What to see:

1. Meiji Shrine

2. Skytree (or for free Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Observatories)

3. Shopping in Harajuku (Tokyu Plaza 2nd floor especially)

4. Ramen Museum in Yokohama

5. Visit Asakusa Shrine

6. Shibuya Crossing and shopping in Shibuya

7. Check out the illuminations if you are there in winter

8. Ramen festival in April

9. Enjoy Japanese cuisine for cheap

10. Rikugien Cherry Blossom Lightup

11. Nihonbashi Sakura Festival

What to eat:

1. Torikizoku - every type of thing you can put on a stick, it’s here and it’s delicious

2. Ichiran Ramen - ordering happens at a vending machine so bring cash

3. Tempura - I didn’t think tempura could really be that special, but this one made American tempura taste like cardboard

4. Fugu (poisonous blowfish) full course meal

5. Tsukemen - it was my first time trying this dish, but the dipping noodle experience was fantastic

Bucket list:

1. Stay at a capsule hotel

2. Tamapa– ball pit event for adults

3. Tea time at Sakurai

4. Go to an onsen

5. Bar Yamamoto

6. Golden Gai in Shinjuku (Nightingale bar) (yakitori)

7. Eat tantanmen Nakiryu

8. Unagi at the 300 year old Isuei Honten

9. Nihonbashi Iseju is a 150 year old restaurant serving sukiyaki with wagyu

10. Go do purikura

Jason’s sister, Bona, was studying abroad in Tokyo while I was in Korea. I wanted to pop over and see what Japan was like and she kindly let me stay in her apartment for 5 days. I was super lucky to have her as my resource there - she already had a list of go-to places for incredible food and beautiful places to see. I didn’t follow my plans for Tokyo too much and ended up just going with the flow as I spent time with her and a few other friends I made through college.

On one of the nights when Bona was busy, I met up with some friends from college, Gaku and Koyo, and they took me to Tokyo Skytree (no pictures because they were all incredibly blurry), and out to Asakusa to eat at an izakaya.

One of the days while I was in Tokyo, I met up with another friend who suggested we have a full course puffer fish meal at the restaurant he worked for.

On our way there, he took me to Kagurazaka and we walked around looking at the neighborhoods. I was interested in a random shrine that we came across and he taught me the prayer routine for shinto shrines. It involved washing your hands, bowing and clapping, and tossing a coin, all of which was so intriguing to me. We then went to get our omikuji done and apparently I had the best type of fortune you can get! My friend on the contrary received a mediocre fortune so he wanted to trade.

Another night, Bona’s friends invited me to go shopping with them in Shibuya. Meerae and her friend, Waki, took me around and we visited some shops and malls before settling down and eating sushi!