Tokyo, Japan’s vibrant capital, offers an amazing blend of the traditional and the ultramodern. Historic temples can be found right next to neon-lit skyscrapers. Japan is a dream destination for many people, offering a unique experience when it comes to culture, history, architecture, and food.
Here are some of the most well-known landmarks we visited as part of a sightseeing city tour in Tokyo and a mix of traditional and hi-tech Japanese experiences around the capital of Japan. In case you’re not on a package tour, you can go around Japan easily with a JR Rail Pass, which comes in different packages for 7, 14 or 21 days.
Klook.comNOTE: Tips below were based on a family trip to Tokyo in mid-2019 with my mom and nephew. I’m looking forward to visiting Japan again soon!
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Tokyo Tower
The Tokyo Tower is a communications and observation tower in Tokyo, Japan. Standing 332.9 meters, this tower is the second-tallest structure in Japan. The structure has an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower painted white and orange.
Since its completion in 1958, Tokyo Tower has become a prominent landmark in the city for sightseeing.
Tourists can visit two observation decks on the tower. The two-story Main Deck is at 150 meters (490 ft), while the smaller Top Deck reaches a height of 249.6 meters (819 ft).
The four-story building directly under the tower houses museums, restaurants, and shops. Aside from admiring the view of the city skyline from the top of the tower, you can also enjoy unique treats like Premium Tower Soft Serve ice cream, Vienna Sausage Dog, and Suntory beer from stalls inside the tower.
Get a Shibuya Sky Pass ticket here.
Japanese gardens and tea ceremonies
A tea ceremony is a tradition steeped in the Japanese history. While Kyoto remains the center of the tea ceremony, Tokyo also offers its share of tea ceremonies.
Joining this traditional cultural activity and watching the ingredients being prepared with care and all the ceremonial rules of serving, offers an enriching experience.
Photography isn’t allowed during the actual tea ceremony so tourists can focus completely and immerse themselves in the activity completely, so I’m just sharing some photos taken around the garden and grounds where the ceremony was held taken while we were waiting for our turn.
Tokyo Imperial Palace & Nijubashi Bridge
The Tokyo Imperial Palace, which was built on the site of the old Edo Castle, is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan, and is a popular sightseeing spot in Tokyo.
Though visitors can’t enter the palace, tourists usually make it a point to stop by outside to take a glimpse of the historic structure with Nijubashi Bridge in the foreground.
The complex outside the palace is a large park-like area which contains several buildings including the main palace, some residences of the Imperial Family, an archive, museums and administrative offices.
The castle is surrounded by beautiful park grounds with bonsai-like pine trees obscuring the views of skyscrapers in the distance, offering a unique urban green haven.
Sumida River Cruise
While it’s very efficient to travel by subway trains or buses around Tokyo, you can also travel by waterways to get a different perspective of the city. The Sumida River Cruise connects several piers around the Tokyo Bay Area to Asakusa, where the famous Senso-ji Temple is located.
Some of Tokyo’s most famous landmarks can be spotted along this river cruise route, such as Tokyo Sky Tree and the Rainbow Bridge.
The river cruise makes your journey between all the tourist destinations a bit more relaxing, and is a great addition if you’re traveling with kids and seniors, so your itinerary is not so jam-packed. You can buy snacks and enjoy drinks on board the boat.
Sensoji Temple
Sensoji Temple is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Tokyo. It is one of Tokyo’s most colorful and popular temples, and one of the city’s most significant landmarks.
According to legend, in the year 628, two brothers fished a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, out of the Sumida River, and even though they put the statue back into the river, it always returned to them.
Sensoji was built nearby for the goddess of Kannon, and completed in 645, making it Tokyo’s oldest temple.
When approaching the temple, visitors first enter through the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), the outer gate of Sensoji Temple and the symbol of Asakusa and the entire city of Tokyo.
Adjacent to the temple is the Asakusa Shinto shrine. This five-stored pagoda inside the grounds of a popular tourist spot, Senso-ji Temple is a typical tower found in many Buddhist temples in Japan. Inside the pagoda, the remains of Buddha, the founder of Buddhism is placed.
Nakamise Shopping Street
Nakamise is a lively shopping district that runs from the iconic Kaminarimon gate right up to Tokyo’s Sensoji Temple.
Along this 200-meter long shopping street, you can find typical Japanese souvenirs such as yukata (kimonos) and folding fans, traditional local snacks from the Asakusa, t-shirts, key chains, toys and lots more.
One souvenir you can look out for are the highly-sought maneki neko or cat figurines that are said to bring good luck. These are usually placed inside or in front of commercial establishments in order to bring in customers.
Another notable souvenir you can buy here are traditional Kitsune masks or fox masks which are typically worn by participants in certain Shinto festivals. Historically, foxes were viewed as magical creatures with the ability to shapeshift. They were also seen as messengers of Inari, the Shinto god of rice, commerce, and prosperity. These masks always remind me of the video game Okami.
Shibuya Crossing
Shibuya Crossing is a famous intersection in Tokyo that’s been dubbed “the busiest pedestrian intersection in the world.” This crossing has been featured in movies and television shows which take place in Tokyo, including Resident Evil: Afterlife, Lost in Translation, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and most recently, Alice in Borderland. Crossing the street has become a “thing to do” among first-time visitors to Tokyo.
The popular scramble crossing is located in front of the Shibuya Station Hachikō exit and stops vehicles in all directions to allow pedestrians to cross the entire intersection.
Hachikō Statue & Family Mural
One of the popular landmarks in the area is the the Hachikō Statue, a small bronze statue in front of Shibuya Station (right outside the Hachikō exit). The famously loyal dog was known for going to Shibuya Station to meet his owner and kept the practice everyday for 10 years after the professor’s death, and until his own. The statue was put up in honor of the dog’s unwavering loyalty. Hachikō was buried alongside the professor.
The statue and surrounding plaza is a a common meeting place in the area. Outside the exit, you can also find a lovely mural that imagines if Hachiko had an extended canine family. The rainbow mural, which measures 4 meters high and stretches 11.2 meters across, is compiled of over 1,200 Shigaraki ware ceramic pieces.
Robots and Mecha
Japan is known for its obsession with robots and all things mecha. One of Tokyo’s most popular tourist attractions is a Robot Restaurant, where diners can watch a show that combines robots, dragons, ninjas, blue-haired dancers, drums, a whole lot of neon lights, and really loud music.
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Odaiba boasts of a number of fantastic exhibitions dealing in robotic and earth sciences. It’s here where we got to see ASIMO, the world’s most advanced humanoid robot, in action. ASIMO (which stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) can run, kick a soccer ball, interpret voice commands and human gestures and speak. The museum also has all manner of robotic vehicles, interactive humanoids, and even a robotic baby seal.
Tourists can also pay a visit to the iconic mecha robots displayed around the city. We paid a visit to Tokyo’s DiverCity Mall so we could see the 20-metre-high, life-size statue of Gundam, a well-known icon in Japan.
First released in 1979 as a television series, the Gundam Series franchise exploded to include manga, movies, plastic models and more. The model here is a Unicorn Gundam, a replication of the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam from the novel and OVA Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn.
Klook.comGet a Tokyo Disney Resort Pass here.
Food tripping in Japan
One of the most important aspects of traveling to Japan is definitely the food. Japan offers a lot of unique dining experiences, from hole-in-the-wall ramen joints to conveyer belt restaurants serving sushi and sashimi. Of the wide range of meat dishes in Japan, tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet) is one of the most popular items and most kid-friendly option. The most common tonkatsu is pork deep fried in a batter of breadcrumbs and enjoyed with a sauce.
One unique dining experience you can enjoy is traditional stone grilling, where slices of meat and vegetables are prepared and grilled right in front of you by a server.
Tucked away in a quiet grove in the garden, Mokushundo serves old-style dishes cooked on hot lava rocks from Mount Fuji, as well as original iron-kettle kaiseki cuisine. The restaurant has an early 20th-cebbutury retro appeal. The plates are made from lava stones of Mt. Fuji use far-infrared effects to cook tender meat and juicy vegetables. Pores in the plates created through aeration absorb excess oil in cooking, creating a healthy and flavorful meal.
A similar and fun option for kids is Japanese style BBQ or Yakiniku, which literaly means grilled meat. This popular style of cooking, which originated in Korea, lets you gather around a table with a small barbecue grill in the center to cook a selection of tender meat and vegetables right at your table. Simple yet delicious, this communal meal is made tastier with fine selections of meat and vegetables.
Japanese vending machines, which you can find everywhere, are amazing. The machines conveniently offer an endless list of products including: cold drinks, beer, juices, fresh fruits and vegetables, sake, hot foods, sushi, and lots more.
During our trip, we also made it a point to visit Japanese convenience stores like Family Mart and groceries to stock up on unique snacks and drinks to enjoy while resting in the hotel or have on hand while sightseeing.
There are a lot more experiences you can enjoy in Tokyo Japan, and I look forward to traveling again in the future with family members and loved ones.
Klook.comI’ll be writing separate posts about our visits to Tokyo Disneyland, The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation and trip to Mt. Fuji Day and Hakone, with a ride on the Shinkansen bullet train.
You can also read my previously published posts on Tokyo:
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