7 Things to Do in Tokyo

After a great time in Kyoto, we headed to the capital city of Japan, Tokyo!

Here are some things we enjoyed in Tokyo.

Watch hundreds of cats at Gotokuji temple
You would have noticed the beckoning cat in front of Japanese restaurants and stores. It is believed to bring in customers and money into the shop. Legend has it that when a feudal lord passed by this temple, a cat beckoned him to come into the temple. He entered the temple and a thunderstorm broke outside. Thankful that the cat saved him, the lord rebuilt the temple that is now Gotokuji.

Spend some time around the Jizō statues at Zojoji temple
To the right of the main temple are Jizo statues that are clothed and decorated. Jizo is the guardian of unborn, aborted, miscarried, and stillborn babies. Family members come and change the clothes of the statues and offer drinks.

Sleep in a capsule hotel
A capsule hotel (pod hotel) has many extremely small “rooms” (capsules/pods) intended to provide cheap, basic overnight accommodation for guests who do not require or cannot afford the services offered by more conventional hotels.
We experienced 2 capsules: a gender segregated one called 9 hours at the Narita Airport (for some hours because we had an overnight bus journey after that long flight),

and Tokyo Kiba Hotel that has couple pods 🙂

Get amazed by the creative skills of plastic food makers of Kappabashi
99% of restaurants in Japan have a display of plastic (but so real!) models of the dishes they offer. Though we didn’t get a chance to visit Kappabashi, we came to know that these models found all over Japan are made in Kappabashi.

Get generally amazed by the Japanese way of life

Go on a KitKat treasure hunt

I was so obsessed with this that I’ve written a full article on it – 17 Japanese KitKat flavours + Where to buy KitKat in Tokyo

Eat great food
Yummy tonkastu(pork) ramen at ichiran ramen and ippudo
Ichiran Ramen is an experience in itself – you buy the tickets from the vending machine, so to your station, tick preferences like firmness of noodles, amount of garlic etc., and without saying a word, the waiter takes it and gives you the ramen in a matter of 5 minutes. Not a word spoken. The booths were created to ensure total privacy while slurping ramen noisily. Rick pork broth, firm noodles, delicious pork belly.

While my husband liked this better, I found the broth and pork tastier at Ippudo Ramen.

Yummy sushi at Katsu midori (conveyor belt sushi restaurant)
I do not like fish. So I had decided I am not going to enjoy Sushi anyway. But would definitely try it. Katsu midori changed my views. A conveyor belt carries various sushi dishes – you can pick up whatever you fancy. The plate colors decide the price. At the end of it, the plates are tallied. The fish was slightly seared using a blowtorch. I had the less smelly fish like tuna, salmon and flounder. They were fresh & delicious. My husband also tried the smelly sardine which according to him didn’t smell too bad. But mind you, there’s a really long queue to get into the restaurant – we had to wait for 45minutes to get in.

Here is a A guide to visiting Japan on a budget.