mikesaidyes

I am a 33 year old American living in Seoul now for six years and go to Tokyo/Osaka 2-3 times a year.

Absolutely fly into Haneda if you can. Friends don't let friends fly to Narita. Haneda is an amazing airport and on the way back, you definitely need to go early to shop and eat donkatsu on the 4th floor area. There is also a GIANT, regional souvenir snack shop that has excellent selection and is the same stuff that is available at the department stores.

Easier for you to carry less stuff around during the trip. There is even a skydeck on the roof for watching the airport and view.

Korean 7-11 etc have good food, but the Japanese selection blows them out of the water. My friends and I exclusively drink outside at convenience store tables here in Seoul in warm weather, BUT this does not exist in Tokyo. There are tons of tables inside and giant seating areas inside, but you are explicitly told not to drink alcohol. The only mart where you can stand outside and drink is Shinjuku Nichome Lawson near the gay bars.

I would recommend staying in Shinjuku Gyeonmae. It is on the Tokyo Subway Maronuchi line which allows for quick, cheap access by subway to all the areas you want to go. In Shibuya, you tend to go around by JR but there are no free transfers and it is twice as expensive.

I always stay AirBnB with friends in Gyoenmae. They tend to be the same size as hotels in the area with two beds, but slightly cheaper AND most importantly, include free pocket wifi which will save you 10-15$ a day.

You are about a 10 minute walk to Shinjuku nightlife. There is a really food 300Y yakitori bar nearby with English menu and is purely local. I'll look for it later.

mikesaidyes

I don't know the English name, but Yellow and red sign on second floor. Main Kabuchiko street. Great vibe and decent food. Staff friendly but no English spoken except for menu.
I am on my iphone so not sure how to add pic....

I recommend you go to Daimaru Department Store Tokyo Station and hesd to the basement. Grab anything you see that looks good and then take it to the Royal Palace and have a picnic on the big lawn inside.

Definitely go to Harajuku on Sunday. Odaiba has a random, fun haunted house and a good donkatsu place (same one at Haneda).

There is a good area of street tents to the west of Sensoji Temple but not all have English menus. Definitely local vibe though.

Do not trust or follow anyone on the street (usually they are VERY annoying aggressive Africans) to a bar. It should be a no brainer to not do that haha.

instead of Skytree or Tokyo Tower, go to Tokyo Government Towers. Free and views just as good.

oh and for Haneda airport to Shinjuku you can take a nonstop bus for 15$ instead of trains for 8$ BUT there are no views. The bus is on an expressway tunnel the whole way for like 20 minutes.

and actually, I'll be there 6/23-6/26 for a weekend trip too haha

angra

If the weather is clear enough to see Mount Fuji, I'm a big fan of the Bunkyo Civic Center.

WorldLux

That's not saying much given how huge Tokyo is. I tend to say that Haneda is in most cases more convenient, but there are some borough where Narita may be more convenient.

Friends tell friends about the food on the 4th floor. I checked in early in the day and made my way through security and immigration thinking that paradise awaits airside. Little did I know that paradise was on the 4th floor overlooking the check-in area. I probably would've noticed if I had checked in two hours later.

BTW: This is what 4F at Haneda looks like

abmj-jr

Geez! Is that woman the most annoying TV presenter ever? I couldn't get past 1:35.

kalderlake

Thanks for the suggestion--I' heading to TYO this fall for the first time, and this one has been added to google maps.

OP, if you're budgeting, this site will help you figure out what your transit costs might be, and help you decide if the Suica card is the better alternative to buying the three day pass:

http://www.hyperdia.com/

sAmmm

Can you use the Suica card money to pay for cab fares too, or is that exclusively only cash/credit cards?

Thanks for the Yokocho link! Will definitely check out some of them!


Thanks for this advice! I will definitely do this when I return as I will be returning in Haneda airport on the return way home.

I do miss that when I was in Korea, drinking and snacking outside the convenience stores. It´s a shame I can´t do that in the Japanese convenience stores now that it is getting hot there.

Definitely staying in Shinjuku yeah, booked a hotel in Shinjuku but didn´t pay for it yet so can change anytime. Shinjuku Washington Hotel Annex - twin room.


Haha thanks for these advices ! Will definitely keep them in my backhead when heading there!


Thanks for this, will consider the transport cards and costs as the date is closing in. Still quite confusing about everything with transport

BuildingMyBento

Many Tokyo cabs take Suica, as well as credit cards.

sAmmm

That´s good to hear, looks like buying a Suica card as well as Tokyo Metro pass is a wise choice?

BuildingMyBento

My gripes with Narita are the overcrowded (rather, narrow) food-focused duty free shops, the lack of decent eating options post-security (at least in T1 and T2), and the new security procedure (what ever happened to covering one's valuables with another bin?), though that last one might be Japan-wide these days.

Otherwise, the airport has come quite a long way since my first of countless visits in 2000. Not to mention, the town of Narita is quite acceptable, what with rather affordable hotels (particularly for being near an airport), the AEON department store for souvenir shopping, and a decent downtown. Particularly if I'm only there for an overnight layover, I find Narita more convenient than Haneda (1, airport shuttles, 2, it's a limited area so I won't get distracted by the endless amusement of central Tokyo, and 3, I like spotting various carriers, both passenger and cargo alike (though HND is - no surprise here - more fun for domestic Japanese spotting).

ksandness

If you have a Suica, you don't really need a Tokyo Metro Pass, because with a Suica, you pay only for the rides you actually take on the means of transportation that you actually take. If you get a Tokyo Metro Pass and end up not taking the subway as much as you anticipated, then it's not a bargain.

AlwaysAisle

Suica is pretty much prepaid ticket and fares are deducted as you ride, there is very minimal discount using Suica with maximum 3.5% discount and often less than that. For all practical purpose it is better to consider you are not getting any discount on Suica.

Advantage of Suica is that fare system of trains in Japan is distance based. When buying ticket individually each time you take a train you have to fist find out the fare to your destination station then buy a ticket from ticket vending machine. If you are not familiar with rail system in Tokyo figuring out fare to your destination each time can be little time consuming and little frustrating. Advantage of Suica is to get rid of that, however, disadvantage is that if you are under the budget then you may not realize how much how fast you are spending money because you do not have idea how much is the fare to your destination station.

There is Tokyo Free Ticket valid for one day with cost 1590 yen (US$ 14.25). Tokyo Free Ticket is valid on Tokyo Metro, Toei Metro, JR Line within Tokyo 23 wards, Toei Bus, Toei Street Car (Waseda-Minowabashi), and Nippori-Toneri Liner.

For example, on JR Line fare for Shinbashi-Shinjuku is 280 yen, and on Tokyo Metro fare for Shinjuku-Ginza is 200 yen. Make simple assumption from this routing, if you ride on JR Lines and Tokyo Metro more than 7 times in one day then you will come out break even with Tokyo Free Ticket, you will be better off using Tokyo Free Ticket than using Suica.

jphripjah

I highly recommend trying to see a baseball game while you're in Tokyo. Even if you're not American or not a baseball fan it's a great cultural experience. The Japanese fans really get into the games with enthusiastic cheering and singing through the game. And of course there are the pretty beer vendors.

Here's the schedule, home teams are listed first: http://npb.jp/bis/eng/2017/games/gm20170624.html

You'd might want to see a game at either Meiji Jingu Stadium in Shinjuku (home of the Yakult Swallows), there will be games there on June 24 and 25.

Or you could go to the Tokyo Dome (home of the Yomiuri Giants) on the same days. Lastly, you could go to Yokohama Stadium, where the hometown Yokohama Baystars are playing on June 27 and 28.

Yokohama is only 30 minutes by train from Tokyo and it's a lovely outdoor stadium with a lot of the announcements and information in English. Downtown Yokohama is quite nice and walkable and I think it would make a good day trip from Tokyo anyway.

I'm actually planning to be at the game there the evening of June 27th.

PM me if you want to coordinate or want any help buying tickets online, the Yomiuri Giants website is pretty straightforward but the other ones are a bit trickier.

I'll give myself a plug, here's my writeup on the baseball experience and stadiums:

jphripjah reviews Japanese baseball stadiums

Good luck with your trip.

sAmmm

How well established is the subway in Tokyo? Is that the main method of transportation or do you think as a tourist I would be using the bus quite often as well? And is it easy to navigate around in Tokyo?

If the subway is good enough to get around anywhere and easier I think just getting the Tokyo Metro Pass would be a better choice?

Hi, thanks for the advice! Baseball is something that I´d like to experience if time allows. I would probably have to force my friend to come with me.

Are tickets quite pricey, or is it quite reasonable without making a big hole on my wallet?

angra

The best experience, IMO, is to sit in the outfield cheering section, which also tend to be the cheapest seats. 1300-2000 yen.