This is the first time that my mom and my younger siblings visited Tokyo, so naturally, I brought them to the most touristy spots in the city.
DAY 1
Shibuya at 10 AM
Our first stop was Shibuya, where we went to see the Hachiko Statue and witnessed a less crowded Shibuya Crossing (this was a Sunday).
- Hatchiko’s statue is right outside the Shibuya Station. Find the exit that says, “Hachiko Square.”
- If your hotel doesn’t have free breakfast, get breakfast from Starbucks. There you’ll have a better view of the crossing.
There used to be a door at the back, of the building, where you could get into Starbucks without passing the barista’s counter, but when we tried, it was closed off. So you might not get away with going inside Starbucks without buying anything, because there will literally be a line the moment you go inside the main door. Won’t hurt to try.
- The crossing, on a Sunday, will start to get crowded at noon so stick around for that if you like.
- You can also see a view of the crossing from Shibuya Station, although you’ll be seeing it from a farther distance.
The Shibuya Crossing is always better at night, but we chose to get this over with early 🙂
St. Ignacius Catholic Church in Chiyoda
- Take the Ginza line from the Shibuya Station to the Akasaka-mitsuke Station, after which take the Marunouchi line to the Yotsuya Station.
- Once outside the Yotsuya station, turn left.
- The English mass is at 12:00 noon.
- There’s a cafeteria, by the church, serving Filipino food!
Sensō-ji Temple
- If you choose to skip the church, take the Ginza line from the Shibuya Station to the Asakusa Station
- There’s immediate access from the Asakusa Station into the Temple’s surrounding vicinity. However, I advise that you follow the main road instead. This way you can see the first gate, although it can get crowded.
- The women in the Kimonos are mostly tourists themselves, renting from the near-by photo studio. Most of the time, they’re willing to pose for photos, so grab every opportunity.
My family didn’t really feel the need to bump elbows with other tourists in order to actually see the temple. So they chose to just take pictures by the gates and move on. As for me, I already saw the temple itself, during my first visit to Japan, so I ran along with them. This gave us more time to take a look at the stalls surrounding the area.
- There’s a great view of the Tokyo Skytree in this area, so if you don’t feel like getting up close
and personal, you can take good photos here.
Ginza Street
- Go back to the Asakusa Station and use the Ginza line to go to, you guessed it, Ginza Station.
- Take pictures! Yay!
They close off the entire street during weekends, because of the crowd. It’s quite entertaining -and envious- to see many of them carrying a bunch of paper bags from luxury brands.
Tokyo Tower
- From the Ginza Station take the Hibiya line to Kamiyacho Station
- Once outside the station, turn left then you’ll see a skywalk.
- Go up the skywalk to get this view
I believe that there’s a nearer station, but I’m not entirely sure. In any case, we just wanted a picture from the outside, so this is the station we arrived at.
At 5 p.m. we decided to go back to the hotel, but if you want, you can put either Akihabara or Harajuku on the list. The former we did the night before. That’s the only place we were able to go to, because we travelled from Hamamatsu to Tokyo from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and waited till 3 for hotel check-in. The latter, we skipped entirely.
DAY 2
Tokyo Disney Sea!
Hey, it’s for the family right? lol.
- Make sure you get yourself on the Keiyo Line to the Maihama Station. Outside the Maihama Station, is Disney’s own train station that gives you access to both Disneyland and Disney Sea.
- OR you could also ride on the Tokyo Disney Resort Bus from the Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal.
- Best rides in Disney Sea:
- Journey to the Center of the Earth
- Tower of Terror
- Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull
- Raging Spirits
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
More pictures of Disney Sea here.
