Here is my list of the top ten things to do whilst visiting Tokyo!

Shibuya Scramble Crossing

Tokyo’s iconic intersection, the busiest in world, is an absolute must see.

 Located outside Shibuya Station, all day crowds of pedestrians slowly but surely build for several minutes at a time whilst traffic flows. Then traffic stops, the crosswalk lights turn green and the dams burst as people flood into the intersection from all directions.

Tall buildings and bright lights surround the intersection, with giant screens and flashing ads adding to the chaos of it all. Crossing the intersection is something you have to experience.

Top Tip – For a great view of the crossing, head up to the 11^th floor of Shibuya Scramble Square. The Tsutaya Bookstore there has a “Share Lounge” which costs 1650yen (£8.70) for 90 minutes. The lounge has free hot and cold drinks, snacks (inc. Ice Cream!), a microwave, phone and laptop chargers, stationary, Wi-Fi. Everything. And most importantly, amazing views of the crossing. After a long day of sightseeing, it’s perfect place to relax, grab a pot noodle, charge your phone and enjoy the view.

Golden Gai

Right by Shinjuku station is the Golden Gai area, a collection of 6 narrow alleys filled with mish-mash of different bars and restaurants, all pretty tiny. Every doorway is different, and bars are stacked on top of bars, with steep staircases leading to higher ones.

Just wandering through here is an experience.

Senso-Ji

Senso-ji is one of Tokyo’s most popular temples and probably it’s most famous.

The temple’s main hall and the 5 storied Pagoda are stunning and well worth a look. Leading up to the temple is 200m long street filled with souvenir shops and food stalls.

Be prepared, It gets busy and you can find yourself just shuffling listlessly through a crowd at times, sort of like a sheep in a flock, but that doesn’t take anything away from visiting the temple.

See the Sumo

Seeing the sumo grand tournament in Japan was a long-held bucket list item of mine and it did not disappoint.

 These 350lbs athletes don’t mess around. Prior to the bout you can see them stretching out, some of them doing a perfect split, standing on one leg, with the other straight up in the air above. All 350lbs perfectly balanced on one foot. Then when the bouts are about to start the audience are quietened down. The bouts start and the sumos go at each other like 2 rhinos, the slap of the first contact is thunderous. It’s incredible.

I booked tickets at www.buysumotickets.com

 I actually visited Japan in July when the Grand Sumo tournament is held in Nagoya. Nagoya isn’t too from Tokyo, roughly 1 hour 40 minutes on the train so can be done as a day trip. The tournament is held in Tokyo itself every January, May and September.

Top tip – Probably best to avoid the front row, quite a few of the sumos ended up there after being tossed out of the ring and people got squished. I can only imagine the fear in their minds as those giant sumo butt cheeks flew towards them…

Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji, icon of Japan. Find out all about climbing Mount Fuji here!

If climbing it doesn’t tickle you fancy, a day trip out to the Fuji Five lakes area can give you incredible views of the mountain.

Meiji Jingu and Yoyogi Park

Just outside of Harajuku station you’ll find Meiji Jingu, a shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji and his wife, along with Yoyogi park. It’s a ten-minute walk from the station to the shrine. A large, and very impressive, Torri gate welcomes you into the Shrine area. Just like Senso-ji, I’s busy. But the crowds of people don’t take away from the peaceful and tranquil feel of the forested park. A great place to take a break from the city and explore.

DAWN Avatar Robot Café

The robot café is a brilliant concept and well deserving of your patronage when in Tokyo.

Robot servers and waiters are controlled remotely by people who have difficultly going out for various reasons, giving employment opportunities to those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to work.

 The robots are operated by individuals from all over Japan, from homes and hospitals.  Our waiter robot was operated by a young woman with an SMA disease, from her home in the Hyogo Prefecture over 600 miles away. She had been unable to find herself a job after graduating university due to her condition and came across the Robot Cafe on Twitter in 2019. She was great company whilst we enjoyed our food and coffee.

The food is good, nothing special, but the novelty of being served and waited on by robots, along with the cause, is very special.

Get a view from up high

You can’t go to Tokyo and not see the city’s skyline from above. There are several options here.

 Tokyo SkyTree, which is highest tower in the world (not building), will set you back around 2,100 yen. Tokyo Tower, modelled on Paris’ Eiffel Tower, will cost 1,200 yen or 3,000 yen depending on what deck you go to. You can’t go wrong with either to be honest, both have amazing views.

My favourite though is Tokyo City View. From here you can get an incredible view, which includes both the Tokyo SkyTree and Tokyo Tower. Tickets are 2,000yen for the indoor observation deck and it’s generally a lot less busy than other options.

Yakiniku

Vegans skip ahead.

 Indoor DIY BBQ with thinly sliced beef (Wagyu beef!), pork and chicken. Order your meat and get it on the tabletop BBQ. It’s simple and delicious. I had Yakiniku so many times whilst in Tokyo, heading straight to the nearest one after climbing Fuji. Proper soul food.

Pokemon Centres and Cafe

Being a big fan of the games (they’ve gotten me through so many long haul flights), I couldn’t wait to check out one of the Pokemon Centres. There are 14 Pokemon Centres in Japan, 4 of which are in Tokyo, along with a Pokemon store and a café. All of which I unashamedly went to. Each of the centres has a statue in its entrance, my favourite being the animatronic Mewtwo in Shibuya.

As well as having a store selling centre exclusive items, the Pokemon centres have areas for playing cards, arcade machines and also hold game events.

Top tip – The café books up well in advance. Reservations for a given day open up 31 days beforehand and pretty much all go within the day, so plan ahead!

teamLab Planets

teamLab Planets is an immersive digital art museum unlike any I’ve been to before. I don’t want to give too much away here as not knowing what’s around the corner really adds to the excitement of the experience.

 It’s shoes off and into a locker when you get in as you’ll be walking through shallow waters a lot of the time, with music, projection mapping and lights creating a calming and immersive experience. The Infinite crystal room being a particular highlight and one you’ll see in a lot of photos online. There are 4 main rooms experience as well as two gardens.

Arriving back at the lockers where we started, I was tempted and sneak in for another go round, a stern and robust looking member of staff convinced me to just grab my shoes though.

Top tip – Get tickets a good few weeks in advance, if you just rock up on the day, you’ll most likely end up disappointed. The place is popular!

Ramen at Ichiran

My favourite Ramen place in Tokyo, in Shinjuku near to Godzilla. It’s popular so you might have to queue a little while but it’s worth it. Once in, you order food on a McDonald’s style touch screen. Collect your receipt and you then get shown to your own booth.

Slide your receipt under a slightly open blind and an anonymous chef on the other side cracks on with making your food, before sliding it under the blind to you. Extra order sheets are available in the booth, along with some cards you can pass under for help ordering, getting a fork, letting the chef know you’re just leaving your seat for a moment or letting the chef know that it’s too noisy.

The booths are relaxing and it’s nice to isolate and have your own little space after a day exploring Tokyo. It was like my own little cocoon, filled with sweet, sweet ramen.

Godzilla

And rounding off the list, no trip to Tokyo would be complete without saying hello to Godzilla in Shinjuku.