Our second day in Tokyo coincided with a Sunday and, we already had well-defined plans for this day. Our first stop of the day was going to the Meiji Jingu Shrine.
The Meiji Jingu Shrine is a Shinto shrine, located in the heart of Yoyogi Park, and the reason we dedicated this visit to Sunday morning was to attend the rituals related to the marriages that take place there. And this was a great decision because the whole park is full of life. A delightful walk through an iconic location in Tokyo.
After the visit to the Sanctuary, to get to Yoyogi Park you will have to leave your perimeter, as there is no direct connection between the two. You can see here how to get there:
And a walk along its paths is perfect to whet your appetite for lunch, from which we want to leave our recommendation.
2- Ramen at the Afuri restaurant in Harajuku Here, prepare for another extraordinary culinary experience in Tokyo. Really, really excellent ramen!!! We had already gathered information about this restaurant in different forums and we decided to try it ourselves and, thankfully we did, even having to wait about 20 minutes to get our turn.
Your request starts with a machine and its interactive screen (do not worry, there is a menu in English), and you make your payment in cash. Then just collect your receipt and wait at a U-shape-table, around the cooks who prepare your meal. It's not a huge place, with about 20 seats and, it is amazing to see the coordinated and perfect way to work as a team to put us ahead of a perfect dish in taste and appearance.
The dishes are all deliciously perfect and it is a great meal for reasonable prices (about 1300 yen per person). Please, try the yuzu, you won't regret! See here the localization on google maps. Do not be surprised if you find a big queue at the door, it is normal because this place is known by locals as well as by tourists but, the queue is fast and, in our case, in less than 20 minutes we were already seated. 3- Takeshita Street
After lunch, just a short walk, we reached Takeshita Street in the Harajuku neighborhood.
And this is a very peculiar street, especially on Sunday, because it is the time when many young people from Tokyo come together and express themselves in the most varied ways, being the zone par excellence cosplay of the city, in which creativity, daring and the outside of the conventional rule (the reason why we reserved this day to visit). It's a fun ride but, it was a little short of our expectations. It was probably the place we considered more aimed at tourists in Tokyo.
4- Shibuya Our next step was Shibuya. Since Takeshita is not far, 1,5 km (see here on google maps) and went by foot to Shibuya, and there we arrived at another brand image of Tokyo. In addition to the gigantic skyscrapers, we had the possibility of passing through perhaps the most famous pedestrian walkway in the world and one of the busiest, the Shibuya crossing.
And this was an experience we adored. Incredible the number of people passing at the same time and, like everything in Tokyo, with huge respect for others and an incredible organization. A must do in Tokyo. In addition to the skyscrapers and the immense neon lights that make this area known as Times Square in Tokyo, we also had the chance to see the Hachiko statue.
Hachiko was a dog that was extremely famous because, after his owner's death, he traveled daily to Shibuya station in the hope of seeing him arrive, as was his habit in life.
In Shibuya, we went to dinner at Genki Sushi (see on google maps the exact location here). This was not the best sushi we ate in Tokyo, we are forced to say but, the experience was very funny.
There is almost no interaction with restaurant workers. Although it is a restaurant with a lot of clients, it has a limit of 45 minutes to eat, so we did not stay for long waiting. Check this cool video from "Chintai Channel" to see how it works, and how cool it is.
As we mentioned, it is not the best sushi we ate in Tokyo, but even then we have to say it was very fresh and the service very fast. A great experience that blends perfectly with the modern air of Shibuya, and at very reasonable prices for Tokyo (most dishes cost 108 yen, 2018 prices). After this futuristic dinner and another night stroll through the streets of Shibuya, we returned by subway to our hotel.
We hope our itinerary helps you plan your family trip to Tokyo. We would like to invite you to follow our experience with us for the 4 days of the trip, in which we describe in detail our entire trip and we believe that it will help you to plan your trip to Tokyo, you can see our next day in Tokyo here.
Don't forget that hotels can be very expensive in Tokyo and, you should start searching for accommodations early before the prices get really hight. We always do our reservations with booking, they are our partners and its with them that we get the best deals. You can look for the best deals by clickinghere, it won't cost you any money and, it helps us to support our blog. Booking.com We hope you enjoy your family trip to Tokyo and, don't forget to leave your comment and share our Non Stop Family blog. Pin it for Later
Tokyo is a
huge city, with several "centers", so 4 days is not a long time for, in a family trip with kids, to
get to know the city. And so, we had to program so that our family trip would
allow us to know as much as possible. So, we had planned our itinerary in advance, which we share with
you, in the hope that it can help you plan your trip, whether it's a
family trip with children or not.
After an early breakfast at the hotel, we headed to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The entry to the Imperial Palace is not usually possible, but a visit to the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, just outside the Emperor's Residence in Japan, is a great way to start your trip around Tokyo.
We just love that visit, the gardens are perfect and, do not
forget to pass by the Kokyo Gaien Square, to observe the palace outside.
There is
the possibility of a guided visit to the Imperial Palace, which is held free of
charge almost every day at 10:30 a.m. Tickets are given on a first-come, first served basis, and to be sure you get your place, you should be early, especially
in more touristy times. We did not make this visit but, if you wish to do it,
you can access more information on the official website here. 2- Tokyo Station and Tokyo Ramen Street Our next
stop was already planned and we went directly to Tokyo Station. This is an
impressive station, one of the busiest in Tokyo but there was a specific reason
for visiting it at lunchtime and, the reason is the existence of Ramen Street.
Yes, it is true, there is in the subway station a street that concentrates
a lot of restaurants dedicated to this delicious dish, Ramen (in Tokyo you can have great meals at the subway stations!). Some of the best ramen restaurants in the city were invited to set up branch offices at the station
and so we had a wonderful opportunity to eat this delicious dish.
The
purchase of your Ramen was done through automatic machines (only in
Japanese) but with photographs of the different dishes. Pay with money, you
make your choice, receive a receipt and then just pick up your order. Fast and
efficient, a great possibility to try this delicacy.
Although it
was not in our plans to go up to the Tokyo Tower, we wanted very much to see it
up close. The reason we chose to don't go up was only for financial reasons, and
because we had planned to go up to the Tokyo City Hall building, which we can do for free and that we talk about in another post.
To get from
Tokyo Station to Tokyo Tower, we take JR Yamanote Line and exit at Hamamatsuchō
Station. From here you will have to walk about 1.6 km to the station, but on
the way you will be able to visit Zojo-Ji Temple, which is located in Minato,
in Shiba Park. And this was a great opportunity to get to know a beautiful
Buddhist Temple whose visit is free and ends up being off the tourist route.
Also, the whole garden around it deserves to be visited in a relaxed way before
heading to the Tokyo Tower. This temple was rebuilt in 1974 after being
destroyed during World War II.
Arriving at
Tokyo Tower was not difficult, because, in addition to finding several signs to
indicate, you can easily see the structure in the distance.
Of course
it's not hard to notice the similarities with the Eiffel Tower, but it's still
worth seeing. The similarities are not random, as it was even made to copy the
Eiffel Tower but, unlike the original, which is made of iron, it is made of
steel. With 333 meters, it was built in 1958 to transmit the TV signal to the
city. At the moment it was replaced by Tokyo Sky Tree in these functions but,
still is spectacular to see.
For those
who want to go up, you can access their website for prices and times here.
5- Akihabara After
seeing the Tokyo Tower, we again picked up the subway to catch the JR Yamanote
line again towards Akihabara. This district of Chiyoda is famous for its great
connection to manga and anime, computer games, gadgets ... all modern Tokyo
that we are used to seeing on television and that is when we decided to spend
the rest of our first day, as well as dinner. And this is, by excellence, the
ideal place for fans of new technology, whether to see or to buy.
Also worthy
of peeking is the "Maid Cafes". We did not get in,
because they are expensive, but we peeked out and, all over the street, we sow countless "Maids", which gives an even more peculiar and interesting
air to the whole neighborhood. We also give an outside look at the pachinko stores and, it's easy to see that they really attract the Japanese.
Of course a
visit to Akihabara cannot be complete without a visit to the Yodobashi Akiba
store, the "Disney" of electronic products. This 8-storey building
has everything you could imagine, as well as what you never thought you could
imagine. Well worth the visit. 6- Sushi Dinner in Akihabara And what better way to end the day than with delicious sushi? For in Akihabara we discovered Uogashi Nihon Ichi Atre Akihabara. Not that it was the best sushi of our trip but it was actually very good and at a very good price. Not to mention they had a wonderful free green tea (which is often the case in restaurants in Tokyo). We highly recommend it. You can see your location on google maps here. Just one detail, you will have to eat standing but, the sushi is so fresh that you will not even notice that.
Address: Uogashi
Nihon Ichi Atre Akihabara
1-17-6
Sotokanda, Chiyoda, Tokyo Province We hope our itinerary helps you plan your family trip to Tokyo. We would like to invite you to follow our experience with us for the 4 days of the trip, in which we describe in detail our entire trip and we believe that it will help you to plan your trip to Tokyo, you can see our next day in Tokyo here. Don't forget that hotels can be very expensive in Tokyo and, you should start searching for accommodations early before the prices get really hight. We always do our reservations with booking, they are our partners and its with them that we get the best deals. You can look for the best deals by clickinghere, it won't cost you any money and, it helps us to support our blog. Booking.com
