My daughters are some of my favorite traveling companions. It’s incredible to watch them discover the world in new and different ways.
I don’t expect a thank you hug. But I never want to give up these opportunities. Even when we’re sweating it out in the depths of Tokyo’s Shibuya Metro station and having a small panic attack because we can’t find the locker where we’ve stored all our purchases from earlier in the day.
I spent 48 hours in Tokyo, one of the world’s greatest cities, with my teenage daughter ahead of a cruise on Mitsui Ocean Cruises. The cruise left from Yokohama, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to introduce my kid to Tokyo.
Our base for this quick-hit weekend was the Tokyo Edition Ginza, which opened last year in an excellent location in the heart of the Ginza neighborhood, well known for its shopping, dining and entertainment options. It is Edition’s second location in the city; the Tokyo Edition Toranomon is about 10 minutes away by taxi.
Being an upscale property in the Marriott family, the hotel is a good mix of Western familiarity and Japanese hospitality, with a modern look and feel. I was surprised at how much I appreciated the familiarity, and it was also appreciated by a kid fresh off a long flight and disorienting time change.
Warm welcome
The staff welcomed us in English and put us right at ease. No check-in counter for arrivals: They sat us in comfortable chairs and offered us a glass of sparkling wine and a water while our trolley of suitcases went right up to our room. Then they sent me up a coffee.
The lobby was cute but petite, and our king bedroom was small but comfortable enough for two, with a big, cozy bed. A large bathroom had separate compartments for showers and toilet, which made sharing it with a kid easy. I was delighted when I opened the door and saw the Toto toilet.
Though all of Tokyo was easily accessible from our hotel’s doors, my daughter had a specific agenda: shopping. And for that, the location was ideal. The Edition is within striking distance of some of Tokyo’s most upscale shops and department stores, like Mitsukoshi, Ginza Six and Dover Street Market.
In order to get a kid-friendly plan in place, however, I did research. I Googled. I got ideas from the U.S. marketing team at Mitsui. And then I promptly forgot everything the moment we left the Edition and walked to the Ginza Metro station by going in precisely the wrong direction.
My daughter is constantly learning, and so am I. That day, I learned that my sense of direction has somehow been transferred to her. “Mom, check Google Maps; I think we’re not going the right way.” “Mom, the store is right there.” “Mom, I know how to get around this station.” And so on.
We first went to Shibuya 109, where I also learned that most of the clothes at Tokyo’s top teen-friendly department stores will fit a lithe, athletic American teenager, but they won’t fit me.
“Would you wear any of this?” I asked my daughter in my best mom voice after we passed another steampunk-kawaii-outrageous clothing shop.
“Sure,” she replied blithely. “If I lived here.”
We racked up the purchases at a Don Quijote shop that sells approximately 1 million flavors of Kit Kat. Then, braving the Shibuya station, we stashed the shopping bags in a locker and rode up to Shinjuku for lunch at Katsukura, a national chainlet of restaurants serving tonkatsu. I also used the opportunity to indoctrinate my daughter into Japan’s tradition of department-store food halls. Takashimaya did not disappoint.
Then it was off to the Harajuku neighborhood for a visit to a cat cafe and exploration of the Laforet department store. We browsed a shop selling anime goodies on Cat Street. Then we realized we were walking in the wrong direction.
Thanks to my daughter’s directional powers, we did finally find the locker. And then she led me back to the door of the Edition. I don’t think I’ve been happier to see the entrance to a hotel, and we dragged ourselves, exhausted, over the threshold.
Roof, an alfresco restaurant at the Tokyo Edition Ginza. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin
Elevated dining
A staffer had given me a recommendation for dinner out in Ginza, but we were too tired to go out, so we went to the Edition’s roof deck, called Roof, for a light meal. The setting is pretty: Tables are mixed with conversational groupings of couches and lounge chairs, separated by plants and trees, with the twinkling lights of Tokyo’s skyscrapers for a backdrop.
If you’ve indulged on Japanese food and are feeling homesick, Roof can provide you with a baked lasagna or a hamburger. They’re made with a Japanese twist: the lasagna with Tokyo white miso and the burger with ground wagyu beef. Food and drink was brought quickly.
Dinner is also served at Sophie, the Edition’s main restaurant. But let’s talk for a second about the breakfast spread, which helped to fuel all this crazy shopping. Guests partaking in breakfast get one main dish and unlimited trips to the buffet spread out on the bar, which includes pastries, yogurt, fruit, granola and charcuterie.
Whatever you do, don’t leave without ordering the matcha French toast, which comes with red bean paste and whipped cream.
And another bonus to traveling with an older kid: you can separate at times. After dinner she headed back to the room to chill while I dropped into the Edition’s award-winning bar on the second floor. The Punch Room specializes in unique punch concoctions, but it is for drinking-age patrons only.
And one final vote for the Edition: It just happens to be directly across the street from the one place my daughter was dying to visit: the Itoya stationary store. We didn’t need to get lost in the Metro after all.
AloJapan.com