36 Hours In Tokyo
 

I will be going to visit a relative in Japan and will have 36 hours in Tokyo on my own. Any suggestions for must sees or things to avoid? I will be there early October. Thank you.

That's 1.5 days. Perfect, you will need no more time than that.

You accidently stepped right into an old inside forum joke. :p

Welcome to the Japan Forum - and Flyer Talk.

Without knowing your interests or demographic, it is difficult to suggest things to do. Assuming you are relatively mobile, on your own and have never been to Tokyo before, a few places come to mind. I'd recommend obtaining a Suica prepaid train/subway card to get around. If your 36 hours includes a trip to or from Narita Airport for arrival or departure, you can get a Suica+N'Ex card that includes the Narita Express airport train. If you are using Haneda airport, you don't need the N'Ex.

Is your 36 hours on your own at the beginning of your trip or at the end? How are you meeting up with your relatives? Will they get you to or from the airport? Will you stay with them or in a hotel? Lots of questions that impact advice we might give.

I'd suggest a visit to Asakusa Jinja (Senso-ji) Shrine in the older neighborhood of Asakusa; a visit to the Imperial Palace East Garden and palace viewing area; a visit to either Akihabara or Shikjuku for a look at the modern, fast-paced Tokyo and, if you want to see some really high-end shopping, a visit to Ginza. The Edo-Tokyo Museum next to the sumo arena in Ryogoku is very good, as are the national museums in and around Ueno Park in Ueno. Beyond that, your interests and desires come into play. Are you into nightlife or quiet, cultural places?

Others have ideas, too. Advice from me tends to be for tame, quiet places of cultural, artistic or historical interest (I'm kind of old and a bit dull.) For drinking and carousing, we have several regulars who can fill that bill.

I don't agree with too much of that. But the only thing I want to say is that Shibuya beats Shinjuku by a mile for fast-paced, modern, young Japan.

Yeah, we all know you don't agree with much I have to say. I do, however, agree about Shibuya.

i don't understand the need for sarcasm every time someone asks one of these questions. maybe they don't have the budget or time to spend 30 days as some of you do.

responses like this detract from an otherwise great forum.

Someone doesn't like sour Pickles...

It's an acquired taste...
http://gallery.flyertalk.com/gallery...Sour_pickles_3

OK, here is a non-sarcastic response to the original question.

You are recommended to use the search function to see what has been discussed about this same question many times in this forum. FT not only functions as a time delayed message site (when 2 or more users banter in a forum) but also as a database of all of those conversations from the past. Search allows you to type in key words and find a veritable wealth of info without seeking to have people repeat themselves.

Your travels are yours to own and research and then in the spirit of camaraderie when the readily accessible information does not suffice, it is generally the case on FT that people will very gladly offer information. Based on your post count I am guessing you are a relatively new user although you may have been reading without posting for longer, I simply do not know.

Pickles and a bunch of us have been long enough to see the same questions asked again and again without any real effort being expended to search for existing answers. It does get a bit tiresome to be honest and citing the joke is a lot better than being outright unpleasant to people who appear to not want to do their own research.

Well said.

Domo domo.

When I originally did a search I must have done a general search and not one specific to this forum. What was brought up was more in regards to hotels and flights, which I have covered. I was hoping, and should have been more specific, of the "great" tourist traps to avoid and unknown treasures. I completely understand 36 hours is almost nothing in a city that big, but it's an extended layover and all I could allow on my travels. There are other travel sites I am using to do my research, but I knew this was a good resource of people who have been there/done that and could lead me in the right direction.
I will be flying to Tokyo after visiting family in Okinawa for a week (new nephew to see), staying at the Westin, and on my own for all transportation and activities. Nightlife-wise, after looking through a couple of threads I can see Kabukicho may not be ideal for a woman traveling alone. Any other suggested stay away areas?
abmj-jr--Thank you for the cultural suggestions, I hope to hit some cultural during the day and some nightlife Thursday/Friday night.
I apologize for walking into the middle of a joke, but do appreciate any assistance you can offer.

check out japan-guide - kanto region and tokyo and area. have a read and then come back with some clarifications of what to do etc.

i will make it even easier...[click me - http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2164.html ]

Given that you might want to consider checking out the Ebisu area near your hotel. For "nightlife" the area has a bunch of restaurants, bars, etc. -- not really any dance clubs or that sort of thing, but those places tend to be dodgy in Tokyo anyway...

+1. You'll get good (or at least a lot of) advice if you ask specific questions.

Yes, read your other sources and then ask specific questions about the possible destinations that appeal to you the most.

I agree with you and I believe that the offended realize that the person asking is somewhat of a noob so they tempered their response a little versus what is normally done.

If it is really that much of an annoyance, perhaps the master thread could be modified to include such threads that would answer the lion's share of these trip questions when they arise. Of course, the title would have to be edited so that a new person could see that that thread invites them to check there before "wasting" the time of others with an already-answered question. That's my opinion, anyway.

I agree. I think the forum would benefit from a couple of stickies including. "Master Thread on Narita Transfer Time", and "Layover in Tokyo - Where to Go?"

Maybe the sticky thread needs to be renamed: "Questions about Japan, Tokyo, and Narita Airport? Start here."

Looking through that website there is a lot of information and so many places to choose from. I wanted to get an opinion on going to the Imperial Palace and whether or not it's worth the time and travel to head to Kamakura on a Friday. Would it be worth storing my luggage at Narita airport or at the rail station and heading directly to Kamakura to save on travel time before I check-in? I land about 3pm on a Thursday into Narita. My flight has changed so I will be there for a full two days now. Yeah, 48 hours is still not much here. Thank you for the website and answers.

I'm not part of the running joke here.

I'm not that familiar with Ebisu - since I've stayed in Marunouchi on my 2 stays. It's kind of a schlep from here to there and vice versa. I would very much recommend dining at Joel Robuchon in Ebisu if you can find someone to dine with (excellent restaurant IMO - but not the best kind of place to dine alone IMO).

That said - what do you like to do? I honestly don't think there's much in Tokyo that's over touristed - or undiscovered for that matter. Unless you consider religious places with thousands of Japanese people/what I would call pilgrims - over touristed. If you're over jet lag - and up for a really full day - I might do Asakusa (and the temple there) - the Edo Museum nearby - perhaps a few hours shopping/wandering around in Ginza - and maybe some time at Yasukuni (war memorial which I found quite moving). If one of your days is a Sunday - consider the Meiji Shrine. It's pretty much wedding central on a nice Sunday afternoon (fun to watch all the weddings). It's close to Harajuku - where all these little girls dress up like who knows what <rolling eyes>. Guess you also have to take into account what days certain things (especially museums) are closed/open - and which things are better on certain days of the week.

What time of year will you be visiting? If during any time when flowers will be in bloom - especially cherry blossoms - they're a must see IMO. Robyn

Me - only speaking for myself. I like sweet pickles ;). Robyn

I went on a cycling tour through, Tokyo Great Cycling Tour, during my short stay this week. The ride was pretty easy, lots of stops for rest, snacks, and site seeing. Highly recommended the tour guides were great and happy to answer questions along the way.

Btw I have always found pickles to be a perfectly good waste of a cucumber, however, the Japanese pickles I had at Keyakizaka were actually palatable.

Yeah. He gives a better return if you buy him a beer.

Or Chef Chin's Mabo!