What to Skip on Your Tokyo Trip 🇯🇵 (and where to go instead)

What to Skip on Your Tokyo Trip 🇯🇵 (and where to go instead)

There’s a lot to do in Tokyo and honestly a lot of the famous things are really bad or I don’t know they used to be good and now they’re kind of super super touristy. So I’ve been living in Tokyo for 5 years and I first came to Tokyo way back in 2016. So I have a lot to kind of compare with cuz back then Japan was not like the hot spot tourist destination it is now. And you know what? Things have changed a lot and things that used to be good are no longer the way they’re portrayed. Especially because I see a lot of like online posts and the information is just kind of outdated or it’s like people’s opinions from their trip. Even two years ago, it’s different to today. So, I kind of want to talk about some of the top tourist attractions in Tokyo. Not all, but some. And I’m going to be focusing on the ones that either are just I think they’re overrated, maybe you can skip them, but also some that like can be good if you do it a certain way. And I’m also going to be making some recommendations for alternatives or like how to just make your experience there better. So, watch till the end. We have a lot to cover. So, the first one is honestly the place I really don’t like going the most now, and that is Harajuku’s Tesha Street. Now, back in 2016, I really like this street. It was really fun. I went a lot cuz I was like studying abroad. And back then, I would say it was like on the verge of becoming like super touristy, but it wasn’t quite there yet, so there was still a lot of the local charm. Now, it’s it’s just tourist shops, honestly. Like there’s a few Japanese fashion shops, like actual local Japanese fashion shops, but the majority of that street, like the rent is so high and things like that that the real brands have left and it’s just like here’s a banana on a stick, here’s a cotton candy, here’s overpriced Japanese nylon kimonos, that kind of thing. So, I don’t know. You can walk through it if you want. Uh if you do, you’ll probably see what I mean, but do not despair. There’s other alternatives just right there you can go to. So what I recommend instead in that area is you should go to Uda Harajuku. So the UDA means like back. So it’s like the back streets of Harajuku. And just put it into Google Maps. It’ll the area is going to pop up. This area is really nice. There’s actually a lot of like local Japanese streetear brands, that kind of thing that you probably actually want to see if you’re going to Herzuku. There’s also a lot of cute cafes, coffee shops, really trendy stuff. That’s where it is now. Forget Takasha Street. And then there’s also Cat Street, which you may have heard about probably like as an alternative to Tesha Street. And it is um still a good alternative, but it is becoming more touristy. I mean, everything I say is to a degree because that’s just it’s that’s just Tokyo now if I’m being honest. Like there’s tourists everywhere. So Cat Street, I think, is probably like what Tesha Street was like 10 years ago. So we’ll see how it goes from here. But there’s still a lot of brands on that street and like the surrounding side streets really. You just you should just go to side streets. But Cast Street is good because you can walk straight from Herajuku to Shiba. I really recommend that good itinerary. So, while we’re on the topic of Shiba, there is of course the famous Shibia crossing, which uh you can probably guess it’s a crossing. Like that’s all it is, you guys. It’s a road crossing. It is not some cool like cyberpunk thing. I promise. It’s like Time Square if anything. So, it is overrated, but honestly, if you’re going to Shivia, you’re probably going to have to walk through this crossing anyway. So, I still think Shibi itself is worth going to. It is very crowded with tourists now, but there’s a lot of cool shopping and it’s a kind of young dirty vibe. So, next, Asaka, uh, you know, the shrine. It’s in Soji, the big shrine. I know. So, if you’re coming to Tokyo, you’re probably going to go. I’m not going to tell you like in this video. I’m not going to say like don’t go here. You should do whatever you want. Um, they’re all worth seeing for different reasons to different people. And the shrine itself is very impressive. That is why it is so famous. So the standard route for this is you start at Kamadarimon the it’s like a gate and then you walk through Nakamise Street which has a bunch of like little stalls lined up selling food and gifts and stuff like that and then it ends at the shrine. So you can do all that. You should go through that. It’s going to be crowded. But I see a lot of people like they just do this and then they leave. Don’t do that. Uh you need to go to the side streets or like you’re not going to get any Asaka vibe at all. Like cuz Asaka is a actual neighborhood and it has a lot of like older Japanese charm to it and it would be a real shame if you didn’t explore any of that. Like it’s a very retro vibe. There’s a lot of stores, a lot of cafes, you know, just walk around. It’s fun. Or alternatively, if you have a bit more time, if you go like one station down to Kuramay or you can walk there. It’s like a lot more chill. There’s a lot of cute cafes and you still have like that kind of older retro charm. So, if you do find yourself in a Saka, I highly recommend if the weather is good that you walk to Skytree if Sky Tree is also on your itinerary. A lot of tourists don’t do this, but it’s a very good walking route and it’s only like 20 25 minutes maybe, but it takes you like through the river, the Sumida River, which is really nice if the weather’s good and you can see like a lot of like real Japanese neighborhoods cuz it does go through a more residential area. So, Sky Tree is a complicated one. Um, it’s nice. Like the facility is very nice. I kind of personally feel like it’s too tall. Like it’s too high up actually to see that much of the town. Like you can see everything, but like you can’t see in detail. You know what I mean? It is nice though. Like if you want to go to a tower kind of thing here, that is a good one. Uh the mall underneath it is actually pretty good. They have like a Pokémon Center. They have a Rakma store. They have like everything. But there’s alternative towers you can also go to. So one is Tokyo Tower. This one is often really overlooked by western tourists, especially now, I think, because it’s shorter. It was built in like the ’60s, so it basically looks like the Eiffel Tower, but it’s red. I think Tokyo Tower is actually really good to look at from the ground. Like, it’s really pretty. If you go up it, it’s uh kind of run down and it’s not like super high, but if you like watch a lot of like anime from like the ‘9s, especially in like the early 2000s, a lot of them feature Tokyo Tower in it. So, for me, it’s still kind of like nostalgic. and I just I’m drawn to it more. But there’s also a lot of other observation decks throughout Tokyo. Like a really popular one now is Shibia Sky. You do need to reserve this far in advance. It is outdoors though, so if the weather sucks, then you might not be able to go up. And then another free one is the Shinjuku government building. Next, um Team Lab. A lot of people are super into Team Lab. I also like Team Lab. I’ve been to all of them a few times. Uh to be clear, it is like just for Instagram pictures basically. I think the most popular one on Instagram is still Team Lab Planets and this one has like the water area. So like you have to go through the whole thing barefoot which is Yeah. So personally I prefer the pretty recently last year I think they opened it um they relocated and like renovated their exhibitions for Team Lab Borderless. It used to be in Odiva but they moved it into the city center so it’s now in Azabu. So it’s pretty easy to get to. I actually recommend this one. I guess more if only because of the location and you don’t need to take your shoes off. Okay, before we move on to the next point, if you are traveling in Japan at all, Uh the Ueno Zoo. Um you guys, this is honestly like the worst zoo I’ve ever been to in my life. Like, if you’ve ever been to a zoo, at least in America, you’re going to feel like a really horrible person going to the zoo because it is like like so many of the enclosures are like concrete and stuff. Is I I don’t think it’s worth it. It’s Bueno also has a Yoko Cho which is like I think it’s like advertised online as like a cool street market kind of area but it’s like super touristy now you guys. It’s there’s nothing really there. I don’t really like Ueno. The only thing Inueno worth doing to me are the museums inueno park. So if you do like museums check them out. If you don’t if you’re not into museums that’s fine. Next uh Tsukiji Fish Market. So, you may know they moved Tsukijiji Fish Market actually to Toyosu, like the auction itself for the tuna. But still, a lot of people still go to Tsukiji Fish Market like area cuz they still have a lot of, you know, the stalls and restaurants that have been there over the years. But honestly, like it’s just a tourist area now. Like it’s just like stalls selling like candied strawberries and like sushi and stuff. Like you don’t need to go there to eat any of this stuff. and I think it’s overpriced and like it’s like literally all tourists. I don’t know. I don’t think it’s worth it. If you do want to still see the actual auction, you can, but it is in Toyosu. If I had to say an alternative for Sukiji and maybe Amayoko and Ueno, I’d say Yanuka Ginsza is still good. It is like an upand cominging tourist destination, so it gets more popular every year. It can get really crowded on the weekends, too, but it’s still actually run by like local people, the stores, and you can definitely get like that older showa retro Japan vibe there. Next, Akihabara. I know. Anime video games. Yay. Um, I don’t know. Every year it just gets more like overly commercialized, I guess. Like the actual charm of the local electronic shops and things like that. It’s kind of just disappearing. Everyone knows it. It’s still worth going to if you do like anime and stuff like that just to see it. But where a lot of people are going to now instead who like live here is Iikbukuro, which you may already be going to for other reasons, but Io has a ton of anime stores. Like it’s traditionally been like the place for like female oriented anime, but I think recently especially there’s been like more and more like male oriented anime, you know what I mean? Like shownen stuff. I don’t know. So yeah, check out ikabukuro. It is very good for anime merch. They have a lot of pop-up stores there, too. I like it. Okay, next. Golden guy and Kabuki Cho in Shinjuku. Honestly, I’ve never been to Golden Guy, like into a bar there. I’ve walked through it, but whenever I see it, even from a distance, I just see like foreign people. Like, I know, I know, but like, you know, it’s advertised as like a local bar area or whatever, and it is not that anymore. Like there are some locals, but it’s not it’s not what it’s like written about online, you know? You can still go. It’s bars. You could kind of find a local bar anywhere. Also, Kabuko just like sucks. It’s it’s like a nightlife area, but like actual like red light district vibes with a lot of sketchy people. And I really don’t like it as a woman. So, keep that in mind. If you are in Shinjuku and looking for something else to do, I like Shinjuku Goen. It’s like the big park there. It’s actually really nice. It’s probably the nicest park in Tokyo. Big, lots of flowers, plants, etc. They even have like coffee shops and stuff in there. Check it out. Next, the Imperial Palace. So, I think Okay, even this happened to me, too. Okay. Um, it’s called like the Imperial Palace, so you kind of expect there to be a palace. I don’t think it’s crazy if you would assume that, but there’s not. I mean, technically, yes, there is a palace, but like us laymen cannot even really see it. So if you go to the Imperial Palace, what you’re actually going to is like the garden of the Imperial Palace like around it. So yeah, it’s cool if you want to see like some traditional Japanese like garden slash like old walls and stuff like that, but um you know, I think you should just wait and go to like any other castle or something like somewhere else not in Tokyo. Uh it’s not really worth it in my opinion. Okay, I have two more. They’re not exactly like tourist destinations, but rather tourist shops that I see constantly super crowded and talked about online, and I don’t know why. So, the first, this might be controversial, is it ramen? Yes. Um, it’s so crowded. A lot of the branches are so crowded now. Like, I’ll see like lines waiting to eat on like 2:00 p.m. on a weekday out the door. Like, pick any other ramen shop. like pick almost any other ramen shop randomly and it will be the same or better quality I think ramen like Ichiron’s like thing is that it’s like good for like people who are there alone but most people who are going there are tourists who are not eating alone so like just go somewhere else seriously it’s good it’s just not worth waiting an hour for the other one is also kind of controversial it’s donkey I actually hate going in a donkey Now, it’s so crowded. It’s so loud. And especially like the ones in like Shiba and Iukuru and stuff, the you know the touristy kind of areas. Like it’s just hard to actually shop there. Like they do have a really good selection of items, but it’s like not worth going through this experience to me to go there anymore. And honestly, if you’re like looking for skincare or something, like just go to a drugstore, like pick any drugstore basically that’s kind of big and they’re going to have the same selection of things almost. So, and the price is not that different. I promise. So, okay, that’s the video. Um, I’m sorry if I hurt any feelings. Let me know in the comments down below what you think. If you disagree with any of my points, that is fine. We are all humans with opinions and these are mine. In summary, you can do whatever you want and you can still have a fun time doing anything, any overrated activity. You can have fun. Just like go to a side street and you’re going to like it more probably. So, please like the video, leave that comment down below, and subscribe to my channel for more videos about traveling in Japan and my life in Japan. I’ll see you guys back here again soon. Bye.

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These are very much just my opinions!! I’ve actually had fun at almost all of the places I said were overrated, I really just want people to be aware of other options too 🙂 Also, I use the term underrated in the video, but most of them aren’t really underrated or unknown or anything, it’s just hard to think of another short word lol…it’s really just alternative suggestions!

Let me know your thoughts down below! Where would you skip on your trip, and where would you recommend other people to check out?

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What to Skip on Your Tokyo Trip 🇯🇵 (and where to go instead)