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First Full Day in Tokyo
Our first full day in Tokyo was a thrilling adventure. I will preface this with a bit of personal information about us. Mark and I both struggle with anxiety and even though we can be extroverts, we are very much introverts who become overwhelmed and exhausted quickly with too much stimulation or socializing. So, I knew Tokyo would be eye-opening, to put it mildly.
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During our research and planning, we knew that transportation would feel overwhelming until we got the hang of it, so we didn’t want to rush around the city and feel stressed. This is supposed to be a vacation, so we wanted to take our time. Mark and I decided not to overplan this trip and tried to go with the flow more often than not. We only made a few reservations for our two-week trip to take the pressure off of needing to be anywhere at a specific time unless required.
We also decided to sleep in as much as possible. On our first morning, we woke up naturally at the local time and decided to utilize the breakfast buffet served on-site at our hotel, Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku.
Sunroute Breakfast Buffet
We stayed at Hotel Sunroute Shinjuku – Breakfast is served at “VILLAZZA” on the 1st floor of the hotel – super convenient. They offer a luxurious buffet with over 50 dishes, including fresh vegetables and fruits, a wide variety of freshly baked breads, dishes baked in a stone kiln, and noodles of the day. We loved the vast selection of Japanese, Western, Chinese, and ethnic dishes offered, and it was a great way to start our first day in Tokyo!
Surviving Shinjuku Station
As I mentioned, we tried not to overplan or make many reservations for this trip, but there were a couple of things that we were interested in that we knew if you didn’t reserve in advance, you had zero chances of experiencing them. One of those experiences was the Shibuya Sky Observation deck.
I made a reservation online about two weeks before arriving, and they only had a couple of time slots left for our date. We were excited to check out this iconic spot in Tokyo on our first day – But first, we had to figure out how to get there. I chose our hotel because it is surrounded by train stations, making it easy to get around the city… or so I thought!
We found ourselves delightfully lost in Shinjuku Station, the bustling heart of the city’s transportation network.
Lost in Translation
We spent almost 2 hours “LOST IN TRANSLATION” in Shinjuku Station! According to the Guinness World Records, Shinjuku is the busiest station in the world. It is Enormous! Passengers equivalent to the population of Yokohama (3.6M) pass through this station daily. During the morning rush hours, the traffic volume is so intense that passengers are pressed against each other to a degree where they cannot move. The station serves as a connecting link between Central Tokyo and its western suburbs. It has ten platforms that serve twenty tracks and twelve train links. It has 200 exits, including an underground arcade. Absolutely INSANE!
Pro Tips
Here’s what we learned… Do not enter a ticket gate unless you are 1000% sure it’s the correct way to your train. If you scan into a ticket gate with your Pasmo card and then discover you chose the wrong entrance, the only way you can exit the train station is to get on a train and leave through another station exit or go right back to the ticket gate you entered and speak to the station attendants and explain you entered the wrong gate. They will cancel your entry on your Pasmo card. Otherwise, you are stuck in the station and can’t scan back out without the ticket gates flashing red lights and stopping all the heavy traffic around you. LOL. It’s so embarrassing and stressful until you understand why, then it’s an easy fix!
We learned very quickly that you need to watch for multiple indicators that you are heading to the right station, platform, and train and that the train you need is heading in the correct direction. These indicators include Names, Colors, Numbers, Exits, Express, Rapid, Local, etc… It’s a lot to keep track of!
More detailed posts about transportation will follow, but for now, on to Shibuya Sky…. my face in the first photo says it all…
Shibuya Sky
Shibuya is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. A major commercial and finance center, Shibuya houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station and Shinjuku Station.
Shibuya is also home to the Shibuya Scramble, one of the busiest crosswalks in the world. Shibuya Sky is one of the newest observation decks in the city. It is a 360° open-air observation deck located on the roof of the Shibuya Scramble Square skyscraper. If you are lucky, you can see the entire city and all its landmarks from the 46th floor, including Mount Fuji. We got lucky with a fairly clear but cold and windy day!
Mark isn’t the biggest fan of heights, and the chilly weather made it tough to stay in the open-air area for too long. Still, we walked all the way around, took lots of photos, saw Mt. Fuji, and stared out at this massive city in awe, as if we were finally living in a moment we had been dreaming about.
Shibuya Sky has indoor and outdoor observation spaces, including a small cafe and cocktails with equally stunning views. We decided to head back inside to the gift shop, art gallery, and cafe. We sat for a while and just drank in the city with the lovely cocktails from Paradise Lounge.
Shibuya Parco
After Shibuya Sky, we headed to Shibuya Parco – an eight-story shopping center that housed the official Tokyo Nintendo store, Pokémon Store, Capcom, and hundreds of other stores and restaurants. Let’s be honest; you know that video games as kids led to a lifelong fascination with Japan, and now here we were… unbelievable!
Where to Eat in Tokyo?
One of the most astounding (and overwhelming) aspects of Japan is the amount of food choices. Any given building could have dozens of restaurants from the basement to the high-rise top floor, and everything looks and sounds incredible. One of the ways we tried to dwindle the choices, besides reading reviews online, was how welcoming they appeared to be to foreigners. If a bar or restaurant offered photos of the food and English menus, we always felt more comfortable that our dining experience would be good for us.
We grabbed a bite at Torimichi Sakaba and had sushi, Takotaki, and fried chicken—all staples of Japan, lol. We didn’t eat a single thing that we didn’t love! Our only regret was not being a bit more brave and trying more than we did… We will next time!
Wandering to Harajuku
We had decided that anything within a 20-minute walk was worth walking instead of taking the trains so that we could see more of the city. We really enjoyed the walk from Shibuya to Harajuku. There is just so much to see, and if you spend most of your time underground on the trains, you really miss out.
We walked through arcades and stores all the way to Harajuku, the epicenter of Tokyo’s wild and exciting kawaii (cute) fashion.
Obsessed with Gachapon
We ended our first night walking down Takeshita Street in Harajuku. This popular street is known for wacky, youth-driven shops selling colorful and crazy clothes and accessories. It’s also a paradise for sweets lovers, serving popular favorites like sugary crepes and everything rainbow!
We first experienced the Japanese phenomenon of Gachapon in Harajuku. In Japan, a Gachapon vending machine dispenses capsule toys and collectibles. Popular characters in Japanese manga, video games, anime, or the American entertainment industry often license Gashapon toys.
Gashapon stores are popping up everywhere, and the largest one in the world is right here in Tokyo, with over 3,000 machines! We’re not going to lie—we see why these are so popular—it was so much fun to see what you’d get!
Our first full day in Tokyo was epic and a massive learning curve. We were completely out of our element but determined to enjoy our time in a place we had only ever dreamed of visiting. Our advice for anyone who struggles like we do, you can do it and it’s so worth it! You just have to put in the time to research, research research! As I write this, I am blown away that this was only day one of fourteen – so much more to share! Thanks for reading, and stay tuned as I break down each day of our trip in the coming weeks!
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Thank you for sharing a personal struggle. You are not alone. I am an introvert that deals with anxiety too. The thought of a trip like this is exciting, but very overwhelming and scary. You make it seem attainable and inspire me to take some steps (even baby ones) outside my comfort zone.
Trip of a lifetime for sure🤗