Japan has such sophisticated food scenes from street foods to course meals.  Atmosphere is super modern, yet deeply intertwined with history, culture, and tradition.  First step in Japan at airport can feel overwhelming as you will see so much going on! 👀.  Once in Tokyo, you will do lots of walking, going up & down stairs, escalators, elevators, into underground subway systems to high up on high-rise buildings. Through crowds & buildings, and hundreds of choices of places to eat all around you!  But, once you get the hang of it, I will assure you that you will have a great time!      

     🚆Transportation is VERY efficient in Japan, you can go to many places with trains, subways & bullet trains.  The first challenge is to figure out the complicated railway systems to get to the places you want to go.  If you are on a multi-day guided tour that takes you everywhere on tour bus, you are in luck!  But you can totally explore on your own!  The most important train line to explore Tokyo is JR Yamanote Line✨(picture below & it is green-color-accented train) which runs in single loop around central Tokyo clockwise & counter-clockwise, has 30 stations total & takes about 60 minutes to ride a full loop.  More different lines & subway lines intersect these stations for transferring.  To make it very simple for you, all you need to do is #1 - Find where you want to go & its nearest station name.  #2 - Put your departing station name and destination station name in Google Map Direction✨.  #3 - It will tell you how to get there & how much it will cost!  There are other apps for Japan transit route planning, but Google is free & great🪭.

Remember - Yamanote Line for exploring Tokyo🚃

     📱Staying connected to Internet is a key.  Especially when trying to follow route directions constantly.  Hotels usually have free wifi, but what about while you are out and about in town?  I bought eSIM online at Saily eSIM🛜 choosing a plan for "20GB for 30 days for $24.99".  And I had internet every minute while I was in Japan wherever I was, cities and rural areas.  Setting up is as easy as paying for the plan online, loading the app on your phone & your phone will have internet in Japan! (Follow their easy steps in the app).  Now, make sure that you have small power bank so you won't run out power on your phone.  I carried a Anker's 10000mAh portable power bank which was enough to keep my iphone 14 promax charged for each day.  I was using my phone heavily on directions, looking up things, taking pictures & videos.  

     🚰Public Bathrooms are easy to find.  Every train station has it.  Toilet papers🧻 are commonly available, but paper towels are not common.  Japanese people usually carry their own handkerchief to dry their hands after washing, or electric hand dryers are commonly installed in public bathrooms.  Many modern & newer places have Washlet🚽✨ which is an electronic bidet with washing & drying features.   

Now Let's explore!     

     Between the two Tokyo Airports, I like Haneda Airport✨ better✈️.  It's much closer to central Tokyo without the hustle of having to reserve for & catch Express train like Narita Express or Keisei Skyliner from Narita Airport.  Express trains are fast & efficient, but more costly💰. 

     In Haneda Airport, Terminal 1 & 2 are mainly for domestic flights.  Terminal 3 is where you arrive, the International Terminal which opened in 2010 (relatively new✨). It feels new, modern, clean & fun!  The Arrival is on 2F, Departure is on 3F,  restaurants & shops (in public pre-security zones) are on 4F which  is designed as an old Tokyo streetscape, and an observation deck & some more shops are on 5F.

     *Terminal 3 is also directly connected to "Haneda Airport Garden" (opened in January 2023✨), a commercial complex which includes two hotels, restaurants, convenience store, drug store, shops, massage, hot spring & bus terminal.    

     Among all the excellent restaurant choices, we had top-notch Japanese cuisines just steps from Haneda airport on our arrival day & the night before departure day!🥢

The pictures shown below are what we ate;
- うなぎ四代目菊川 - Fourth Generation Eel Kikugawa (photo #1)
- 五代目 花山うどん - Fifth Generation Hanayama Udon (photo #2 & #3)
- 杉養蜂園 - Sugi Bee Garden (photo #4)

     And, don't forget this amazing spot for quality yet reasonable massage at Body Care LUCK in Haneda Airport Garden!  After we arrived at Haneda airport & dropped off our luggages in our hotel room, we headed here to book massage on site.  We had the most quality & ​fatigue-resetting "30-minute dry massage".  [🛎️Dry massage is performed without oils or lotions while you remain comfortably clothed. The therapist uses kneading, pressure, and gentle stretching to loosen tight muscles and relieve everyday fatigue. It’s a casual, affordable, and wonderfully convenient way to unwind.]  Our appointment was about an hour away, and enjoyed exploring other shops till our massage time!  "30-minute dry massage" was ¥3630 which equaled to about US$23 at the time when US$1=¥155.  Here's the link to their menu & price!

     Another attraction in Haneda Airport Garden is this Kimono store -  MEGAたんす屋 (Mega Tansu-ya) which offers kimono sales, kimono rental & photo studio service.  I only looked around the store, but the selection of quality Kimono was great, and it would be a great place to purchase your Kimono here or rent it for memorable photo-shoot👘.

     I stayed overnight at Hotel Villa Fontaine Grand Haneda Airport🏢 inside Haneda Airport Garden  both on the day of arrival & the day before of departure from Haneda Airport.  After a long international flight being jet-lagged🙄😵‍💫, it is a great idea to just rest for the rest of the day.  This hotel is only within a walking distance from the Arrival lobby, and I took the rest of my day relaxing!  Massage, good food, hot spring & rest.  Likewise, I stayed overnight at this hotel before my early morning departure flight.  You are only a walking distance to Departure lobby👟🧳.  

💡Remember: Trying to get to airport with trains can be hustle especially around rush hours (Japanese people's commuting time!) when trains & stations are jam-packed!

Hotel Villa Fontaine Grand 
Haneda Airport✨

     There are two hotels in Haneda Airport Garden.  Hotel Villa Fontaine Grand and Hotel Villa Fontaine Premier (Fancier!)  I booked a room at Booking.com, and it was an easy check-in at the lobby kiosk.  I booked a "Superior King Room", and it was very roomy.  The hotel has laundry service, laundromat, fitness gym, restaurants and bar lounge.  

Onsen♨️

     泉天空の湯 (Spa Izumi) is multi-purpose relaxing facility where you can soak in hot spring (温泉 - Onsen in Japanese), enjoy sauna & bedrock bath, have meals, purchase massage & exfoliation service, and rest in relax zone.  This facility is directly connected to the two hotels🏢.  You can purchase their ticket with the hotel room (discounted price for Villa Fontaine Grand guests & free for Premier guests) or just the spa ticket (Great way to spend your long layover time✈️).  

     The fee includes face towel, bath towel & indoor wear.  Inside bath area, the washing area has shampoo, conditioner & body wash.  They also provide complimentary wash towel to go with body wash, and hairbrush, cotton swab, hair dryer, tissue, lotion, etc. in the powder room by lockers.  So you don't need to bring anything😃

     Hot spring & sauna areas and locker rooms are separated by gender (hot spring and sauna areas are strictly nude), and restaurant, massage, relax zone & bedrock bath are co-ed (clothed areas). 

🎐 For those who are staying at one of the Villa Fontaine hotels, their rooms provide indoor wear (picture below).  You can wear those to the Spa Izumi through indoor corridor & elevator.  You will see hotel guests heading towards & back from the spa in this hallway.

🎐 For those who are at the spa only, you can store your large luggages🧳 at Hospitality Center on the 2nd floor.  Wheeled suitcases and carry-on cases are not permitted in the spa locker.  

     Tokyo is so big with many neighborhoods.  Business districts, shopping areas, old historic neighborhoods, residential areas, etc all densely interconnected.  To explore Tokyo, staying near one of the 30 stations of  JR Yamanote Line will be convenient.  Among all the countless accommodation options in Tokyo, I stayed at 都シティ 東京高輪 - Miyako City Tokyo Takanawa.  The location can't get any better✨  See the reasons below!  

都シティ 東京高輪
Miyako City Tokyo Takanawa ✨

     We stayed in Deluxe King Room with City View🏙️.  We could see Rainbow Bridge over Tokyo Bay from our hotel window.  My husband enjoyed watching passing local trains & bullet trains from the window!  They have two laundry/dryer machines on B1F for self-laundry and you can see its live status on your room TV!  They also have laundry service.  

     I loved the fact that this hotel has typical Japanese bath room which means washing area & tub are separate.  In Western-style hotels, you shower/wash yourself in the tub🛁.  In Japan, tub is only for soaking✨.  I also loved the window between bath room and bedroom for open & spacious feel!

     In Japan, shopping & eating revolve around train stations🍶.  Takanawa Gateway City is a brand-new✨ (fully opened in March 2026) commercial complex right next to Takanawa Gateway Station🚃 which opened in March 2020 along Yamanote Line & Keihin-Tohoku Line.   

     Takanawa Gateway City  spread over 5 buildings which include JW Marriott Hotel Tokyo, NEWoMan TAKANAWA (dining & shopping space), convention center, medical clinics, museum & gallery, Tokyo University satellite campus, residence, and more. 

     You have so many quality dining options here🍽️!  It is a bit confusing as these options are spread over 3 high-rise buildings - THE LINKPILLAR 1 South, THE LINKPILLAR 1 North & THE LINKPILLAR 2 which contains MIMURE (another dining area).  See the list of restaurants & cafes.     

     LUFTBAUM 28F & 29F is a roof-top botanical garden space🌿 in THE LINKPILLAR 1 North with a vast Tokyo cityscape view✨. (Open daily 8:00 AM – 12:00 AM), plus a dining area.       

The pictures shown below are where we visited.

🥢焼肉 Bovin d’Or - Yakiniku Bovin d'Or (LUFTBAUM, 28F)
     Japanese people love Yakiniku - table-top barbecue!  How about with the spectacular view of Tokyo Bay & Rainbow Bridge🍹!  This restaurant boasts a selection of A5-grade Wagyu beef in their menu, and my lunch set came with rice, salad & soup✨  

🍵八芳園洋菓子店 - ​Happoen Western Confectionery Shop (THE LINKPILLAR 1 North, 1F)
     This cafe has a great selection of sophisticated & delicious sweets🍰.  I had chestnut Mont Blanc & Matcha Latte, and had a great tea time with my friend over delicious dessert☕️

🍨PÂTISSERIE ASAKO IWAYANAGI (MIMURE, 3F)
     This cafe is located in an open space on MIMURE 3F in THE LINKPILLAR 2.  The selection of sweets was a wow facor✨ visually so beautiful that I wanted to taste all the cakes!  We had Fraisier (strawberry cake shown in the photo), Canelé & soft-serve ice cream🍦.  They were rich & delicious as I expected from a top-notch patisserie!

     One of the Tokyo's major attraction is Tsukiji Outer Market.  Note that many shops are closed on Wednesdays, Sundays & National Holidays.  Be hungry as you walk through the narrow old-fashioned market alleys, you will enjoy so many small portions of various local foods.  I recommend to go early in the morning.  Market shops & eateries start as early as 5-6am and start to close as early as 12-1pm, and it gets pretty crowded by late morning.  Some dining places are open for dinner and some are open for 24 hours (see this shop list for open hours), and  it is a different vibe to enjoy the market's fresh foods without the crowd.  For morning visitors, I would say this is a place to snack your way through, but you can also sit down for a meal.  I saw long wait lines on some "famous" shops, but there are so many other good shops in the market, so walk around & enjoy!

     🚃How to get there.  On Google Map, put your destination station "Tsukiji" which is on a subway line called Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line.   Once you arrive there, come out of Exit 1 or 2.  Walk about a block, and you are at one corner of Tsukiji Outer Market.  Keep going straight till the other corner of the market, and turn left onto Namiyoko-dori Ave.  You will find  Plat Tsukiji (Information Center) where you can obtain market map.  Public bathroom is in this building.  Also, some shops have bathroom for customers.

     Small portions of various local foods we had🥢.

     Ginza is the Tokyo's premier shopping district, Tokyo's New York Fifth Avenue✨ -  home to historic department stores, international luxury flagship stores, a rich collection of long-established historic restaurants and newer high-end restaurants, cafes & retail stores.  

     Ginza's main avenue, Chuo-dori (also called Ginza-dori) becomes a ​pedestrian zone on weekends & holidays, 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM (April through September) or 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM (October through March).

     You can walk to Ginza's Chuo-dori from either Yurakucho Station or Shimbashi Station on JR Yamanote Line🚃.  Or you have closer access from Ginza Station, Ginza-Itchome Station or Higashi-Ginza Station on subway lines.      

     Before heading out to Ginza's shopping district, we had lunch at a sushi restaurant,  寿司の美登利 銀座店 - Sushi No Midori Ginza Store.  This is a highly regarded sushi restaurant that was originally opened in 1977 & grew into multiple locations.  It was about 5-minute walk from JR Shimbashi Station - Ginza Exit.  It is highly recommended to make a reservation online💻 as you are likely to wait for a long time without it.  

     When you make a reservation online, you will have to pick your choice out of their several pre-set menus, and that is what you get.  However, you can order more items from their a la carte menu when you are there.

     Their sushi will make you smile as their sushi presentation is so beautiful and it's fresh & delicious🍣.    

     Tokyo Station is not only a major railway & bus network hub which connects you to major cities across Japan, but also a shopping and dining paradise🛍️ in and around the station.  To orient you a little bit, there is Gransta Tokyo (B1F and 1F, a large  in-station shopping & dining area) which is a convenient stop for train passengers without exiting the station.  

    Also, the outside the station gates, Tokyo Station divides into two main sides: Marunouchi to the west and Yaesu to the east.  And both sides further divide into North, Central, and South exits at ground & underground level with many shopping & dining options.  See the summery next! 

🏯 Marunouchi Side (West / Imperial Palace Side​)

• Marunouchi North Exit (1F): A convenient exit for Marunouchi Oazo (shopping, dining & hotel complex) and walking toward the Otemachi area (financial & corporate hub).
• Marunouchi Central Exit (1F): Opens onto Marunouchi Station Square, where you can admire the historic red-brick building before continuing toward the Imperial Palace.  There are Marunouchi Building (Marubiru) & Shin Marunouchi Building (Shin Marubiru) (shopping & dining complex) across the Square.
• Marunouchi South Exit (1F): Handy for visiting KITTE Marunoichi & Marunouchi Brick Square (shopping & dining complex) and reaching the bus stops on the Marunouchi side.
• Marunouchi Underground Exits (North, Central, and South, B1F): Open into underground walkways linking nearby shops and buildings.  For the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, follow the signs toward the Underground Central Exit.

🏢 Yaesu Side (East / Shinkansen & Highway Bus Side)

• Yaesu North Exit (1F): The most convenient exit for Daimaru Tokyodepartment store.
• Yaesu Central Exit (1F): Opens onto the central Yaesu side of the station.  Near Shinkansen gates.
• Yaesu South Exit (1F): A convenient exit for the JR highway bus terminal including Airport Bus TYO-NRT for Narita Airport.
• Yaesu Underground Central Exit (B1F): Brings you straight into Tokyo Station Ichibangai (shopping & dining area including  Tokyo Character Street, etc.) with onward access to Yaechika (another underground mall) 

     Tokyo Station's Marunouchi side has several high-rise buildings that include shopping & dining complexes (as mentioned & linked on the list above).  I went to Kitte Marunouchi for shopping & dining at conveyor-belt sushi restaurant,   回転寿司 根室花まる​ - Kaitenzushi Nemurohanamaru🍣  on 5F.  This is a very popular restaurant.  You will pull a wait number at the restaurant front & come back when it's close to your time.  You can see the live update on your wait number on your phone.  We waited about an hour, and spent the time window-shopping in Kitte building🛍️.  In case you didn't know, in belt-conveyor sushi restaurants, plate colors represent price.  In the photos below, green plate is ￥418, pink plate is ￥308 & navy/gold plate is ￥550 according to their price chart💰.

     We also strolled in the  Marunouchi Brick Square.  It’s a charming shopping and dining spot with a courtyard full of greenery and flowers and a European-inspired atmosphere🏰.  It’s a lovely place to pause for a coffee or a meal☕️.

     ​A Yakatabune Cruise is a lovely way to slow down, enjoy a meal, and see Tokyo from the water⚓️.  With roots in the boat outings of Japan’s nobility during the Heian period, these traditional pleasure boats later became popular among powerful landowners and wealthy merchants during the Edo period.  Today, cruising along the Sumida River or Tokyo Bay offers a little taste of old Japan with the modern skyline drifting by.

     Our Yakatabune cruise started at 7:20pm from Etchujima Pier.  We took trains to get to the meeting spot by the pier.  It was about 10-minute (550m) walk including going up & down pedestrian bridge from Etchujima Station on JR Keiyo Line (only two stops from Tokyo Station).  Etchujima Station is underground, and when you come out of exit, you will be encountered with just roads & buildings, no store or dining spot as it is more of an industrial waterfront zone.  

     Step aboard a traditional Yakatabune boat, 90-minute cruise was such a relaxing time with authentic cultural experiences.  Inside the boat, we sat down on a traditional Tatami floor with a Zabuton (Japanese floor cushion), and started with a traditional Sukiyaki dinner🥢.  There is a recessed area under the table for your legs, so you don't have to sit​ with your legs tucked underneath you!  Sukiyaki dinner was soon accompanied by their live Shamisen & singing performance, and we truly enjoyed good dinner & chat with fellow tourists from all across the world🪕🎤.  Drinks were included except alcohol which you can buy with cash onboard.   

     After the dinner, we had an opportunity to go up to outdoor upper deck to absorb gorgeous panoramic view of Tokyo✨.  It was such a serene & soothing experience to be there feeling the bay breeze and to watch the Tokyo from the water.

     This was a coincidence, but we found out that the night we went on Yakatabune cruise happened to be on the same day of a large firework show over Odaiba Marine Park called STAR ISLAND 2026.  So we got to see some spectacular firework display from the boat by chance🤩

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