Guided Tours & Things to Do in Tokyo

Three to four days covers the essentials comfortably — a day for Asakusa and the historic east, a day for the Shibuya/Harajuku axis, and a day for one thing done properly. A week lets you add Nikko, Kamakura and real neighbourhood exploration. Don't try to add Kyoto to a three-day trip: the round trip costs around ¥27,700 and two half-days of travel.

Late March to early April for cherry blossom, or late October to early December for autumn colour. November is the quiet winner — 16.7°C days, the lowest rainfall of the good months, and no spring crowds. Avoid Golden Week (late April to early May), Obon (13–16 August) and New Year (1–3 January), when things close despite the crowds.

The long-term normal is 24 March for first bloom and 31 March for full bloom, but it swings widely — 14 March in 2023, 29 March in 2024, 19 March in 2026. Forecasts only become reliable in early March, so booking flights around sakura a year ahead is a gamble. Shinjuku Gyoen's early and late varieties stretch the usable window either side.

Yes. The network is extensive, punctual and signposted in English, and a Suica or Pasmo IC card makes it seamless. Budget ¥1,000–¥1,400 a day. One 2026 change worth knowing: JR East raised Tokyo fares on 14 March 2026, its first revision since 1987, so Tokyo Metro is now cheaper than JR on several routes.

No. The 7-day pass costs ¥50,000 and excludes Tokyo Metro and Toei entirely — the two networks you will actually use most. One Tokyo–Kyoto round trip only recovers about ¥27,700 of it, so you need roughly two intercity round trips in a week to break even. Get an IC card instead.

Yes. The 2023 chip shortage is over — unregistered sales resumed on 1 March 2025, so any Tokyo ticket machine will sell you one. iPhone users can also use Welcome Suica Mobile, valid 180 days rather than the physical card's 28. Android has no tourist equivalent, so buy a physical card.

teamLab tickets (Borderless releases at 12:00 JST on the 1st of each month) and any restaurant you care about. Shibuya Sky is the one that catches people out — tickets release only 14 days ahead at 00:00 JST, so it cannot be booked months in advance. Set a reminder rather than trying early.

Yes, unless you hold a Japanese licence, and it must be issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention — 1968 Vienna Convention permits are not valid in Japan. Bring the physical IDP, your home licence and your passport. Licences from Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco and Taiwan are the exception and need an official JAF translation instead. Arrange it before you fly; no shop in Tokyo can issue one.

The crossing itself takes about ninety seconds. What makes Shibuya worth an evening is one street back — Nonbei Yokocho, a lantern-lit alley of tiny bars a minute from the scramble, which almost nobody who photographs the crossing walks into. Note that street drinking is banned in the area 18:00–05:00 year-round, though the ordinance carries no fine.

Edomae sushi — the Tokyo Bay style, where curing and marinating techniques began as workarounds for having no refrigeration. Monjayaki, a runny griddle dish unique to Tokyo with over 80 specialists on Tsukishima's Monja Street. And soba: Tokyo is a soba city where Osaka is an udon city, partly for agricultural reasons and partly because buckwheat helped counter beriberi in the Edo period.

No — only the inner wholesale market moved to Toyosu in October 2018. The Tsukiji Outer Market never moved and around 460 shops still trade there. Go between 09:00 and 14:00 for the public window; it is closed Sundays, some Wednesdays and around 30 December to 4 January.

Yes, two ways. The upper observation walkway at Toyosu is free with no booking — turn up from 05:00 and watch through glass. The lower deck, at floor level with no glass, is lottery-only: about 100–120 people a morning, applied for roughly a month ahead and selected at random.

Yes — the highway bus from Busta Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko takes about 1h 45m for ¥2,200 and runs roughly twice an hour. But manage expectations on the mountain itself: Fuji is visible on 84% of December mornings and only 23% of July mornings, and go early, because cloud builds through the day.

Less than its reputation. Transport is about ¥1,000–¥1,400 a day, a convenience-store meal is genuinely good for a few hundred yen, and standing bars serve beer around ¥400. Accommodation and taxis are where the money goes. Note the departure tax tripled to ¥3,000 on 1 July 2026, bundled into your ticket.

Yes, some. Japan's cashless ratio reached 58% in 2025, meaning over 40% of payments are still cash — and card refusal is most likely at exactly the places worth eating: small independent izakaya, ramen ticket machines, market stalls and shrine offerings.

No. Tipping is not expected anywhere and genuinely confuses staff — it can even be read as dissatisfaction. A spoken arigatou gozaimasu is the correct thanks. Slurping noodles, on the other hand, is expected and signals enjoyment.

Shibuya Sky for the crossing directly below and an open-air rooftop, but it needs the 14-day advance booking and the rooftop closes in bad weather. Tokyo Skytree is far higher at 634 m, though it sits about 5 km east so you look back at the skyline rather than over it. Tokyo Tower is cheapest at ¥1,500, needs no booking, and stays open latest with last entry at 22:30.

Most major museums close — Tokyo National Museum, Nature and Science, Western Art, Ueno Zoo and Edo-Tokyo. Mori Art Museum stays open Mondays and is the standard fallback. Put your outdoor, neighbourhood or market day on a Monday instead.

Surprisingly, yes. It is flat, the side streets carry almost no traffic, and cycling is completely normal here — a three-hour ride covers four or five times the ground a walking tour manages. The riverside routes have long uninterrupted stretches with no traffic lights at all, which is rare in any capital city.

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