Tokyo things to do in the capital of Japan

Tokyo, Japan

I passed a month in Japan between October and November 2019, personally, I think it is the best time to visit Tokyo and Japan in general, because it is out of the hurricane period and it is not too hot and humid. 

I volunteered for two weeks on the southern Island and the other two weeks I travelled around the country.

I've been here twice, at the beginning and at the end of my trip. Here I will talk about the best places to visit in Tokyo.

I really liked Tokyo and Japan in general, the capital is huge, with a mix of tradition and modernity, skyscrapers and temples. I didn't spend a lot of time here, or as much as Tokyo needs, I preferred to spend my time around Japan visiting as much as it was possible.

Ueno park

It is a big park in the Ueno district, it was one of the first parks in the city and it was established in the land of the Kan'ei-ji temple. In the park, there are several monuments, a museum and it is the main place to see the sakura in spring.

Asakusa

It's a Tokyo district, famous for the Buddist temple Senso-ji, that it's not the only temple in the area. Asakusa is really touristic, it's full of shops and restaurants; a famous dish that you can try there is satsuma imo (sweet potatoes) that is delicious, I also ate very good ramen there.

Tradition and modernity are really clear in Asakusa, with a lot of people wearing kimonos mixing with a temple and skyscrapers.

Asakusa is famous also for the several festivals are made here and for the Brazilian style carnival. Sanja Matsuri it's the most famous festival, it stands for 3 days where people pull on the streets portable shrines and float while loud shouts accompany them.

Tokyo Skytree

It is a broadcasting and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo. The tower was opened to the public on 22 May 2012, the Tokyo Skytree height is 634 m (2080 ft) and it is the tallest structure in Japan, and the second in the world after the Burj Khalifa.

The observatories are at 350 m (1150 ft) and at 450 m (1480 ft), if I remember well the picture is from the lowest. I really recommend to pay the ticket and visiting the Tokyo Skytree because the emotion that I had from up there seeing the landscape was indescribable, the price worth the experience. 

Tokyo tower

The Eiffel Tokyo is a communication and observation tower in Minato, Tokyo. It was built in 1958, and it is a lattice tower coloured white and orange for air safety reasons. The Tokyo tower height is 333 m (1092 ft), the main observatory deck is at 150 m (490ft) and the top one is at 250 m (819ft). In this case, I didn't pay for the ticket for it because I thought that it didn't worth it, the view from the Tokyo Skytree is much better.

Imperial palace

The imperial palace is the main residence of the Japanese Emperor, the area is more than a square kilometre big, where there are several buildings, some residences of the imperial family, museums and administrative offices. 

I didn't visit the palace, it has really weird opening hours, and in that period there was the coronation of the new Emperor Naruhito. 

In the picture below there is the view from the imperial garden. It was an unusual experience to be in this park and, on a side see the skyscrapers and on the other the garden and the walls of the palace.

Shibuya crossing

The Shibuya scramble square or Shibuya scramble crossing is probably the most famous place in all Tokyo. It is located in Shibuya station at the Hachiko exit, yes Shibuya Hachiko are really connected to each other, near the crossing there is the statue of the famous dog, and it is almost impossible to get a clear picture of it because it is always crowded.

I took a video while I was crossing and you can feel how crowded it was, but the experience was unique. There is a Starbucks overlooking the Shibuya crossing and I think it is one of the busiest in the world.

Yoyogi park

This park is near Shibuya, the famous district in Tokyo. Sundays are really popular here because the park is full of Japanese rock bands music fans, jugglers, cosplayers and martial arts clubs.

Inside the park, there is Meiji Shrine, a Shinto Shrine dedicated to the spirit of Emperor Meiji and his wife. 

This was the first step of my trip to Japan after I moved directly to the south for a volunteer work camp and then back to Tokyo stopping in the most famous Japanese cities.