apan offers endless experiences, from nightclubs to cat cafes, street food to Michelin restaurants, if you want it – probably someone in Tokyo offers it. These are 5 of my recommendations that might make your trip more fun.
From street art, teen fashion and beer to Love Hotels …
1. Harajuku shopping / people watching
Harajuku has a history, (don’t we all!) – after the war, it was a gathering place for GIs and those Japanese teens curious about other cultures. Since then it’s become a mashup of local and foreign influences. Harajuku now is both living fashion runway, tourist attraction, and shopping mecca for teen fashion that’s edgy and as unique as the wearers’ personality. You can see boys with top hats, girls decked out in a rainbow of pastels or gothic lolitas holding even more gothic lace umbrellas to keep the sun at bay. Teddy bear purses, big clunky shoes (toes pointed inward) and tons of accessories polish off whatever look you’re going for.
While the main street (Takeshita Street) itself isn’t much more than a few blocks the area itself extends its tendrils into the surrounding side lanes and has many second-hand shops and unique clothing, toy and curiosity stores. There’s also a plethora of fast-food restaurants and confections sold on every block, from crepes wrapped around everything imaginable to sugar-glazed strawberries on sticks to strange but probably equally delicious delights. West of the railway station stands the impressive Meiji Shrine. On Sundays, the bridge that connects the shrine to the main street is normally a gathering spot where people wear their best cosplay, or just hang out.
If you want to try your hand at it, there are also a few costume rental places on Takeshita Street where you can buy (or maybe rent?) a wide selection of costumes and then strut your stuff. Just beware, that it’s not like Carnivale in Rio, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, or Halloween, it’s a much more subdued atmosphere of dressing up, meeting friends, and connecting. When I was there (a Sunday) mostly I just saw a few cosplay girls walking down the street together every few minutes. Tourists and people not dressed far outnumbering those that do.
Start at the railway station, cross the street to Takeshita and make your way down the hill till you reach the next main street – with the coffee house. Then you can walk back. It’s easy to spend a few hours people-watching, but if you venture into the shops it’s even easier to get lost in the myriad of unfamiliar brands and unusual style offerings. The stores are usually flooded by pre-teen girls and their mothers, but you can also see some older teens and women in their 20’s shopping.
2. Golden Gai – drinking
Golden Gai has been around since the 1950s and despite a large fire it was rebuilt and looks pretty much the same – cramped! Supposedly this area discourages photographs – I had no problem, but I was trying to be a lil bit discreet or at least respectful, maybe what they mean is that the maze of small streets is just so damn photogenic they want to discourage the hordes of tourists that might disembark from busses just to crowd out the alleys and take photos. This is a popular “un-touristy” tourist destination.
Golden Gai somehow manages to squeeze over 200 shack style bars into an area the size of a soccer field. Chances are excellent that you’ll need to try a few places to find a bar with available seats, especially if you come late. Once you find a seat you’ll be welcomed in with a wave-in from the host and can begin the gymnastics routine of climbing over a half dozen people to find your seat. From what I experienced it leans more towards no-nonsense getting sloshed on beer and sake, but there were a few poshed-out cocktail bars, you won’t find anything upscale with jazz music and bespoke drinks – this is a place to come, unwind and… drink. I saw more than a few hammered Japanese guys being (very) friendly and trying to talk with foreigners, and a few groups of drunk Rugy foreigners from the UK – all with bright red faces. Not to worry, it’s as safe as anywhere in Tokyo – and people just come to drink and have fun.
Yup, while it feels like a maze, it’s an orderly grid of streets – but the narrowness of the alleys and the many connecting side-streets make it feel like everything got all jumbled up (or maybe that’s the booze). The Gai remains one of the most photogenic places in Tokyo and if you enjoy stumbling from one bar to the the next – this place is a dream.
3. Piss Alley – eating
Take everything I just said above about Golden Gai, but move it across the railroad tracks (about a 5 min walk) and replace the bars with tiny/cramped restaurants and you have Piss Alley.
This area too started after the war with a rather naughty reputation for girl bars and drinking establishments. The name came about because Piss Alley (or Memory lane) suffered from a total lack of restrooms – thus ye-drunkards would step over to the nearby train tracks and let loose. So the name literally wafted out of the air.
I kept getting the two places confused as ‘Piss Alley’ sounds like a drinking spot (let’s go get pissed) – but it’s chock-full of restaurants. There are dozens (hundreds?) of tiny open-front restaurant where the last four customers will be sitting on the street, facing in. Not to say there’s no drinking going on. Of course, beer and sake and other simple drinks are on offer to wash down the delicious grilled (yakitori) meats prepared in front of you – but the emphasis is eating. Surprisingly in Golden Gai there were few or any eateries. Might it not be cool to have both restaurants and bars all mixed up? But I guess it’s more orderly to say – you want food = Piss Alley, drink = Golden Gai.
I tried several dishes from here, and it was by far my fave place to eat an affordable meal in Tokyo. And, yes – they now have bathrooms and the only thing you’ll be smelling is grilled meats and perfection.
4. Love hotels – loving
While short-time hotels are hardly unique to Asia – Japan has taken the whole idea to the extreme – as usual. In Shinjuku and Shibuya (and really across the entire city) you can find – mostly discreet, often garish Love hotels. Many of these are themed – a bathtub that looks like a giant goldfish bowl, or a big jacuzzi bath, or various theme rooms (hello kitty, a schoolroom with a blackboard, a prison, you name it – if there’s a fetish big enough there’s a love room for it. When you enter the hotel you’re often greeted by touchscreen menus so you can scroll through the available room, and check out the price and amenities. In many of the love hotels you pay the invisible woman (or man) behind the opaque glass and never even see their face – it’s all very private. In others, someone will come out when you ring a bell, handle your needs and quickly disappear behind a closed door again.
I think in Japan where kids live with their parents far longer than other places – who wouldn’t with such crazy rental prices! Sometimes up into their 30’s – so love hotels serve as a much-needed space to hookup and have some fun. Inside your room, they usually supply a vibrator and other toys, lubrication and lingerie for sale in small vending machines. You can also rent rooms for 24hr – or your entire trip. Just be aware that the usual check-in time can be as late as 5 pm. If you want to check in early there can be additional fees. Every hotel is different and offers different things, that’s half the fun.
If you’re looking at hotels on Booking.com or other sites, they may or may not say ‘Love Hotel’ – some of do, while other sites just say (Adult Only), which can be confusing as some hotels across the planet are just that – adults only – but they’re not ‘love hotels.’
Whenever you come across a Love hotel feel free to take a look inside, see the menu and maybe even explore a few hours with your partner.
5. Street art – hunting
As a fan of all things cute, artistic or weird – I love street murals, art, and sticker art. I think part of the appeal is that everyone can view it, but no one can own it – the stickers are notoriously hard to remove. So it’s not a commodity that can be bought and sold. Although one sticker artist will trade stickers with another artist in a different part of the world and each will place the other artists stickers around their town. Stickers are pretty affordable to produce, long-lasting and a great way for artists to provide social commentary, a cute way to brand, show your design or style, or just do something weird. Ranging from truly unique and beautiful artwork to quick marker sketches on mailing stickers there’s nearly always something interesting on street posts, mailboxes, or otherwise empty and boring utility boxes. In some cities like Kyoto – where they want to keep the old feel they scrape off the stickers leaving a residue of thick bumpy glue that looks like alien goo. In Tokyo, it seems anything goes. While not everything is art, it’s always interesting. You have to think that each sticker represents some other human – making the design, getting them printed, then taking the time to slap them around the city. That’s significant work just to say or share something.
See more: Tokyo street art – a pictorial
