it’s also the end. Time 
to head back to Katsushika. We make   our way down to the basement level 
where we can catch the Keisei Line. It’s rush hour now, so the trains are getting   pretty crowded—but that’s all part 
of experiencing real Tokyo life. Need to go first.
Okay, we are back—uh, home area, final stop. And now we just need to eat something. The girls are 
super cranky, we’re getting hungry. I think we’re   just going to go to our favorite place—Torikizoku. 
I always—we always say it wrong. Torikazoku is what we call it, but it’s To-Ri-Ki-Zo-Ku. Anyway, 
we’re going to go there. They have good beers, they have good lemon sours, they have good 
chicken, it’s cheap, it’s right here. Let’s go. Yeah.
Yeah, I think—what’s going on, Linds-o? All right, so we’re going to order some yakitori. 
It’s really easy here at Torikizoku—they have an iPad, so it’s really awesome. 
Just have to hit some buttons and scroll. [Adam] You can also set it in English.
Oh yeah, put it in English. Having a lot of fun up there?
Yep. Uh, so we have some meatballs—two 
of those—those
[Adam] chicken wings. Y’all order and then don’t forget to hit “OK.” Say “order.”
Easy.  This is very easy.
Yep. Big lemon sours. [Lily] Umbrella on the tree, on the tree, on the tree! All right, we’re walking back. We are 
♪ done, done, done-d-done done ♪ now and doing good. We’ll see you tomorrow—we’re 
going to the zoo. Bye! All right, we’re headed to Ueno. 
We’re going to the, um, zoo. And I want to go see gorillas.
Gorillas!  What are you most excited to see, Lily?
Um, the gorillas and the snow owls. So yes, we’re heading over to Ueno today. It’s 
just one train—we walk to the train station, Keisei Takasago. There are a lot of different 
trains that stop or pass through this station,   so you need to check the monitors for 
the correct train. Since we’re heading to Ueno today, we need to get on the 
train that stops in… well, Ueno. Also, there are no gates or railing on 
this platform, so hold on to your kids. The ride into town is pretty peaceful. It’s 
around 11:30 a.m., so the morning rush is over,   and the train isn’t packed like it would 
be earlier in the day. One of the nice things about this route is that it stays 
above ground for most of the trip. Tokyo   is famous for its sprawling underground train 
system, but for now, we get to watch the city roll by. The view out the windows makes 
for a nice, relaxed start to the day. But soon enough, we hit our second-to-last stop, then the train dips underground, running 
right beneath the park we’re about to visit. Okay, we just got to Keisei Ueno, which 
is different than the main Ueno Station,   but it worked out for us ’cause it’s really 
close to the park entrance on the south end. So we walk through this awesome, like, path and 
stuff—it’s really pretty. Keisei Ueno Station, operated by the private Keisei Railway 
Company, isn’t as massive as the JR Ueno   Station—that’s Japan Railways, the national 
rail system—but it still has plenty of exits, and if you take the wrong one, you’ll end up 
nowhere near where you actually want to be. to the Right. To the right.
It says right, doesn’t it? Lindsay was right in this 
case. She usually is though. Oh hey, that’s the zoo right there, isn’t it? Yep.
We’re not going there. Okay, so there’s a second entrance 
we didn’t know about. So I guess if you follow the signs when you get 
off the subway, it might lead you   to a quicker way to the zoo. Just outside 
Keisei Ueno Station is the Benten Gate to Ueno Zoo—convenient if you’re heading straight 
in. But we’re going to pass by that for now. We’re making our way to Benten 
Temple at Shinobazu Pond,   and more than anything, we’re here for the pond. Is it the boats? Are we going on them? On the pond behind the temple, they 
have boats you can hire by the half hour. They’ve got rowboats, regular 
cycle boats, and even swan cycle boats. Of course, we snagged a couple pink swans. So we did this a couple 
months ago, didn’t we, Lily? I remember it being very tiring.  It hurts your legs.
It does. Hi girls! You’re paddling. We’re following them, guys—we’re coming.
Following you.  Faster and faster.
The boat—I’m pedaling again. You see, Daddy? Look, I’m driving.
Good job!  See, I’m pedaling again.
That’s awesome. Good job. We’re coming over to crash, so the swans can kiss.
Yep. Okay, girls— My name is Lily.
And how old are you, Lily?  I’m 8 years old.
Who’s your favorite teacher? Mommy. A half hour may seem quick,   but trust me—it’s plenty. These things 
are way more work than they look. Wobbly?
I think they’re always like that. Fun.
Good.  That was so fun.
That was so much fun. Good.
That was fun. All right, you want to get a water?
Yeah, we do. They’re not giving them away here, are they? We already went on the swan boats and 
we gonna go on them next time again. Bye! get another fortune today.
Linds, a better fortune?  Why are there so many bad fortunes on there?
I don’t know. Now on to the zoo. As I said earlier, this is 
the Benten Gate—one of the secondary entrances to the zoo. The main gate is further inside Ueno 
Park, and we’ll see that later when we leave. Ueno Zoo is actually split right 
down the middle by a highway,   dividing it into the West Garden and the 
East Garden. This entrance brings you straight into the West Garden—right next to 
the pandas, if that’s on your must-see list. It was 1,200 yen, which is 
like $7 and some change. All the kids were free ’cause 12 and under are free. Every time we come here, I see these 
buildings here and I think it’d be so cool to have an apartment that overlooked the 
zoo like this. Wonder how much those cost. Zoos are always a hit with our girls, so we 
start off in the small critters section and   the Children’s Zoo. Lots of hands-on exhibits 
and smaller animals, which is perfect for kids. Look, he’s back there in the back.
Hey. Then we make our way to the 
Animals of Africa section.  What is it, girls?
Daddy, it’s a rhinoceros! Yeah, rhinoceros.
He’s eating grass. Last time we were here, this 
whole area was under construction,   so it’s cool to finally see it open. 
They’ve really done a great job with it. So we came two years ago, right when Japan 
opened back up. And where the giraffes and,   like, the hippos and rhinos are—they 
were all in these inside enclosures. The cages were really small, and we were like, 
“This is really sad.” Everything… well,   last fall, we came back, and apparently 
when we were here the first time, they were remodeling or building new outdoor 
areas for the giraffes and rhinos and all that. And it’s really awesome now. So we got to see 
that last fall, and now we’re seeing it again. If you’re wondering what that noise is—those are   the flamingos and they are fighting, very noisy.
Yeah, they’re fighting—they are. Um, if you’re from Japan, you probably 
know what these are, but if you’re not,   they’re little smelly things that keep 
the bugs away. And they’re working. Ueno Zoo used to have a monorail 
connecting the East and West Gardens,   making it Japan’s shortest railway line. 
So that is the old monorail that used to go from one side of the zoo to the other. It’s 
been decommissioned for five or six years now, and I don’t know if it’s ever 
going to be fired back up again. I don’t think so.  Would’ve been a fun ride. For now 
though, we’ll just have to walk. These are the Japanese macaques, also 
known as snow monkeys. They are native   to Japan and are famous for soaking in 
hot springs during the winter. The most well-known example of these are the ones that 
live in the Jigokudani Monkey Park in Nagano,   where tourists flock to see them bathing in 
the steamy onsen waters. You’ll find these fascinating primates all over the country, but 
here at the zoo, they’ve got their own little   rocky habitat to climb and explore. Watching 
them scale the cliffs with ease never gets old. Poopin’ and Peein’—you can make some paper, girls.  What’s that smell like?
What’s that smell like, Harper? Okay, so we came in right 
there—now we’re right here.  Okay, so now we want to go see the 
snow owl, the tigers, and the gorillas. We finally find the snow owl, but getting a clear   shot is pretty much impossible with the 
grating on the enclosure. Still, I try. Meanwhile, the otter is putting on 
a show—splashing around and darting   through the water like it knows we’re 
watching. If you’re a longtime fan, you know otters are Lily’s favorite animal, so 
she is especially pleased to see this little guy. Down to the Gorilla Woods and Tiger Forest. We 
walk through the Gorilla Woods and Tiger Forest, and right away, we spot three young tigers 
playing. They’re chasing each other, pouncing,   and putting on a full show for us—it’s adorable. So first we go to the gorillas, then we get food,   then we go to the bears.
Okay, let’s go. And finally, we make it to the gorillas. 
They’re out and active today—moving around   their enclosure and keeping a close eye on the 
crowd. Always impressive to see them up close. We spot the polar bear 
standing right by the water,   staring straight at us. And not 
just any water—the clearest, most refreshing-looking pool I’ve seen all day. 
In this heat, I’m honestly a little jealous. We exit the zoo through the former 
entrance. It’s one-way only now,   but you can still see the original ticket 
booths, wrought iron gates, and fences. Hey, that was the Ueno Zoo. We had a good 
time. It’s such an affordable activity for   everyone. The kids under 12 are all free. I 
think 12 to 18 is half price, and then even the adults are only 600 yen a piece. Like, I 
don’t know—can’t even buy a bottle of water for 600 yen in the US.
At the zoo!  Like seriously.
Seriously. Yeah, and not just because US zoos don’t accept 
yen. 600 yen works out to about $4. When I made that comment, I thought I was being a bit over 
the top, but I actually looked it up—at the   Indianapolis Zoo in my hometown, a bottle of water 
costs $4.50. Turns out I wasn’t exaggerating at all. The value at Ueno Zoo really is incredible. 
Definitely come check it out—the zoo is awesome. And there’s the main entrance—the one I 
mentioned earlier. This is the bigger,   more recognizable gate inside Ueno Park. 
If you’re coming from the JR Station, this is probably where you’ll enter. But for 
us, the Benten Gate was the better option. Okay, it’s two o’clock and we’re hungry. 
We tried to take a shortcut through Ueno Station. This place is massive—one 
of Tokyo’s major transit hubs,   connecting local trains, Shinkansen, and 
even long-distance lines heading north. Okay, we’re walking through Ueno Station and 
I think we’re just cutting through. But uh,   we’re looking for food, and I know there’s a 
bunch of food on the other side of the station. So we swiped our cards to get in 
the station, and now we’re going   to swipe out. We never got on a train.
I’ve never done this, but I don’t think it should charge us.
We’re gonna find out. Charged us?
Charged us.  That’s dumb.
That’s really dumb. A dollar each to walk through the station. We head out in search of food and 
find a spot just outside the station,   tucked under the tracks—Delirium. 
Yes, the same as the beer. Okay, we just got done eating 
at that place. Delirium Café   it’s expensive, but pretty tasty. Got some 
Chicago-style deep-dish pizza—nice lunch. Anyway, we’re going to head through 
here. This is Ueno, and we’re going to   go see if we can find some type of dessert or 
something for the girls—and maybe some beers, ’cause I wouldn’t mind having a beer.
Go find some snow cones. After a quick bite to eat, we head into the 
shopping streets nearby. This area just outside   Ueno Station is packed with shops, restaurants, 
and market stalls. It’s part of Ameya-Yokocho, or Ameyoko for short—a lively shopping street that 
runs alongside the train tracks. Historically, it was a black market after World War 
II, but now it’s one of the best spots   in Tokyo for bargain shopping, fresh seafood, 
street food, and all kinds of random finds. I don’t know—cool, isn’t it? Okay, so this area is really cool—just 
south of Ueno Station—and there’s, like, tons of restaurants and desserts and shops. 
It’s kind of like a market. It’s neat. Smells fishy right now.
Does it smell fishy, Lily? As we wander through Ameyoko, we come 
across the perfect combo—snow cones and   beers. We got three smoothies 
and two beers for 2,500 yen. I got a mango smoothie.
And I got an Oreo smoothie by myself. I got a baby Hello Kitty smoothie.
What?  You got chocolate! You goof!
And I got beer. It’s hot, we’ve been walking 
all day, and this hits the spot. I got Hello Kitty with it!
I got chocolate and Hello Kitty. Its a Oreo.
I’m going to get this next time. The kids are happy with their shaved 
ice, we’ve got a cold drink in hand,   and for the moment, we just get 
to sit back and enjoy Tokyo. Time to head back to Katsushika. 
We hop on the Keisei Line—tired   but satisfied after a full day in Ueno. All right, see you guys tomorrow. We’ve got to go get on a train, and 
then we’re taking it to the Tokyo Cruise Pier. It’s like a river cruise. We’ll hopefully 
be able to get tickets to take the river   cruise down to Oda… something like that. 
Definitely correct me in the comments below. All right, so the trains in Japan are very quiet. 
No one talks, and people sleep—a lot, actually. We’re staying in Katsushika, a neighborhood 
where tourists are still pretty rare.   It’s a nice change of pace, giving us 
a glimpse of real Tokyo life. But it does mean hopping on a train to get to 
Asakusa, where we’ll catch our unique   ride to Odaiba—a spaceship-looking 
boat that cruises across Tokyo Bay. We’re at the Sumida-gawa River.
What is Sumida-gawa?  Um, it means river.
That’s right—*gawa*, *gawa* means river.
Gawa means river. We just got to the Sumida River and we are looking 
for these boats. They think maybe one of these is up here. We are just walking along the river right 
now and seeing if we can find the ticket gates. This is awesome. I love being back in Tokyo. 
It’s a lot busier now, but still awesome. That’s under C1.
Mhm. Okay, so when you come in, you just go to that 
machine there and you can buy the tickets. We’re   doing the Hotaluna—Luna. Uh, it’s going 
to take us down to Odaiba Seaside Park, and it’s about 70 minutes, I think, is what 
it said. So we board in about 20 minutes. And the price was 6,000—so 
it’s 2,000 for each adult, 1,000 for each child, and then Harper 
was free since she’s five or under. After grabbing coffee and 
snacks at the terminal—pro tip:   there’s no food service on board—we’re cruising   from Asakusa’s Azuma-bashi Bridge past the 
historic waterfront to Odaiba Marine Park. Okay, we’re getting ready to get on the boat, 
and it’s going to take about 70 minutes, I think. This isn’t just any ferry though—we’re 
riding the Himiko, designed by legendary   anime creator Leiji Matsumoto. With its 
sleek silver body and spaceship styling, it’s basically Tokyo’s idea of what water 
transport should look like in the future. Fun fact: this was actually Matsumoto’s 
first venture into real-world vehicles. Okay, we are off, and this is a really, really 
crowded ship. So I would recommend buying tickets online, because you do get to board 
first and you get first pick of seats—’cause   there’s not that many seats, and there’s 
a lot of people. This is pretty popular. How old are you?
Our burger show!  That’s right—four! Oh no, that’s three—there you 
go, that’s four years old. They just opened up the rooftop deck 
kind of thing. This is awesome. What   a beautiful freaking day.
There’s the Rainbow Bridge. I think we’re stopping at this 
port here—this is awesome. Okay, go. Okay—and there she 
is, Lady Liberty herself. But wait… haven’t we seen her 
somewhere else before? Actually,   make that two somewheres—first in New 
York, waving goodbye as you sailed out on the Queen Mary 2. Then again in 
Paris, standing proud along the Seine.  And now here she is in Tokyo Bay. A 
bit smaller than her New York sister, but she’s found herself a pretty sweet spot 
here in Odaiba with the Rainbow Bridge backdrop. Delicious ones! So these cookies are amazing—I 
love them so much. Apparently they have a drink, Milky Shake, and it has the chocolate 
cookies that I like, so let’s try it. It’s amazing. Okay, we just got done eating at that 
mall. We just grabbed a sandwich real   quick. We’re going to go take a bus to the 
museum—it is the Tokyo Water Science Museum, and it closes at 5, and it’s 3:15 right now, 
so we’re going to go check that out for a little bit. And I think we should walk like 
3 or 4 minutes over here to catch the bus.  Let’s go.
Yeah, not in there—but over there. So we go to the fair now—museum!
And we—I’m so excited! And so we—I’m so excited—we’re, we’re 
going to the museum, and I think… That’s next up: Tokyo Water Science Museum. 
Getting there’s a breeze—just hop on the bus and tap your card. No complicated tickets. Tokyo’s 
transit system really makes exploring this easy. All right, we made it on the bus. 
We are headed to the water museum. Okay, we just got off the bus.
How much was it?  210 yen.
210 yen per adult. And then what?
And then the big   girls are each half price—so 210 for the both 
of them, or 105 each. And then Harper’s free. So we just got off the bus, and now we’re going 
to the water museum—or the science museum—and I’m super excited.
To the museum!  And when we—we went on the 
bus—and—and we jumped there! So the last couple years we’ve come 
to Japan like four or five times,   I think. Since they opened, it’s 
been pretty awesome. We love it here. Mommy, doesn’t look very busy.
L: Nope.  Good.
It’s free too!  Oh, is it?
Oh, it is. Cool. It looks like big poop. Okay, so this is the Tokyo Water Science Museum.
Okay, and there’s a couple rules. Couple promises.
You don’t run.  Okay?
Okay. Okay, okay—so do you guys want 
to go explore the first part?  I want to do this part first.
Okay, this says it’s the Aqua Showcase. The Water Science Museum is one 
of those hidden gems tour guides   often miss. It’s completely free, 
loaded with hands-on exhibits, and honestly—perfect for escaping 
that summer heat. Inside,   you’ll find everything from water conservation 
displays to massive water pump demonstrations. But the highlight? The huge water 
table where kids can experiment   with currents and water flow. And check 
this out—they’ve got these bubble domes that the kids can duck under to get up close 
to the water jets while staying totally dry. Perfect spot to sneak in some learning 
while beating the Tokyo heat. This is awesome—and it was free, so 
that’s amazing. Really amazing. Moving up through the building, the story 
of Tokyo’s water unfolds. Each level walks you through the journey—from massive 
reservoirs, through treatment plants,   into your home’s taps, then back down 
through the drains and sewers for cleaning. It’s pretty fascinating to see the whole system 
laid out. Even the girls are into it, especially   when they spot the toilet display.
Toilet! If you’ve got kids that are interested 
in, uh, sewage and water treatment, this is definitely the place to take them. But 
even if they’re not crazy about those topics,   it’s still really cool. They can learn about how 
the water comes from the river and ends up in your house—and your pipes, and your plumbing, 
and the water we drink—and it’s awesome. This is the kind of thing we love to do. We 
love to find these things—and it’s a free   activity. Free.
Free! Zero dollars. You can find budget items. You 
don’t have to spend a fortune. You don’t have   to go to Tokyo Disneyland—although the 
girls did have fun at Tokyo Disneyland. Check that video here if you 
want to see our trip there. On the upper floors, it’s all 
about hands-on experience. The girls bounce between exhibits—making massive 
bubbles, testing what floats and what sinks,   and controlling mini fog 
storms right in front of them. Make the ball float or sink.
Oh! The bubbles make the ball sink. Oh, that’s interesting, isn’t it?
Yeah. Between the water displays downstairs and these 
science stations up here, we easily spend a couple of hours just exploring and playing.
Not bad for a free museum. I found a vending machine that 
gives you Coke with ice—watch this. Coke with ice for 100 yen.
Wow, that’s awesome. All right, so that was the Tokyo 
Water Science Museum. You should   definitely come check it out—it 
was really awesome, and it’s free. Want the full Tokyo plan we used, 
plus access to all our worldschool   guides like Taipei? Join our Patreon—get 
instant access to all our eBooks or buy one-off copies. Start planning 
your own epic adventure today. Okay, we just got to walk across this 
bridge right here to get to that mall over there. And this is like a busy 
road, so uh, yeah—hold your kids’ hands. Fun!  I can’t do it.
Boring place. So we’re going to Round 1. We have no 
idea about this, so we’re so excited. Inside DiverCity, the Hello 
Kitty store is our first stop.  Hello Kitty shop in Japan!
Come here, follow me—let’s go, honey. While browsing around, we spot some 
of those adorable character-shaped   dorayaki—those traditional 
Japanese pancake sandwiches, but with a kawaii twist. The perfect sweet 
treat to keep our energy up for exploring. If you’re looking for a gift, for 
souvenirs or anything—this mall   has it all. I would probably just 
come here. It’s got everything. So that’s that robot. It’s 
every 2 hours during the day, and then after sunset it’s every half hour. So 
it’s 5:15 now—we just missed the 5:00 showing, and that’s the last one until 
the nighttime shows start. It’s Gundam. That’s the show—Gundam. 
It’s like from the ’70s? I don’t   know. But check these stairs out—this is awesome. These iconic rainbow LED stairs next 
to the Gundam statue have become a   must-visit spot for photos. And 
yeah, our girls couldn’t resist running up and down them a couple 
times—I mean, could you blame them? Our final stop of the day is Round 
1, one of Japan’s major entertainment   chains. You’ll find these multi-floor 
complexes all over the country. Today, though, we’re here for just two 
things—the claw machines and karaoke. Okay, we just got to Round 1 and got our 
tickets. It’s about a 15-minute wait. 3,100 yen.
3,180.  3,180 just for the room, and it comes 
with a drink bar—but everybody in the party has to order something for like 260.
We’re going to order beers—no problem.  I think the beers are only like $2 here. 
We’ll let you know when we get a room. They’re less than—they’re only like 
200 yen, so that’s probably like $1.66. Daddy, I’m going to spin it!  Daddy, what’d you learn?
I’m a bubble guy now. We have a strict family policy with these 
claw machines—sometimes you win, sometimes   you lose. And when your money’s gone, it’s gone. 
No digging for extra coins or “just one more try.” Today, though, luck is on the girls’ side—Harper 
catches herself a bunny, and the older girls work   together to snag a Mario extra life mushroom.
You got a mushroom! To be honest, sometimes I actually prefer 
when they don’t win. These machines are   essentially gambling for kids, and learning to 
walk away—win or lose—is an important lesson. Finally, we head to karaoke. If you’ve never 
done karaoke in Japan, you’re in for a treat.   Each group gets their own private 
room, complete with a comfy couch, drink menus, and enough songs 
to keep you singing for days.  Oh, and they also have plenty 
of songs in English too. What’s on the floor, huh?
We’re on the floor. Anyway, check these things out—100 yen each. 
That’s like 66 US cents. How is that possible? He has a lemon sour, and I have 
a plum—plum, plum white sour. It’s time for beer.  We got… looks like Asahi. A big one 
for 200, so 400 yen for two beers. That’s amazing. Never heard this song in my life—what? All right, so we got the girls some chicken strips 
and some hot dogs. We got three different kinds of fries, and then we got some—well, supposed to be 
spicy chicken. So we’ll see if it’s really spicy. So the first one I had wasn’t 
too spicy—’cause really, Japan,   when they say spicy… it’s not.
It’s not too spicy. But yeah, the second one I had was actually 
spicier, and they’re really delicious. What do you think?
Welcome!  It was good.
They’re really spicy.  They’re not that spicy—we’ve been to 
Thailand. Oh, things aren’t spicy. 🎵 Sweet and strange… song as old… 🎵 And they’re delicious—and even better 
’cause they’re only 200 yen each. I got a melon float with whipped cream. Oh my gosh.
Oh yes. Did you have fun, Linds?
Yep, always a good time.  Good.
Love—what are you doing? Okay—oh yeah, okay, that was fun. So this is the room—the girls 
all just went to the bathroom. Um, yeah… can you see 
that? My shoe’s on and broke. We like to go to Round 1 because it’s 
super cheap. It’s really cheap—it was like, I don’t even know, 3,200 or something for, 
um, just for all of us to get in here. And   then the food is going to be so cheap.
We’ll see—I’m going to go pay. I gotta go scan our QR code. So you just get like 
a QR code like that, then you go scan it and pay. So let’s head out of here.
We’ll do that. I gotta pee so bad. So I just noticed that this room that 
we’re on has… kids. So it’s a kids’ room. And this one says, “Please 
take off your shoes.” And it’s a   massage. Ours didn’t say that—we always 
do anyway because we, uh, we like that. So one of the other kinds of rooms…
We definitely like this style better, but we didn’t get that one this time.
That looks cool to me. I’m going to go pay, and then 
I gotta go to the bathroom. Wow—4,730 for all the drinks and the food.
I mean, we had a lot. And that’s it.
$30.  Okay, how much was it?  It was $30 plus the original—it’s like 3,000.
Oh, I didn’t have that—I didn’t know that. 50 bucks.
50 bucks—how   many hours? Like four?
Yeah—tons of beers. We were full, right?
I mean, we might have had more beers, but… I can’t believe you actually got it on video.  I know—it never works if 
you get a mushroom on video. We are heading out now, and we 
just need to go get on the metro,   and then—I don’t know, about an hour ride. That was a fun night, though, for sure.
I can’t wait to, like, do this more and show   you guys more of what we do and how we live 
and how we teach our kids—and it’s awesome. Make sure you comment below. Let us know 
if you learned anything, what you liked,   what you didn’t like—we’d love to hear it. See you tomorrow.
Love you, bye! After a long train ride home, we get some 
rest—but Tokyo isn’t quite done with us yet. Morning.
How you feeling today?  Good.
Our legs are sore. We’re headed to Shinjuku and 
Shibuya, and we have a lot of super,   super touristy things to do today.
Don’t know if we’ll do them all. Today, we’re taking on Shinjuku, 
Harajuku, and Shibuya—all in one day. First, we need to fuel up at 7-Eleven—one 
of our favorite places for lunch. Japanese 7-Elevens are absolutely amazing 
for family travelers—nothing like the ones   back home.
Be a guest. They’re packed with fresh, affordable food 
that actually tastes amazing. We’re loading   up on some fresh fruit, sandwiches, and 
drinks for a late breakfast/early lunch. Quick, delicious, and easy on the budget.  Konbini like this make traveling 
in Japan with kids so much simpler. Now we’re hopping on the Keisei Line—the 
first of two trains we need to take to   get to Shinjuku Station, one of the 
busiest train stations in the world. Riding on trains for a long time. Tokyo’s train system is incredible—but 
man, it can be a lot. Especially with kids and a stroller. Some stations have 
elevators and some don’t. Sometimes you   can’t find elevators. Some trains have 
a ton of space, while others feel like a slow-motion mosh pit where everyone 
is just politely ignoring each other. But I guess that’s all part of the adventure. How many stops do we have on this train?
Eight. Okay, we’re taking the Shinjuku Line to 
Shinjuku, and we were over there on that   platform—and we just had to walk across this 
one. And now we’re going to go find the S… Line in Japan. And if you’re ever confused 
on what side of the walkway to walk on, look at the ground—usually there’s 
stickers telling you what to do. Okay, we just got to Shinjuku Station. 
Now we have a 13-minute walk to this park,   where we’re going first to meet 
another worldschool family. So let’s just go.  13-minute walk—let’s go.
We’re headed to the park. Thank you! Doing it for me—that’s 
some sister teamwork right there. The first time we came to Tokyo, 
we stayed on this side of Shinjuku,   and I think we came to this park 
every single day. Since then, it’s kind of become our go-to meeting spot for 
connecting with fellow worldschooling families. Okay, that was the park—and that was a lot of 
fun. We didn’t film ’cause we don’t film at parks, really. But that’s a great park to 
go to if you’re staying in Shinjuku. Now we are going to head to Sushiro. And this 
is a cool one here in Shinjuku—you’ll see, it’s neat. But this is a conveyor belt sushi 
chain, and it’s one of our favorites. Let’s go. We head back toward the station, passing 
through Nishi-Shinjuku—Tokyo’s towering   business district. This area is packed 
with some of the city’s tallest buildings, including the iconic Tokyo 
Metropolitan Government Building. Okay, we’re coming up on the Tokyo 
Metropolitan Government Building. And this is two towers in downtown Shinjuku. And 
you can actually go up to the top floor—it’s got a free observatory you can go to. So you 
just come over here, go up the elevator,   and you can see the whole city. It’s awesome. And 
on a clear day, you can actually see Mount Fuji. Just north of the main station, there’s a 
newly remodeled Sushiro we’ve been wanting to   check out. We grab a ticket from the check-in 
machine, find our seats, and get right to it. Okay, we’re here. Every table has these massive 
touchscreens where you just tap what you want. Miso da.
And it shows up at your table in a few minutes. We order up some drinks, some sushi, and after 
so many plates, we even get to play a few games   on the screen for a chance at a prize. And 
you know the drill by now—sometimes we win, sometimes we lose.
Oh, we won! So yeah, and they have this—at this Sushiro—they 
have this thing with prosciutto, mozzarella, and a basil drizzle. A little basil sauce.
It’s like—I don’t know—I compare it to   like an Italian sushi. It’s so freaking 
good. It’s amazing. I love it. So good. Sushiro is a solid choice—fast, easy, 
and great if you’ve got picky eaters.  And the best part? The whole 
meal only cost around 28 bucks. For Tokyo, that’s a win. Just outside of Sushiro, if you head north, 
you’ll come across a cool little alley. Okay, so this is Omoide Yokocho. I don’t 
know if that’s how I’m saying it right,   but it’s like this narrow alley with a bunch of 
restaurants and bars and stuff like that. It’s really cool at night, but thought we’d show you it 
right now ’cause it’s right by Shinjuku Station. As we walk through, you can feel the history 
of this place. Omoide Yokocho, or Memory Lane, dates back to postwar Tokyo and is packed with 
tiny bars and food stalls that have been here   for decades. It’s got this old-school, 
only-in-Japan vibe that feels straight out of a movie. It’s really cool during the 
day, but at night, when the lanterns light   up and the whole street fills with smoke and 
the smell of grilled meats—it’s next level. Okay, now we need to just cross to 
the other side of Shinjuku Station,   and then that’s where the Cross Vision 
billboard is. It’s like that cat that kind of looks like it’s coming out of 
the billboard. But we just gotta go   down here—we’ll kind of center this tunnel 
and it’ll be right on the other side of it. To the Fire Museum. Walking into the Fire Museum, we weren’t 
really sure what to expect. But right away,   we find something I definitely didn’t 
expect—an early 1900s Stutz fire truck. Hey, check it out—it’s Stutz! The Stutz 
Fire Engine Company is from Indianapolis, my hometown, so that’s really cool. And 
now the Stutz factory—the old factory   where that was probably manufactured—is now an 
art gallery in Indianapolis. It’s really cool. It was in 1917 when motorized pumper fire 
engines were first introduced in Tokyo. On this floor, the earlier days of Japanese fire   service are shown and explained through 
colorful woodblock prints and documents. The museum has a ton of historical fire 
equipment—from Edo-period hand-pulled   fire pumps to massive water kettles that 
firefighters used to carry and dump on flames. The girls, of course, are way more interested   in the hands-on stuff. They dress up as 
firefighters, climb inside play trucks, and check out all the different uniforms 
firefighters have worn over the years. There’s even an interactive station where 
kids can color their own fire trucks—and then, thanks to some fun tech, their designs 
get projected onto a giant map of the   city. Their mission? Cover Tokyo with as 
many multicolor fire trucks as possible. So you’re coloring a picture right now,   and then they’re going to be able to scan 
it, and then it’ll come up on that screen. And just when we think we’ve seen it all, we find 
an entire section dedicated to firefighting boats. There’s even a short film about them where it 
feels like you’re sitting inside the boat. We end   up watching way longer than we expected.
So cool! That is so cool.
Fireball! Fire boat! We just watched a show on 
that, didn’t we, Captain? And finally, we head up to the rooftop, 
where the girls get to climb inside of   a real-life, full-size firefighting 
helicopter. It’s decommissioned now, but this was probably their 
favorite part of the museum. Cool—they have this helicopter on the roof. So 
don’t miss that. If you go to the fifth floor, there’s like a door—it’s… there’s not even a   sign. There’s this helicopter 
on the roof you can get in. Really good find.
Yep, Linds is kind of the queen of finding cool museums that don’t cost much—that are free.
Yeah, that’s the best kind of museum. The Fire Museum ended up being way more fun than   we expected. And the best 
part? It’s completely free. All right, the Fire Museum was really awesome. 
And bonus—it’s free. So come check it out. Free! Open. Daddy, where are we going?
Squishy store! We stopped at a 7-Eleven for some waters, and 
now it’s time to catch a quick bus to Harajuku. Busy—I knew it was going to be. Okay, we just got off the bus in Harajuku. 
We’re going to walk down that crazy street down there—and it is absolutely insane. 
So… not sad. We gotta go to the squishy   store and maybe get a snack, and then 
we gotta get to Shibuya to do the more touristy things. And then we’re gonna call 
today quits—’cause our butts are dragging. Oh look, look—right here! This place is wild. Harajuku is 
the kawaii capital of Japan—if   not the world. It’s where bold, 
eclectic street fashion was born, and where you’ll still find people 
rocking full-on Harajuku girl looks. And at the center of it all—the street we’re 
walking down right now—is Takeshita Street. This place is packed with shops, street food, 
and everything cute you can possibly imagine. Our first stop is the squishy store, so the girls can pick out a couple new 
additions to their ever-growing collection. Look at this little head!
Sorry we took a long time. It’s all right. And next up—one of those cotton candies 
that’s as big as your head. And of course, Harper and Cora turn it into 
an absolute sticky disaster.   We may be past the diaper stage, but 
trust me—baby wipes are still a must. All right, what do you do with the trash, Linds?  All right, so you just take it 
back to where you bought it. Seriously, please don’t leave 
your trash on the streets. And that… is the tourists. Then we come across those 10-yen coins—little 
pancake things filled with cheese. And of course, since we’re in Harajuku, we had to go 
for the rainbow-colored cheese version. Oh, and they don’t actually cost only 10 
yen—they just look like a 10-yen coin. Okay, stop recording now. I get the scraps, I guess. Good.  It was good.
Mine! Let her have it—I’m still hungry. Okay, well that one’s good. Let’s 
go so we can—yeah, okay. Ready? So that’s about all we can handle of 
Harajuku. We’re going to go get on the Yamanote Line and take that to Shibuya and 
just do the crossing. Turn around and wave, probably. But there’s more stuff in Shibuya if you 
want to check it out—we don’t. Not tonight anyway. Okay, we just got off—and that was a packed train. 
Luckily, it was only one stop. These are stairs. Okay, we made it. And uh, this is always madness 
at this station, at this crossing. It’s why it’s so famous. But it’s 6:00 on a Friday, 
so that’s why it’s extra nuts right now. Shibuya Scramble—the most organized chaos 
you’ll ever see. Every time the light turns   red, thousands of people flood the 
intersection from every direction, somehow never colliding.
Woo! Oh, it’s busy. Just across the street is that Starbucks—the one 
with the perfect overhead view of the scramble. We’ve never done it, but every time we pass 
it, it looks jam-packed. And honestly? We’d rather be out here in the middle of it all.
You can see the tree—I’ll just put some stock   footage in from up there. How’s that sound?
All right, crossing back. 🎵 Tokyo… 🎵
Tokyo, will we ever meet again? Do you remember me too?
I am so addicted to you. Tokyo, I went out today just to see the light.
It will never change. And I know I leave it, trying to find out what I want…
But didn’t know how much I thought of you. I don’t know the full story, but—so 
that dog, it came and waited for like   years after the owner passed away. And then 
they ended up making a statue for the dog. Treats, even stuff that we never… yeah, why? That’s Shibuya checked off the 
list. Time to hop on a train and head back to Katsushika, where dinner is waiting. Back above ground, the city rolls past our window 
bathed in that golden hour glow. It’s sunset now, which means only one thing—rush hour 
trains are packed wall-to-wall. Luckily, we got the express, so it’s only two more stops 
to our home station. And then—it’s time to eat. Okay, another packed, packed train. 
That’s Friday night. It’s 7:17—I mean, I’m not even remotely surprised. But we’re 
home now. We’re going to go get some yakiniku, I think. We’ll go check it out. 
I know to get to the steak place. It was weird when I left.
What’d you get? Friends. Some water. You want some? Some of that?
I’m going to go to that… do you want me to get another?
Hope they want to say reserved. I—I don’t care.
I don’t remember   right now if they even have seats.
The wax seat seats? We’ll see. All right, so we ended up getting a course 
and we can have all-you-can-drink for two hours. And yeah—I don’t know, we’re going 
to get a lot of food, I think. I hope. First up—a fresh salad, some crispy French fries 
for the kids, and these insanely good fried rolls stuffed with cheese and edamame.
So good. Then comes a plate of the most tender pork 
served over seasoned hard-boiled eggs,   and a hot skillet of gooey, melty cheese. You 
already know we’re dipping everything in that. Next, the main events—a sizzling plate of steak,   a hot skillet loaded with meat 
and veggies, and of course, okonomiyaki. If you’ve never had it, think of it 
as a savory Japanese pancake loaded with flavor. That’s Tokyo-style okonomiyaki. 
Patted in Osaka—this is Tokyo-style. And it smells good. And just when we think we can’t eat anymore, 
they bring out noodles, fresh-baked bread, and—because apparently we needed more 
carbs—French toast with ice cream for dessert. It’s so good.
That looks amazing. The best part? All of this—every single 
dish, plus the all-you-can-drink deal—comes out to 11,700 yen for our family of 
five. In Tokyo, that’s a huge win. Nice.
Awesome. Hey—hey! So it’s “hoku hoku.” And hoku 
hoku is like the pleasure of being full, or something like that.
It was so good.  It was.
But man, it’s a lot of food.  It was a lot of food.
We literally did two courses—like, one for me, for Adam.
So much food.  So much food we couldn’t even eat.
We didn’t eat it all—with three kids helping us. So yeah. But no—go there. They’re really 
awesome. We’ll be back before we leave, for sure. And all right—we’re done for the night. We’ll, 
uh, see you tomorrow when we do… what? I don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow.
We have Borderless still.  Ooh, okay—it might be TeamLabs.
But it also might be… I know we have two things left.
Yeah, I don’t know—I forgot. You’ll find out in 3… 2… 1… Some days are packed with adventure, 
others are for slowing down.  Today, we’re keeping it low-key in Akihabara. Okay, so there’s basically two things 
we definitely want to accomplish today.   We want to go to Yodobashi, which is like an 
awesome, huge camera and electronics store. We also want to go to a gachapon store—which, 
gachapon is like the little capsule toys. So it’s probably going to be a short day, but 
thought we’d take you along and show you what it’s like going to have a day off.
So let’s go. I know I keep going on and on about how much I 
love the trains of Japan, but I mean—can you blame   me? They’re clean, quiet, fast, always on time.
And this one—this one’s got the views. Crossing rivers, weaving through the city, even 
rolling right underneath the Tokyo Skytree. Okay, we just got off at Asakusabashi and 
then we just gotta walk like 20 minutes   down this road along this train track and 
we’ll be in Akihabara. Walking in Tokyo is basically its own activity—every 
block has something: tiny shops,   restaurants squeezed into impossible spaces, 
and of course, vending machines. So many vending machines. It’s awesome because there’s a vending 
machine pretty much every step that you walk. Oh, here we go. And of course, every day is a World 
School Day. Today’s lesson: Tokyo’s crossing signals, brought to you by Harper.
Um, with red light, um, the cars go and we don’t go. And the green light, um, we can go.
That’s right—and the cars don’t. Oh nice. We arrive at Yodobashi on a mission: Amiibo 
character figurines—or if those don’t turn up, the next best thing—trading cards. These 
apparently interact with the *Animal Crossing: New   Horizons* game on the Nintendo Switch, which the 
girls have been borderline obsessed with lately. That’s why when they spot LEGO 
sets of their favorite game,   there’s no chance we aren’t stopping.
You own Animal Crossing LEGO? What’s Animal Crossing?
The game that we like to play on the Switch. Tom! If you’re new to this channel, you probably 
don’t know that I love Harry Potter. Um, mostly every birthday I have Harry Potter in it. There’s also an entire wall of gachapon—but 
no time for that right now. Don’t worry,   we’ll get to the fun capsule toys later. Holy cow, Lindsay!
Yeah—Sumikko Gurashi! Our girls love them. It’s my baby car!
Yeah, girls, girls,   girls, girls.
Ami— Oh good, some light reading on their 
favorite game. This 15lb behemoth of a book is exactly what I want to lug around 
the world. We’ll just put that back for now. Great. Got them.  All right, no dice on the figurines, 
but we did score some trading cards. Now let’s escape this chaos and find 
a quiet spot to see what they pulled. So that was Yodobashi—and 
that was mad. It always is, though. Discounts and stores—it’s awesome. 
We should’ve come on like a weekday,   it would’ve been a little bit less busy. 
But it’s still going to be busy like that. Awesome.
Fun!  You should go check it out—it’s part of Japan. Wow! Monkey guy!
Oh, is that My Melody?  Oh, My Melody—you got Melody? I didn’t know that. So Akihabara is known for 
its Electronics Town. It’s known for anime and those figurines and 
stuffies and electronics and lights and things—but also all the cafes: the maid cafes, 
the ninja cafes, the kind of more novelty, adult kind of places. And then also of 
course, pachinko parlors—everywhere. We didn’t go to Laps here.
Yeah, this street is open—let’s   walk on it.
Hell yeah! So on the weekends, they also close a lot 
of these streets in Akihabara—and Ginza—and I think in Shibuya too. They close some of the 
streets on Sundays, and it’s like—it’s awesome.   You walk everywhere. There’s no cars. I mean, 
this is cool—check this out. Isn’t that awesome? But that right there—that’s the GiGO building. 
It used to be the Sega building. So that’s like the iconic image of Akihabara—was that Sega 
building right there. GiGO brand bought the Sega brand, I think, and they put their name 
on there. It’s like an anime and toy company. As we wander down some side streets, we pop in 
and out of a few anime shops. Honestly, we don’t know a ton about anime—just that it’s a huge 
deal and people are really passionate about it. So do you watch any anime though?
Yes, we like this show—it’s in English. Um, I think it was made here.
Mhm.  *Spirited Away*—it’s called *Spirited Away*. The girls have seen a few of the bigger mainstream 
shows, but for Linds and me, we’ve just never   really gotten into it. Still, when the fandom 
is this massive, it’s hard not to appreciate it. Harry Potter—it’s cool.
Uh huh. We found the cards, but we did not find the little 
figures that we were looking for. On the cards,   they said that they’re very popular right 
now, so you can only get five per person. So one of these said tonight we’re going to   go to one of these.
No, close to that. Yeah—I think we might’ve accidentally 
just stumbled upon it. It’s right up here. Another thing we’re hunting for—an 
electronics component store. Unfortunately, YouTube doesn’t quite pay the bills, so I’ve 
got another job that actually does, and I need   some parts for it. And if there’s anywhere 
to find obscure electronics, it’s Akihabara. Tiny shops, shelves packed with circuit boards,   resistors, LEDs—basically what I imagine 
Radio Shack must have been like back in the day. It’s perfect. Got exactly what I 
needed, and it only set me back eight bucks. Okay, I got things I need at the 
store. I couldn’t find the one I like,   but there’s several of them. I just need a 
couple LEDs and resistors and things like that. Okay, what’d you get?
I got a cookie. Oh hey—while I was in there grabbing parts, 
the girls somehow managed to find some cookies. I found a store that has those 
things—it’s over by that GiGO. This place is massive—six floors of nothing 
but video games. Games, consoles, figurines, trading cards—they *have* to have those 
Amiibo figures the girls are looking for! …Or maybe not.
They’ve got tons of Amiibo   figurines, just not any for *Animal Crossing*.
So we grab a few more trading cards instead. They like to put escalators up 
in stores—but not back down. Those were just figurines, right?
Okay. Yay!
Oh, that’s awesome. All right, that’s Akihabara. And now 
we’re going to go get some food at   one of our favorite gyoza places. It’s in Asakusa, and we can just take the subway line that’s 
right here—two stops, and we’ll be there. This place is so cool. I love it 
here. It’s awesome. You’ve got to be able to deal with crowds though—’cause 
there’s a lot of freaking people here. Glory! All right, so they have delicious gyoza—that 
is like the juiciest gyoza we’ve ever had. Yes!
So good. You love it, Harper?
We bite into it—yummy!  They’re going to want to like explode all 
over, but like—just suck the juices out. I did too—so good. It’s one of my favorite gyoza I’ve ever had. They’re so good.
They’re seriously some of the best gyoza   we’ve had. Like—yeah, I’ve missed this place.
We’re excited to be back ’cause they’re seriously some of the best. For sure.
So come here if you ever come to Tokyo. Okay, that was the Gyoza and Tapas place and it 
is amazing. It’s right here, right in front of the Skytree. You gotta go there, it’s amazing. Okay, 
so that was 8,177 yen, which is about $52—kind of an early dinner, really late lunch. But it’s also 
three beers for each Lindsay and I, so that was a pretty good deal. A little more on the expensive 
side for us, but still, pretty good deal. What is that, Linds?
I don’t know—the raccoon dog?  Oh, that’s the guy—guys!
Oh, these guys look familiar. Turns out, they’re Tanuki—the same character species as 
Timmy and Tommy Nook from Animal Crossing.  Feels pretty on brand for the day we’re having.
That’s Tommy and Timmy! Oh, and Tom!
Yeah, the Tanuki—raccoon dog. So that’s cool. We decided to come down 
this street. They’re lined up all up and down here—they’re like “Good 
luck raccoons.” And I don’t know,   they all have little sayings and things like that. “A schooler raccoon—the most knowledgeable of 
Asakusa raccoons—wears a school cap and will share his blessings with you in hopes of improving 
your studies and passing the exam. Rub his belly.” Well, there you go—it should help you 
with your school studies. It’s good luck. Then we spot a big pink ribbon, and that 
can mean only one thing—a Sanrio shop. Of course, we have to stop.
The girls look around for   a bit, I do my best to stay sane.
These stores—definitely not my vibe. Linds caves, and now we own a 
few more souvenir keychains. Oh shoot, here we go.
Nope.  Okay, all right—success at the Sanrio store. And just to really drive the theme of the day 
home, we find a Baskin Robbins serving Sumikko Gurashi-themed ice cream—in special bowls, 
with tiny themed spoons and decorations.  I love how this day just 
keeps looping back on itself. You said this was going to 
be like a very quick day.  It’s been a whole day—we found lots to do.
I know—we did a lot more than I was thinking. Oh, here’s the gacha place right here. Finally, we make it to a Gachapon store. These 
capsule toy vending machines are everywhere in Japan—basically a core part of pop culture here.
The name *gashapon* is actually an onomatopoeia. *Gasha* represents the sound of the turning crank, 
and *pon* is the sound of a capsule dropping. I don’t really hear it—maybe Japanese 
onomatopoeia just works a little differently.  Or maybe I just never hear it. I mean, I’ve never 
once thought “bang” actually sounds like a bang. Okay, and that is gachapon.
The girls each got two toys each,   and that’s it—so that’s our day off. See you tomorrow! Can you baby the diaper?
Let me see. All right, I had a great day off.
It’s time to go home now. Bye! One last train ride for the 
day—this time heading to Saizeriya,   a budget-friendly family spot 
where we can sit down and refuel. A simple end to a chill day, because 
tomorrow—it’s our final day in Tokyo. And that day starts right now. It’s our last day of the tour and we are 
heading to some awesome things today. Another day, another train journey across Tokyo. We’re making the hour-long trip to TeamLab 
Borderless, which just reopened in the new   Azabudai Hills complex near Roppongi.
After hearing so much about this digital art museum, we’re pretty curious to 
see if it lives up to all the hype. Ready?
Yep, let’s go. Right at the entrance, there’s 
this cool perspective painting   for the logo for TeamLab Borderless.
It’s all stretched and distorted, but when you stand in exactly the right 
spot, it snaps into perfect alignment.  It’s a pretty cool little 
preview of what’s waiting inside. This place is set up for crowds—locker 
rooms for your stuff, bag storage,   even dedicated stroller parking.
But if you’ve heard about getting wet at TeamLab, you’re thinking of the other 
installation—TeamLab Planets in Toyosu. This one, much to our kids’ 
disappointment, is completely dry. “TeamLab Borderless has no maps or routes. 
The artworks in the rooms change over time.” Translation: You wander around in 
the dark and hope for the best. Okay, we just got in. This is so cool. So this is like the flower room. 
It’s one of the reasons a lot of   people refer to this place as the Instagram 
museum—because it’s very Instagrammable. Which is exactly why we’re filming it.
And also—follow us on Instagram. This is very cool.
I don’t know if you’ll be able to see me or anything at all.
Smells too—they have different smells.  I know, they do. We’re walking through another flower 
room with projectors covering every wall.  Actually, the whole place seems to be powered 
by projectors—like, a lot of projectors. Okay, it’s really, really dark in here, 
so you probably can’t see anything at all. This is neat.
So far, I liked   Planets better.
Watch out, guys. This is interesting. Well, that room that we were 
just in was pretty cool. It was.  I don’t know—so far I think 
I still like Planets better.  Yeah, most of it’s just projections 
on walls here. So we’ll see. We’re wandering from room to room now, and 
things are starting to get more interesting.  Beyond just wall projections, we’re 
finding cool light installations, glowing orbs, and these giant reflective spheres. One room even has mirrors on the floors with a 
helpful sign showing a woman in a skirt with a   warning about reflections.
Message received. Giving me a little vertigo.
I know, it definitely messes with you. There are mirrors on the floor, so 
yeah, it definitely messes with you all. Stay safe, Daddy.
We in a ball game! This is definitely one of the cooler 
rooms so far—the lights, the spheres, all these reflections. It’s pretty mesmerizing.  Then the light shifts from warm ambers to 
cool blues, completely transforming the space. Okay announcer lady from earlier, I guess 
you weren’t kidding about things changing.  There’s also this Zen Hans Zimmer-esque 
music playing throughout the whole museum that really adds to the experience.
We can’t use the actual audio for   obvious copyright reasons, but we’ve tried to 
find something similar that captures the vibe. Both of those were pretty cool—the 
lily pad one and that one—but still,   Team Planets is way better so far.
Daddy, it’s just a lot of stuff on the walls. Oh now this room is cool—literally and   figuratively. It’s like a 
dance club but much colder. The girls are loving it—dancing and playing in 
the rolling fog and strobing colored lights. And finally we’ve made it to probably 
the most recognizable room in the museum.  They have one of these at both TeamLab 
facilities, and it’s one of my favorites. Though fair warning—it can 
be seriously disorienting   when you’re surrounded by infinity on all sides. And we’ve come full circle—back to what 
we’ve been calling the lily pad room.  Except now it’s transformed 
into a field of waving grass. Guess we’re back at the beginning. Now it’s the fake projected waterfall.
Um yeah—it’s not worth the entry. Go to Planets.
Don’t come here.  I guess that’s kind of cool though—they 
are like interacting with it. Are they?
Like when you touch it,   it does stuff.
Okay, but still… Here it goes. You want to move this? This sign’s cool.
Watch—all of it comes together. Oh there’s people, watch out, watch out.  There it is.
Oh, TeamLab Borderless—that’s cool. In your travel expert opinion—yay 
or nay on TeamLab Borderless? Well, there you have it—the 
verdict from our harshest critics.  TeamLab Borderless: visually interesting 
sometimes, worth the hefty entrance fee… Let’s just say we won’t be rushing back. There’s the Tokyo Tower.
We made it. Been to Tokyo like 10 times the 
last couple years, and it’s the   first time we’ve come this close to it. I don’t think we’re going to go to the top 
of it, but we are going to go check out the   base of it and see if we can’t get a snack 
and a drink and just hang out a little bit. 333 meters of bright orange and white, inspired 
by the Eiffel Tower but unmistakably Tokyo. All right, so we made it to the Tokyo Tower.
We’re now going to go find a snack for the girls. And of course—because Japan is 
amazing—there’s a konbini right   at the base of this iconic landmark.
Is there anything more Japanese than grabbing convenience store snacks 
under the shadow of Tokyo Tower? We got chicken nuggets and grapes 
and apples and chocolate bread. While the girls refuel with their konbini finds, 
we spot—you guessed it—another Sanrio store. At this point I think we’ve hit 
one every single day of this trip.  When in Japan, right? This time Lily spots a Sanrio character 
backpack she’s been eyeing for ages. How much is it?  How much is it?
How much money? The girls all have these bank cards from 
Greenlight that let them save money,   set goals, and spend responsibly. We can lock and unlock them as 
needed, which is perfect for travel.  Lily decides this backpack is worth 
the splurge—4,296 yen of her own money. Since it’s her souvenir from her savings, 
we’re not adding it to our trip total. Are you happy, Lils?
I’ve been looking for a sniper pancake! All right, so we haven’t ever tried these 
bananas yet, but they are a rave here in Japan. These Tokyo Bananas are treats that look like 
Twinkies and taste like banana bread pudding.  They’re basically the official 
souvenir sweet of Tokyo. And after one bite, we can see why.  The girls approve, which means we’ll probably 
be bringing a box or two home in our suitcase. That was really good.
It’s really good.  It’s like banana pudding.
Yeah, it’s really good. Okay, that is the Tokyo Tower.
And now we are going to walk this   way to the subway station to go to Ginza.
There’s a park over here that we can cut through and parks usually make for 
nicer walks than busy streets anyway. Walking through the park, we come 
across something a little unexpected.  There’s hundreds of small stone statues 
at this temple wearing little red hats. This is the 1,000 Kosodate Jizō.  These little statues are a 
memorial for unborn children. This is the statues of the unborn children.  And each statue represents a 
child that died before childbirth. As I kind of assumed, it was 
going to be something like that. So it says the statues can signify any 
unborn children lost due to miscarriages, stillbirths, and abortions.
So it’s like a ceremony that   they hold once a month and they 
put all the red knitted caps on. Okay, so we’re on the other side now.  We just need to go find the subway, 
and I think it’s to the left here. Linds, sometimes Tokyo’s subway map 
looks like a plate of rainbow spaghetti, but it’s easier to figure out than it looks.  Give it a couple days and 
it all starts making sense.  And with Google Maps in your pocket, 
anyone can navigate like a local. Sometimes you just have to 
carry them down the stairs. So, tips for navigating the Tokyo Metro:
Use Google Maps, and it’ll tell you exactly what exits you can leave from 
that’ll be closest to your destination.  And then when you get off, look for the signs.
They’re always yellow signs for the exits, and they’ll be like A0 or A1 
or whatever—just follow them.  It’s really easy.
But we’re just going up here to A-Z, and then I think the Sanrio place should 
be like a 4 or 5-minute walk from there. Another tip that I’m breaking is: stand 
on the left side, walk on the right.  But nobody’s behind me, so I’m breaking the rules.
Unless you’re in Kyoto or Osaka, then it’s stand on the right, walk on the left.
Unless there’s a sign that says do otherwise—or unless you just do what the locals do.
Seriously, 99% of all cultural missteps   can be avoided if you just watch 
what everyone else is doing. But Daddy, maybe do more fun 
stuff probably after this.  Like what?  Um, we go to playground.
Go to Disneyland! Disneyland? Are you kidding me?
Yeah, ’cause I like Disneyland.  You’re kidding me!
What am I, going to Disneyland?  Go to Legoland!
There we go. Ginza is Tokyo’s fancy shopping district—think 
of Fifth Avenue in New York, but with more   politeness and less… well, New York.
It’s not typically our scene—I’m more Uniqlo fashion than Gucci or Louis Vuitton.
But of course, no trip to Ginza would be   complete without visiting the 
largest Sanrio store in Tokyo. When I had kids, I watched this show.  And this is the biggest Hello 
Kitty store in the whole world. Thank you! The girls bounce around the store, eyes 
locked on plushies, outfits, and accessories,   wishing they could take it all home.
And I swear—this is the last Sanrio store in the video.
For real this time. Okay, now we are going to Nissan 
Crossing, which is a coffee shop and car dealership museum—something like that.
I don’t know—it looks really cool though.  Don’t want to ruin the 
surprise—you’ll see in a minute. And this is like a Nissan dealership 
and a café on the second floor.  And that was the famous Seiko Watch Company 
building—department store—something, I don’t know. It’s like one of the famous things of Ginza. I just ordered an iced coffee, but this 
picture is going to be printed on it. Is that cool?  How did she do that?
How did you do that?  That’s awesome, isn’t it?
How did you do that? Tennis! Special for… not the kids. When you see a basement bar in Tokyo 
with Sapporo written all over it,   you just *know* it’s going to be good.
This hidden gem specializes in perfectly poured draft beer, and the bartender explains 
there are three different pouring styles we   can choose from—plus a strict two-drink maximum.
The perfect pour comes from a special sideways nozzle that creates the perfect head-to-beer 
ratio—7 to 3 according to the menu. The glass is meticulously cleaned 
and the temperature is precisely   controlled from keg to glass.
This is beer pouring as an art form. Good.
Really good.  I guess it’s perfect. We finish our first round, and 
with that two-drink maximum, it would be a shame not to try another pouring 
style before we leave—for science, of course. For round two, we go with the hybrid, which combines the liquid from the perfect 
tap with foam from the traditional swing tap.  The result is a softer, colder foam that 
changes the entire drinking experience. Four expertly crafted beers for about 13 
bucks in Ginza—that’s practically a steal. Almost makes up for what we 
spent at TeamLab this morning.  Almost. She said nothing.
She said a bad boy right there. The train ride back to Katsushika 
gives us time to reflect on the day.  Some hits, some misses. But just like when we play those Japanese claw 
games—sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.  And that’s true in travel too.
But that’s what makes it an adventure. One last konbini stop for 
some Pokémon smoothies—the   perfect end to a full day of exploring. The smoothies I wanted to last 
time, so we can watch today. Okay, that’s Frappe from Family Mart. So this is Japan.
We love it. You should come.
It’s affordable.  It’s amazing.
People are friendly.  It’s clean.
It’s safe. Come to Japan.
[Cora] This is so good.

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1 Week in TOKYO 🇯🇵 Budget Family Travel

As soon as we step off the plane in Tokyo, we’re greeted by Mario and Princess Peach welcoming us to Japan. It’s the perfect setup for the week of gaming, anime, and pop culture we’re about to experience.

Tokyo is one of the most expensive cities in the world, and yeah, if you live here, thats probably true. Everyone tells you it’s impossible to do Tokyo affordably as a family, but we’re about to prove them wrong.

Welcome to our Tokyo Series – where we’re tackling this sprawling metropolis one neighborhood at a time, without emptying our savings account. Six days, six distinct areas.

We’ve mapped out an adventure that balances the free with the absolutely-worth-it splurges. From riding anime-inspired spaceships across Tokyo Bay to hunting down $3 gyoza that will change your life.

Every step of the way, we’ll show you exactly what we spend to stay, eat, play, and learn, with the costs updating on screen as we go. Our loose goal? Keep it around $300 per day for our family of five. Some days we nail it, other days… well, you’ll see! 😅

Our adventure actually began yesterday at Narita Airport with all the arrival essentials – luggage delivery to our Airbnb, Pocket WiFi and eSim to stay connected, Keisei Skyliner train tickets, dinner at a cozy yakitori izakaya, late-night 7-Eleven snacks, and finally hitting the sack at our Airbnb. Day 1 damage: $401.34.

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00:00:01 Introduction: One Week Family Travel Guide to Tokyo
00:01:00 Day 1: Arrival in Tokyo – Narita Airport, Keisei Skyliner, Suica Setup
00:01:20 Day 2: Asakusa – Sensō-ji Temple, Tokyo Skytree & Kappabashi Kitchen Street
00:19:12 Day 3: Ueno – Ueno Zoo, Swan Boats, Street Food & Izakaya Dinner
00:33:30 Day 4: Odaiba – Tokyo Bay Cruise, Gundam Statue & Round1 Karaoke
00:53:10 Day 5: Shinjuku & Shibuya – Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Fire Museum & Shibuya Crossing
01:12:10 Day 6: Akihabara – Electronics Shopping, Trading Cards & Juicy Gyoza
01:26:15 Day 7: Odaiba & Ginza – teamLab Borderless, Tokyo Tower & Nissan Crossing

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