SUMO WRESTLING
This ancient sport has been practiced in Japan for around 2,000 years and draws people from all of the globe to witness the ultimate battle of the heavy weights. Sumo Wrestling is actually a seasonal sport, with the main stadium in Tokyo being Ryogoku Kokugikan (located in Ryogoku). Prices for the sumo wrestling tournaments can range from ¥4,000-¥12,000 depending on the seating category and date! If you are out of luck and there are no tournaments on, you may still get lucky and catch some of the big fellas training at their stables which are also located in the area, the most well know are; Nishikido-beya Sumo Stable or Arashio-beya Sumo Stable.
CRAZY THEMED RESTAURANT
There are various weird and unique cafes and restaurants located all over this spectacular city, they can range from animal cafes (cat, goat, snake, hedgehog), to cosplay, a dungeon or even a fishing restaurant - Yes, you catch your own fish! Overall there are too many to chose from so we recommend strolling around and selecting the ones that interest you the most! The two most renowned for extremely bizarre experiences are the Robot Restaurant in Shibuya and the Kawaii Monster Cafe in Harajuku. Entrance to the Robot Restaurant is a whopping ¥8,000 per person and to Kawaii Monster Cafe is ¥500 - both prices include viewing of their shows.
DISNEYLAND
Growing up it is every persons childhood dream to go to Disneyland! Fortunately, Tokyo has its very own Disneyland so you can tick this one off your bucket list while you are in town! The cost was ¥7,400 for an adult, ¥6,400 for a junior and ¥4,800 for a child for the day or alternatively you can head it after 3pm for ¥5,400 for an adult, ¥4,500 for a junior and ¥3,500 for a child. This may work out better if you want to see the fireworks as it can be a long and exhausting day! There are actually two theme parks to chose from, Disneyland which is more focused on the more traditional Disney theme for children and is home to the iconic castle, and DisneySea which is a little more focused on adults - plus you can buy beer!
FISH MARKET
The Tsukiji Fish Market is the most famous in the world! To witness the actual tuna auctions, you will need to arrive early - and there is no guarantee that you will be allocated a spot! Most travel guides recommend arriving at around 3am to sign in as there are only two allocated groups of 60 people each allowed to witness the auctions which do not start until around 5 am. If this is too early for you, you can wait until the trains start then wander the street surrounding the market for a seafood breakfast! Fresh sushi ranges from ¥500-¥3,000. You can also Sample eel, clams, fish eggs, salmon stomach or check out the fresh fruit and veggies, nuts, berries, beef, chicken - you can pretty much find every type of food at these markets!
GOLDEN GAI
Once the sun sets head from he Golden Gai! This is the party district of Shinjuku, and one of the coolest bar districts in the world! This small area is packed with tiny bars that fit between 5-20 people in them comfortably, although they are licensed to hold around 50 people! It is crazy, like most places in Tokyo, the strip lights up in the evening when locals and tourist alike, fill the bars and drink all night long! To be honest, we bounced around a few of them, and all of them were fantastic but our favourite was Halo Bar! Some bars have free entry, others require an entrance fee of between ¥5,000 - ¥10,000, then beers and local drinks will range from another ¥5,000 - ¥10,000 a pop!
TOKYO CITY VIEW
The two best options to take in the Tokyo City View from above are the Tokyo Skytree, which is located in the Sumida district and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuju. Both viewpoints will portray different aspects of Tokyo as they are located on adjacent sides of the city, but the main difference for a budget traveller is that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is completely free! The Skytree will cost between ¥1,000- ¥2,000 depending on which floor you want to go to!
MARIO KART
A Real Life Nintendo Game! Cruise the streets of Tokyo dressed up as your favourite Nintendo character! The cost is anywhere from ¥2,500 - ¥7,000, depending on the company, location and length of time! The only catch is that you will need to bring your international drivers licence to be able to participate (this has to be organised in your home country before you go)! Once that is all sorted, the hardest decision is who to dress up as? Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Princess.. Who is your favourite?
PARKS
Yoyogi Park located in West Tokyo between the famous districts of Shibuya, Shijuku and Harajuku, this park was our favourite. There is a grand entrance through a larger timber gate, then a wide open path with a beautiful tree lined strip which takes you to the magnificent Meiji Shrine. Kokyo Gaien National Garden is located in Central Tokyo and only a short walk from Tokyo Central Station, it is home to the Imperial Palace. Ueno Onshi Park is a pleasant escape from the hustle and bustle of the streets and also has a small lake with boat hire which is nice to float around for an hour or so!
SHIBUYA CROSSING
A cosmopolitan hub full of people, shops and bright lights! Shibuya is great to wander around during the day, but even better buy night, especially at the world famous crossing that is lit up like Las Vegas! There are awesome photo opportunities at the Shibuya Crossing, so play around and have some fun with it - we did a timelapse with all of the people walking through as well which turned out to be pretty cool!
FUGU
The deadly Japanese Blowfish - Fugu! You can actually die if the fish is not cut correctly, but luckily for you that the highly trained chef’s must be fully licensed, which takes around 7-10 years of training! There are a number of places around town which serve the delicacy but the easiest one to find was Torafugu Tai, where prices ranged from ¥5,000 for set or ¥1,200 for entrée.
SHOPPING
Explore! There are designer clothes stores, funky vintage fashion shops, discount stores, buildings full of comic stores, sex toy shops, gaming and photo labs - Tokyo has everything that you could possibly imagine! Try out Daiso, Don Quijote or a ¥100 shop (equivalent to a $1 shop) if you are bargain hunter, you can buy, food, clothes, electronics and souvenirs in any of these stores! There are also a number of hidden treasure where the young and hip hang out so don’t just check out the ground level floor of a building - heading to the 3rd, 5th and 10th level and you will uncover a surprise!! We ended up having a few drinks with some locals in the Golden Gai then ended up in a busy photo lab at the top of a building in a back street, which you can edit your photo to look like a young female Japanese cartoon character!
There are so many incredible things to do in this amazing city, so we have broken it down into; things to do, where to explore and what to eat! So click on any of the links for for information or email us at info@indyescapes.com :)
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