Tokyo, Japan: Glowing streets, traditional teahouses and a Disney Christmas
- Esther
- Dec 28, 2018
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 4, 2020
Tokyo feels like a little world of its own; an amazing mix of traditional Japanese culture and futuristic vibes. I've got so much to write about the things I've seen here in the last few days!
The second you arrive in Tokyo, you're surrounded by hundreds of people, towering buildings and flashy neon signs. But despite all of the crowds and the buzz of the city, it doesn't feel that chaotic here. It actually feels really efficient, orderly and clean. Nobody eats in the street or crosses the road before the little man has turned green, and the spotless metro trains always arrive bang on time.
For such a busy city, it's also really struck me how kind and friendly everyone is here. Ben and I have had already had locals showing us how to work the food ordering machines at local ramen places and even recommending the best places to see Christmas trees. When we've asked for directions, people haven't just told us where to go - they've walked us right to the spot! We even had one lovely guy stop to ask us if we wanted a photo in Harajuku when he saw us looking down the colourful Takeshita street.
When we first started exploring Tokyo, the culture shock was huge. This was probably mostly because we couldn't read or understand any of the language, and - unlike lots of the other Asian countries we've visited - nobody could understand us either!
Even though we've been here a few days now and I'm gradually getting used to the way things work in Japan (from the high-tech toilets to the hot drink vending machines on every corner), everything still feels really exciting and new.
Also, I love the food here! We’ve been eating ramen at least a couple of times a day because it’s cheap, tasty and really warming in this new Wintery weather. The same goes for the local gyozas, okonomiyaki, udon noodles... I could go on.
Exploring modern Tokyo
Out of all of the districts we've been to, I think my favourites have been Shibuya and Shinjuku, which both came as a shock of bright colours and lights.
In these central parts of Tokyo, there are loads of fun details everywhere you look - like the enormous Godzilla head on top of one of Shinjuku's hotels (which roars and breathes fire every evening!) or Shibuya station's bronze statue of the loyal Hachiko, Japan's most beloved and famous dog. The story goes that Hachiko waited at Shibuya station to pick his owner up from work for years - even after his owner had passed away. This made him a bit of a national hero and now hundreds of people gather round his statue to take photos with him every day.
Shinjuku and Shibuya are also packed with loads of unique places to eat and drink, like cat cafés (where you can cuddle kittens while drinking your coffee!), quirky themed restaurants and cosy, tucked-away Japanese bars. You could spend hours wandering around Tokyo's streets just taking it all in (and we did!)
In the famously fashionable Harajuku area, we had a walk down the cute and quirky Takeshita street. Takeshita was lined with little boutiques and snack stalls selling everything from rainbow candyfloss to animal-shaped ice cream (which I couldn't resist buying, despite it being about five degrees outside!)
While we were exploring Shibuya, we also went to the famous Shibuya Crossing; the world’s busiest intersection. Every time the lights turn green, hundreds of people cross the street (but still in a calm and orderly way!)
Another really ‘modern Tokyo’ experience we had in Shinjuku was our visit to the Robot Restaurant; a very surreal show which basically bombards your senses with colours and sounds. The giant robots in it move, dance, fly and even fight each other. It was a super weird and touristy experience but I’m really glad that we went!
Afterwards, we saw some great panoramic views over the whole city at the observatory in Tokyo's Metropolitan Government Office.
We also had a quick look around the super-modern Akihabara (which is filled with gigantic gadget malls, colourful anime shops and themed restaurants and cafés), a more upmarket shopping district called Ginza and the stylish Omotesando avenue (which is apparently known as the Champs-Elysées of Tokyo!)
Experiencing traditional Tokyo
As well as all these amazing, flashy, almost futuristic parts of Tokyo, I've loved finding some more peaceful and traditional parks in the city. Tokyo definitely isn't a concrete jungle, and the charm of ancient Japan pokes through all over in the form of ancient temples, teahouses and traditional Japanese gardens.
A couple of days ago, we had green tea and sweets in a traditional teahouse at the Hamarikyu Gardens; a little green park hidden in the heart of Tokyo. I couldn't even finish my sweet yam thing but I loved the green tea and the setting couldn't have been prettier. The contrast between the new and the old also makes the gardens feel really unique, with Tokyo's modern skyscrapers standing tall behind the traditional gardens and pond.
The traditional Japanese Garden at Gyoen Park in Shinjuku was also beautiful, but probably looks even nicer in Spring when the cherry blossoms are out.
In the more traditional parts of Tokyo, it actually still feels like there's just as much nightlife as in the city's more modern bars and clubs.
One of Shinjuku's busiest parts is the Golden Gai district, which is made up of lots of narrow alleys lined with tiny bars called izakayas. It's apparently a throwback to what Tokyo looked like in the fifties and it has a really fun, cosy vibe.
A few minutes walk from there, Memory Lane is an even tighter group of alleys packed with restaurants and bars that are always really busy. This place is like a bubble of traditional Japan right in the heart of Shinjuku, and it's a great place to try some ramen, sake (rice wine) and Japanese beer.
Visiting the Meiji shrine gave us another look into traditional Japanese culture. The shrine was hidden away in the huge Yoyogi park and there were hundreds of Japanese sake holders along the way to it.
But the oldest (and definitely the busiest!) temple we saw in Tokyo was a beautiful five-story pagoda called Senso-ji. A lot of the Japanese women there had come dressed in their kimonos, which was really cool to see.
Because I don't like eating fish, I didn't expect to like the Tsukiji seafood market, but even I actually really liked it there! Tsukiji is the biggest fish market in the world, so the atmosphere there was extremely busy and lively, and it turned out they actually sell all kinds of different kinds of food there as well.
Christmas in Tokyo
A few weeks ago, I'd thought that since we were going to be travelling Asia all through December this year, we'd end up having an unusually hot Christmas on the beach.
Planning our trip to Japan over Christmas time changed this plan quite a bit, but since we hadn't been feeling too Christmassy up to this point, we thought that for this time of year maybe Japan's colder temperatures wouldn't be such a bad thing! Once we'd decided to spend Christmas in Japan, we thought where in Tokyo could be celebrating Christmas better than Disneyland?
We spent most of Christmas Eve and Christmas day at Tokyo’s two Disney parks; Disneyland Tokyo and DisneySea. The rest of Japan may not be huge on Christmas but these two places definitely were! We had the best couple of days wandering around the theme parks and trying all of the rides. I especially loved the light shows in the evening there, so despite the very cold weather we ended up staying right from when the parks opened on both days to near closing time!
Thanks to a recommendation from a really kind local (who came to our rescue after he saw us struggling with the ordering machine in a ramen restaurant!), we also went to see the Christmas display at Ebisu Garden Place on Christmas Eve. There, we found a beautiful big golden Christmas tree with Christmas lights strung up all around it, which put us in an even more Christmassy mood.
Sadly, in Tokyo, there were no roast dinners in sight, but we didn’t end up following the Japanese tradition of eating KFC for our Christmas meal either! That tradition is a result of some pretty amazing marketing from KFC, who started advertising their fried chicken in Japan as something Westerners love to eat at Christmas time. It worked and now KFC is the most popular Christmas meal in Japan! Anyway, we thought the KFC was a little overpriced in Tokyo so we settled for some hot gyozas and ramen instead. Of course it had nothing on an English Christmas roast but it did still taste amazing!
I missed being in England for Christmas but for this one year our Japanese alternative ended up being a lot of fun too.
Tokyo has been so different from all the other places we’ve visited so far but I've absolutely loved exploring it. Even though we've only been here for a whirlwind few days, Japan has already become one of my favourite countries in Asia. Its capital is just really bright, friendly and full of character.
This has definitely been the most I've written about a city on my travels and although I could probably go on for longer I'll stop rambling now. Time to see some more of Japan!
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