Lucentis

Hello guys,
Our first visit to Japan is approaching ^. What would you suggest for the first evening in Tokyo as first impression? We will be staying at IC The Strings, very close to Shinagawa station. Would you go to Shibuya? Or Shinjuku?
Thanks a lot!

O Sora

How about taking a ride on Shinkansen?
It stops at Shinagawa. Return trip to Odawara may take one hour. Don't just to Tokyo or to Shin Yokohama. These stations are very close to Shinagawa. Odawara is around 50 miles away.

Lucentis

Thank you for the nice suggestion, Hakone (with Shinkansen to Odawara) is our next stop after 5 days in Tokyo. I am asking for first impression of the mega city a la Lost in Translation

Aventine

The view from the Tokyo Metropolitan building in Shinjuku then dinner or drinks at New York bar and grill at Park Hyatt Tokyo?

O Sora

I see. OK. How about waiting for an opportunity to watch kind people push a train to save someone who has been caught between the train and the platform?

This actually happened at Keikyu Line platform in Shinagawa Station on August 1.


Or Close to Shinagawa, there is Sengakuji temple.

AlwaysAisle

OP,

We have posts like this occasionally, and this is not just at FlyerTalk but common at many internet sites. Without giving little information about yourself it is extremely difficult to answer the question, what are you looking to do?

Are you looking for meals? What is your preference?
Are you looking for tourists sites? Outdoor or indoor? Traditional or modern?
Are you looking for night life?
Are you alone, or with people? What are age group? Also genders.
Why did you mention Shinjuku or Shibuya? Because you read about this somewhere on the internet?

For me usually after an international flight crossing more than few time zones, the first night at a destination I am not 100% up to going out due to jet lag.

Tokyo is a large metropolitan area with so many different things available for visitors. Without giving some basic information about yourself regarding your preferences, then I do not think anybody can give your recommendation by simply asking “what should I do?”

evergrn

Looks like AlwaysAisle woke on the wrong side of the bed today lol. (he has a point, of course)

This is awesome. I'd definitely drop all plans to go see this on my first night in Tokyo.

Lucentis

Thanks for your help

O Sora

Don't give up. Regulars here are no less kind than those pushing the train.
Could you tell us a little about your preference?

ksandness

It looks as if you'll be coming from Europe (Zürich?), therefore traveling west to east, therefore massively jet-lagged, therefore arriving in the morning, therefore after midnight European time.

Excitement will keep you awake for much of the day, but by late afternoon, you will be irresistibly sleepy, and you may end up sleeping longer than anticipated.

Therefore, I would suggest not scheduling anything major for your first evening in Tokyo. Try to walk around in daylight as much as possible, keeping in mind that it gets dark some time between 7:00 and 7:30 even in the summer.

Shinagawa is not a terribly interesting neighborhood, but you might want to drop your luggage at the hotel (assuming they won't let you check into your room yet), take a Yamanote Line (silver with green stripes) to Shibuya, Shinjuku, or Ueno and just walk around to acclimate yourself to the city. Have lunch in any of the hundreds of restaurants and maybe mid afternoon coffee.

Then hop back onto the Yamanote Line when you get tired to return to Shinagawa. The Yamanote is a circle (really an amoeba-like ellipse), so if you fall asleep and miss the Shinagawa stop, just stay on the train and complete the circle again or get off at the next station and take the train in the opposite direction. Taking the Yamanote Line full circle will give you an overview of the central city.

When I travel to Europe from North America, I usually get very tired mid afternoon, take a two-hour nap as soon as I can check into the hotel, and then have no trouble adjusting to a normal local schedule.

JackInThePlane

Agree that Shinagawa is not terribly interesting, but first evening of 5 day stay, you might be well suited to get acclimated to the 'lay of the land'. There are several shrines and plenty of eating/drinking in Shinagawa.

Even so, you're on the Yamanote circle so a lot of Tokyo is easily accessible from there. There is lots of good eating around Meguro which is just a few stops away. Shimbashi is a few stops in the other direction and that puts the Ginza right there for you.

That might be a nice easy day/evening following a long flight. Stroll up and down the Ginza - check out Birdland for some yakitori and the Big Echo for some karaoke.

NewbieRunner

In another thread the OP said he/she would arrive in NRT at 1:40pm. By the time the OP checks into the hotel it will be early morning in Europe. It seems quite reasonable to spend the rest of the afternoon and early evening to go to Shinjuku and Park Hyatt a la Lost in Translation as suggested by Aventine.

I'm currently helping to organise sightseeing and meals for a group of Europeans (mostly Germans) who are arriving in NRT in the morning with some of them flying back to Europe two days later! Their suggested first day's activities include a walk around Shibuya and Harajuku, a visit to Tocho's observation deck and an izakaya dinner in the evening. They must be made of tougher stuff.

Lucentis

NewbieRunner is right, we would arrive in NRT from FRA at 1:40 pm. Flying JL J, I hope to get some rest during the flight and jetlag shouldn't be a big problem. We are party of 2 people in our mid 30s, interested in sightseeing (what else!), maybe more relaxed on our first day. Aventine, thank your, Tokyo Met. Gov. Building is a nice idea!

evergrn

Assuming you take the 14.44pm Narita Express train to Shinagawa, it'll probably be 5pm or later by the time you've checked in, had a shower and are ready to head out.

I'm not sure when your trip is but, assuming it's within the next couple weeks, the sun sets ~6.30pm. If it's a clear day, might be a great idea to head first to one of the observation decks as previously suggested. One of the more popular times to visit the Sky Tree is a little bit before the sunset. Sky Tree is really the best out of all the places I'm familiar with, and it's very easy to get there from Shinagawa (you get off at Oshiage, which is a direct train ride from Shinagawa). However, my concern is that you'll run into a long queue at Sky Tree. If you do go to Sky Tree, there will be plenty of shopping/dining at the complex below for afterwards. Alternatives include Tokyo Tower (might be long line there, too), Tocho Building in Shinjuku, Sunshine City in Ikebukuro, and Mori Tower's sky deck in Roppongi. Tocho can be combined with an outing afterwards in Shinjuku or Shibuya, Sunshine City can be combined with a visit to Namjatown (gyoza stadium and desserts) and the fun rooftop dining/beer deck atop Ikebukuro's Seibu/Loft store, and Mori Tower can be combined with Roppongi dining/nightlife afterwards.

Izakaya's are great. Another thing that's big in Tokyo during summer is the beer garden. There're beer gardens all over Tokyo, but I was particularly impressed with the aforementioned one in Ikebukuro on the roof of Seibu Dept store. It's part food court (very tasty food, albeit a bit overpriced... one of the stalls was actually an outlet of Okura Hotel!), part beer garden, part restaurant with waiter svc, part Monet Garden (literally). Most of the major dept stores in Shinjuku host summer-time beer garden, as well.

lobsterdog

Just a heads-up - the grimy, tacky observation deck in Sunshine City Ikebukuro is closed until next spring - hopefully it will be a bit nicer when it reopens.

I'd agree that Skytree is probably the nicest observation deck, mostly because there's plenty to do there before and after you enjoy the view. It really makes Tokyo Tower and the Tocho look tawdry by comparison.