FIRST TIME IN TOKYO! 🇯🇵 Exploring The World’s Largest City

FIRST TIME IN TOKYO! 🇯🇵 Exploring The World’s Largest City

Tokyo has been at the top of our bucket 
list for years, and now we’re finally here. After weeks of traveling across Japan, 
this feels like the moment everything’s been building toward. We’ve got just 2 days to 
experience as much as we can. The food, the chaos, and everything that makes Tokyo 
one of the most exciting cities on Earth. So, this is Sensoji Temple. It’s the largest and 
oldest temple in all of Tokyo, and it’s one of the most popular things to see, and it’s easy to 
see why. This place is massive. It’s right in the heart of Asakasa where we’re staying, so we had 
to check it out first before we start our day. If you’re wary of crowds, I definitely recommend 
coming early. It’s not too too busy just yet, but I can definitely see that as we’re 
getting closer and closer to midday, it’s already getting more crowded. So, there’s 
a lot to look at. It is a little bit sensory overload, but such beautiful grounds that it’s 
definitely worth taking the time to come visit. What are you trying to buy? They 
have a blue cheese wagu cutlet, which kind of looks like the croettes that I 
like so much, but with blue cheese and wagu. So, this is what it looks like with that crispy, 
crispy panko breading, which is just the best. Best 500 yen I’ve spent in Japan so far. Really? 
It is so good. Best crit we’ve had. Oh yeah. All the other ones are really good too with the 
potato and the beef. This one is on another level. I don’t think there’s any potato. It’s 
just like minced wagyu and blue cheese. And it is incredible. We have another 500 yen 
coin. I think you might need your own. It’s like a steak dinner. Mhm. That 
is so rich. Almost lost the wagu. This is so good. Don’t spill it on your shirt. Mm- Tayyaki. So, this is our tayyaki. And basically 
what it is, it’s a fish-shaped pancake, but it doesn’t have fish in it. It’s just sweet 
custard. You can get other fillings like matcha, um, sweet potato. What’s the other one? 
Oh, and red bean. Red bean, I think, is the most traditional. I’m kind of iffy 
about red beans, so I think I think I’m gonna like this custard better. But it’s 
very hot. I hope I don’t burn myself. It smells so good. M. That’s delicious. I never used to care 
about custard until I came to Asia. And the more and more I eat it, the more and 
more I love it. But this is amazing. M. They had this joke that Japan 
likes jiggles cuz the the jiggly cheesecake and they had like um a jiggly 
octopus at Kurushi. You’re so cute. But tried to warn you. The taste buds I have 
left detect notes of rich custard and vanilla and just a subtle sweetness from 
like the actual pancake batter. This is amazing. So good. I could eat so many more of 
these. The rest of this is mine. Yeah. Yeah. We just realized that we went out 
of the wrong entrance to the temple, and so we thought we were at Nakamadori but we 
ended up in like an arcade instead. So, we were a little bit confused. We’ve definitely found 
the food/shopping street now, and it is very, very busy, but it is very beautiful. There’s 
the temple right in front of us. We’re actually heading back to where we came from. Any souvenir 
you could possibly imagine is available in excess on this little walking street here, but none of 
it is anything that we’ve seen that’s specific to here. So, you could probably go a street 
or two away and still find the same quality, the same style, the same everything that you 
could find here, just probably for a slightly, slightly deflated price, which keep 
that in mind if you’re on a budget. Oh, there’s the uh there’s the golden 
turd. We got to go see her real quick. So that is the Asahi building. And if you look 
at it, it kind of looks like a glass of beer. And the white on top is supposed to represent foam. 
Oh yeah. Isn’t that cool? And then next to it, I actually don’t remember the official 
name. I just know that it’s referred to as the Golden Turd because of how it looks, 
but it does have an official name that isn’t that. I think it’s the Golden Flame, actually. 
Yeah. What do you think it looks like? Let us know in the comments. To get to our next 
destination, we’ve got to take the train, specifically the Tobu Sky Tree Line. Quick tap of 
our phones to use our cards, and we’re on our way. Before we head up, we just want to talk about 
how we booked our tickets. Pluke is an experience booking platform with thousands of options around 
the world. From transportation and theme parks to food tours and day passes, the app is super 
easy to navigate and with support for over 40 currencies in a dozen languages, it feels made 
for international travelers. On top of that, their prices are tough to beat, and they’re 
constantly running discounts, promotions, and flash sales. For this trip, we use Cluke 
to book our Shinkansen tickets and our tickets for the Tokyo Skytree. Booking only took 
a couple of minutes. Pick a time slot, pay in your own currency, and you’re all set. 
All you have to do is show your voucher and pick up your tickets. Once you’ve got your ticket, 
you can go straight through to the elevators. It honestly saved so much time and made the 
whole experience feel effortless. What we like about Cluke is that it’s not just the Sky 
Tree. They’ve got the Shinkansen, Disneyland, Team Labs, local passes, basically everything 
you’d want to do on a trip to Tokyo. So, if you’re planning a visit to Japan or anywhere else 
for that matter, download Clue by scanning this QR code or using the link in the description of the 
video. Use our creator code Mike and Ashley Cluke to save 10% on your first booking. It only takes 
a minute to set up, and then you’re ready to start your adventure. Thank you to Clue for sponsoring 
this video. Now, let’s go to the top of Tokyo. Tokyo Skytree is the tallest tower in the 
world and the third tallest structure at a mind-blowing 634 meters. It’s surreal to be up 
this high looking at Tokyo down below. You can see everything from up here. Temples, buildings, 
rivers, trains, and we’ve even heard that if you’re lucky, you can catch a glimpse of Mount 
Fuji in the distance. Though, we think we used up our luck on the Shinkansen on the way here. So, at 
the 350th floor, which is 350 m tall, they do like a little photo op for free. You get like a small 
card souvenir at no charge. And then if you want, you can get like a bigger photo for an additional 
charge. And that’s awesome. I feel like most of the time this stuff costs money. We unfortunately 
can’t see Mount Fuji, but regardless of that, this is such a cool experience. I’m very, very 
glad that we did it. There’s two options. You can go to 350 m or 450 m. And the 450 m 
one includes both floors obviously. So, that’s the one we did. Just under 50 bucks for 
the both of us. If you’re in Tokyo, I feel like there’s a couple observatories you can check out, 
but I feel like this is the coolest one because it’s the tallest tower in the world. And then you 
get like a free souvenir. I know. It’s so cool. I wasn’t expecting that. The next elevator takes you 
up to the 445th floor, which I have to imagine is at 445 m of elevation, which is just staggering. 
And then you kind of wind your way up, I think, to the top, which is just so cool. Like, look 
at this. I don’t know how much extra this was, but I feel like this was worth it. One tip we 
heard is that this observatory is better during the day because at night, you can’t really see 
the city as much because of the light inside. You just get tons of glare off the windows. So, 
this is definitely a daytime observation deck. So, just keep that in mind if you’re booking. Though I 
have to imagine that the night views of Tokyo are just astounding. There are a ton of little photo 
ops and places to take selfies. This time it was all themed out like Detective Conan, which was 
very popular all over Japan during our trip. We made it. This is Sorakar Point, the tallest point 
in all of Tokyo. 451.2 m on the world’s tallest tower, which is the coolest thing. Yeah. I never 
knew that this was going to be part of my bucket list, but now it is and checked off like within 48 
hours. Yeah. All right, we’re gonna get out of the way because this is a very popular photo spot. 
We don’t want to be those people. So, let’s go. So, there’s a lot of amazing-looking 
food here at the Tokyo Skytree Town, but interestingly enough, it’s all Taiwanese 
food and it’s a little bit expensive. So, we want to stick with the Tokyo/Japan theme. So, 
we’re going to try and find some local food. And I think I have an idea of where to look. I’m not 
sure if our next destination sells food, but you would think by the name that they might. So, let’s 
go. But first, we need to make a little pit stop. So, I know what I said, but we still have a 
20-minute transit ride to our next destination, and we’re about to drop dead from starvation. 
Probably not true. We had some snacks a while ago, but I am very hungry. So, we decided to get 
this really good-looking—it’s like ham and mascarpone. We’re just going to eat this really 
fast and then head on to Capabachi Kitchen Street, which I’m very, very, very excited about. Let me 
show you the sandwich. It looks really good. I’m like, we’re only going to eat Japanese food. 
Here is a sandwich. Japan is very good with their sandwiches, surprisingly. I don’t know 
why that’s surprising, but that’s delicious. I don’t want to try this. If you’re a restaurateur or even just somebody 
who loves to cook, this is going to be a dream come true for you. They have so much stuff that 
I would love to purchase, but unfortunately, I have no room for, so we’re just going to 
window shop. But from two people who used to work in the restaurant industry for a very, very 
long time, we’re very interested in the way that food is reflected in culture. So, this is right 
up our alley. Okay, so I had to buy something. I couldn’t resist. These basic chopsticks are 
absolutely amazing. I’m pretty sure they’re just the ones that we find in restaurants and 
they’re our favorite because they just work well. They’re non-slippery and it was 100 yen each. 
So, we bought two sets and it was really cool because they wrapped it in Japanese newspaper, 
which I love. So, it’s like a little souvenir on top of it. We’re going to wander here for a few 
more minutes and then I hope get some food cuz we’re on Kitchen Street and I’m getting really, 
really hungry. This place is great. They’ve got everything. They got menu boards, knives, teapots, 
lanterns, basically anything you need. And it’s kind of like nerd central for us because one of 
our long-term dreams is to open a restaurant or a bed and breakfast or just a little food hut of 
some sort, hopefully on this side of the world. And now I know where we’ll come to source all of 
our things. Some of the knives are just insane. They feel like works of art. Like it would 
be a shame to cut anything with these knives, but it would be a shame to not let them live to 
their fullest potential of cutting everything. They make these little things. That 
would be so cool. That is such a cool store. I have fallen in love with all of 
the food displays here in Japan. They’re just so impressive and so lifelike. I 
think I probably have a hundred videos alone of just the different foods. All 
this fake food is making me incredibly hungry. So, we’re gonna move on to our next 
destination and look for something to eat. We finally made it to Shinjuku, which is 
quintessential Tokyo. There’s massive skyscrapers, neon signs, anime posters, and sounds and smells 
coming at you from every different direction. It’s a little bit overwhelming, but in the best 
way possible. And one thing we’re really excited for is to find a place to grab some food. But 
first, we’ve got one iconic stop to make. Ah, there he is. We’re under attack. That’s cool. It’s 
like super touristy and super just like silly, but I feel like you have to see Godzilla head 
when you come to Tokyo. Turns out Godzilla puts on a little show every hour on the hour. So, 
we decided to pass the time and wait for it to get a little bit darker with the best way we know 
how—by finding a snack. Walking around Shinjuku, there’s no shortage of places to pop in for 
a bite. But we were looking for something specific. Oh. Oh, I think we’re in an interesting 
part of town now. Not really sure. I very rarely ask for a selfie in front of a sign. So, it’s 
funny that the few times that I’m like, “Ooh, take my picture here.” And it’s in front of 
like the adult entertainment district. We just Googled it cuz we were like, “Huh?” 
Okay, not bad. The search continues. This place looks like the spot. We’re honestly not 
sure what this place is called, but it had just what we were looking for—some biru and guoza. As 
with most isakayas in Japan, there was some oshi, which is a little appetizer that acts as 
a cover charge. This one was only 300 yen, which is a pretty good deal. The vibe 
in these places is always really cool, and it was the perfect way to 
kill some time until it got dark. Okay, let’s see it. Godzilla, what you got? That was pretty cool, but I don’t know if I’d 
hang around just to see it. If you happen to be here on the hour, it’s worth checking out, 
though. Let’s go to Golden Guy. Golden Guy is supposed to be a wildly popular bar area with six 
narrow alleyways packed with tiny, intimate bars, some of which have covers and some don’t, but 
each is supposed to offer its own unique vibe and experience. We always heard about this place 
anytime we looked into Tokyo, so we had to check it out. But to be honest, it didn’t really live 
up to the hype. It was just after 8:00 p.m., so maybe it was too early. I don’t know. It just 
felt empty. Huh. That was interesting, but not really not really our vibe. Maybe it was different 
before there was just over-tourism, but I don’t know. It was like really dead. And there was 
like maybe five bars that were just slam-packed. And other than that, it was just a bunch of either 
closed or empty bars. And I don’t know, the vibe just felt off. It was really quiet. There wasn’t 
a lot of energy there, which is crazy for a city of 37 million people. It felt like a place that 
used to be really authentic and kind of unique in vibe. And it felt like less of a place people go 
to drink and more of a place people go to say they went. Yeah. All right. On to the next. This is 
Memory Lane, also known as something that I can’t pronounce. And I feel like this is way more what 
we thought Golden Guy was going to be. There’s food, there’s smoke, there’s just way more energy, 
a little bit of chaos, but all very welcome. And this, I don’t know, just feels way more arbod. 
This is the place. Don’t go to Gongai. Come to Memory Lane. It’s tight and packed in here, 
bustling with people trying to capture the vibes on their smartphones and waiting in line for some 
smoky ecatory. I don’t think you can go wrong with any place you pick here. You just have to wander 
until you get lucky enough to catch some empty seats. We found a spot, and we were greeted with 
smiles, fresh towels, and cold beers. Now we just need to get some grilled stuff on sticks. I have 
no idea what the name of this place is called, but it is 100% the vibe and it is a great time. It 
is tight. We’re making close friends with everyone who walks in and out of this place. But that’s, I 
feel like, the way it needs to be, and it’s smoky and it’s delicious. And honestly, the Yakuri is 
just cooked perfectly. This is definitely the place. Golden guy is cool, but this place has 
food. If you don’t have food, drinks are just empty calories. We spent the rest of the evening 
enjoying the delicious food, having a few beers, and chatting it up with the people next to us. 
This is how you should spend an evening in Tokyo.

We booked our Tokyo Skytree tickets and Shinkansen passes through Klook, which made traveling around Japan super easy. You can grab yours below and save 10% with our code. ⤵️

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Tokyo has been at the top of our bucket list for years, and after weeks of traveling across Japan, we finally made it. In this Tokyo travel vlog, we spend 2 days exploring some of the city’s most iconic neighborhoods, from the historic Sensoji Temple in Asakusa to the dizzying lights of Shinjuku. Along the way, we try street food, visit the Tokyo Skytree, wander through Kitchen Street, and experience the organized chaos that makes Tokyo one of the most exciting cities on Earth.

If you’re planning a trip and wondering what to do in Tokyo, this video is packed with ideas from local bites and temples to hidden gems and photo spots. Whether you have 48 hours in Tokyo or a full week, these are some of the best things to see and eat across the city.

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