First time going to Tokyo? 10 Must Visit Places!!

These are the 10 Must Visit Places in Tokyo, it’s a MUST READ it if it’s the first time you’re going to Tokyo!

1. Disney Sea

There are a few theme park you can visit near the Tokyo area, but Disney Sea is a must visit place since it’s currently the only one in the world. Check out this adorable DisneySea theme Mickey Mouse below!

Compared to Disney Land, this theme park offer a more grown up rides. Less sparkly fantasy and more realistic historical theme. If you’re going to Disney Sea, be sure to learn how to use a fast pass to make sure you use your time effectively. Unlike in Universal Studio Japan, fast pass in Disney Sea (and Disney Land) is free!

Thriller seeker can ride the Tower of Terror or Journey to the Center of The Earth. But this park also provides a lot of ride for smaller children.

Disney musical lover shouldn’t miss the Big Band Show. And don’t forget to see the Fantasmic show at night. It’s Fantastic!

2. Sky Tree

There are some observatory tower you can choose from in Tokyo. But Sky tree is currently the newest and highest in Japan. It also located very close to Tokyo Solamachi, a giant shopping center. So you won’t be easily bored here.

The cost to go up is rather high, though. You can get to the top of Tokyo tower for just … yen If you’re looking for a free alternative, you can go to Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building located in Shinjuku. You can freely observe the beautiful Tokyo area from afar with no admission cost.

3. Asakusa

Asakusa area is located near the Sky Tree. It takes a while to walk but you can see the beautiful scenery of Sumida River, so it’s kinda worth it. Near the area, you can get a rickshaw experience for a few thousand yen. You can ask them to take you if you feel tired from walking~

The landmark of Asakusa is the Sensoji Temple. Don’t forget to take a groupie photo with Sensoji Temple gate a.k.a the famous Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate)!

Once you walk inside the temple, you’ll see a lot of street shop selling food, snack, and souvenirs. This place is called the Nakamise Dori Shopping Street. Due to a lot of foreign tourists, the pricing of this place is kinda high. You can get the same item with a lower place somewhere else.

4. Harajuku

You haven’t been to Tokyo if you haven’t been to Harajuku. The street is packed with people even when it’s raining. This place is famous for its street style clothing store and unique tasty street snack. Be sure to try them out!

5. Shibuya crossing and Hachiko Statue

This place have a lot of shopping center. Looking at the sea of people crossing the intersection is quite breathtaking. When you get here, don’t forget to take a picture of Shibuya crossing and do a groupie photo with the famous Hachiko statue.

For grown ups or newlyweds, there’s a famous area called Shibuya Love Hill. If you’re going as a couple or going to Japan for a honeymoon trip, be sure to check it out!

6. Odaiba

There are a lot of places to visit within Odaiba. Odaiba is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. To access here, you can use the underground subway or a Yurikamome. We recommend the latter if you’re planning to go in the day since you can grasp the beautiful view of the rainbow bridge and the sea.

There are quite a lot of attraction within Odaiba. But the main feature is Ooedo Onsen Monogatari. If you want to get a taste of onsen in Tokyo, you can go to Oedo Onsen Monogatari. This place is basically a theme-park with onsen as a theme. They will give you a yukata to wear into. The food area is decorated as if it’s in a night festival and you can find a beautiful Japanese garden in the outside.Note that you will need to be naked when bathing in public onsen such as Ooedo Onsen Monogatari.

If you like car and automobile technology, you can visit the Toyota Megaweb. This place is a car showroom but with a lot of other stuff that your kid can play with. Such as riding a mini car.

A fan of Gundam shouldn’t miss seeing the giant Gundam located in front of Diver City Shopping Center. Gundam museum also located in this place

In case you interested, Madame Tussauds and Legoland is also located within Odaiba. Another amusement park nearby you can visit is Sega Joypolis, a place builds by Sega for game lover. People who enjoy arcade games, VR experience, first person shooting, etc should try to come here.

7. Yokohama

Yokohama is the 2nd largest city in Japan and it’s only a 40 minutes trip from Tokyo area. These are some of the places you should visit on the first time you get here.

Minato Mirai. Place filled with a lot of attractions nearby along the water. It’s quite big, but below are some of the recommended place to visit.

Cosmo World. Amusement park with rides and carnival attractions. The view is beautiful when the park is illuminated at night.

Red Brick Warehouse. Starts as a warehouse, it is now has been converted into a modern shopping place filled with cafes and fashion store.

Cup Noodle Factory. If you bring a kid with you, this could be a fun place to learn about factory and cup-noodle making. The best part of this place is “Make your own cup noodle”. The cost is 500 yen but you can custom your own cup noodle. These cup noodles will be great as souvenirs but note that it will expire after a month

Osenbashi Pier. A 20 minutes walk from Minato Mirai area. A beautiful modern pier. Where you can see a beautiful city and sea view.

ChinaTown, as it name suggest, this place is filled with Chinese food, snacks and stuff.

Motomachi Shopping Street. A beautiful shopping street with western influence.

8. Gala Yuzawa

Gala Yuzawa is not within Tokyo, but it’s a short trip to have a snow and ski experience! To enjoy Gala Yuzawa to the fullest, we recommend you to at least stay for 1-2 days. What can you do here? Skiing! Snow! The snowy mountains view will make you forget that you’re in Japan. Note that Gala Yuzawa only opens in the winter season. Around December – March.

9. Akihabara

This is a MUST VISIT place for Japanese culture lover. There are a lot of stores which sell anime stuff. And the fancy cafe such as the maid/butler cafes also open within this area.

What is a maid/butler cafe you asked? It’s a cafe where they will greet you as if you’re their master. It’s a unique experience though can be quite awkward too. And note that to get the full experience, you must have good understanding of Japanese.

If you are not fond of games, electric appliance, Japanese anime/manga, fancy cafe. It’s best to visit another place. Since that’s the only thing this place have to offer~

10. Shinjuku

Shinjuku is a great shopping place. Actually, this area is quite big and has a lot of stores. So you should take your time to stroll around. If you’re confused, maybe you can start from the big camera department store building which holds an awful lot of items. Right next to it is a giant Uniqlo & GU stores. There are a lot of all you can eat (with time limit) restaurants in Shinjuku area, so be sure to check it out!

For you who want to go up high and see city view but wouldn’t want to pay for the observation tower ticket, you can go to the Tokyo metropolitan government building located in Shinjuku.

If you have time to stroll a little bit, you could go to the red district Kabukicho. Becareful when you’re in this area though~

First time going to Japan on your own?

Be sure to prepare yourself well before you go to Japan. Check out this article to help you plan what you need to have in Japan.

Language can be an obstacle since many people in Japan couldn’t speak English. You could either try to learn a bit of basic Japanese or you could also use free apps like Japan Travel Phrasebook to help you.

This app provide a lot of practical phrase you will need to travel such as “I want to go to …” or “Where is the toilet?”. You can imitate the phrases until you memorize them or you can simply bookmark the phrases and show it up to local so they can immediately understand what you need.

Hope it helps and have a wonderful trip! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°