The Ultimate Tokyo Bucket List During Cherry Blossom Season
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
I've always wanted to see Japan blanketed in the country's famous cherry blossom flowers but the season -- which runs for only about two weeks each year -- is very elusive. Luckily for me, after many mishaps and failed plans, I got to have my dream visit to Japan and saw the cherry blossoms in Tokyo during the 5.5 days I spent there.
Here is my bucket list of what to see, eat and do during this magical trip:
Cherry Blossom Viewing Spots
Chidorigafuchi: This colourful moat dates back to the Edo Period and is located northwest of the Imperial Palace. Ranked among one of the most photogenic spots for cherry blossom viewing, here you'll find many varieties of the trees, coupled with colourful boats to make the perfect shot. Mind you, you have to steer the boat yourself and lets just say my friend and I who are both very inexperienced, took a lot of time to get back.
Sumida park: Located by the Sumida river, this beautiful park boasts 500 cherry blossom trees and provides excellent views of the city and the Tokyo Sky Tree. Stroll through or join the locals in their hanami picnic.
Meguro river: Meguro River in the Naka-meguro area of Tokyo is a cool international town with many stylish bars and restaurants along it's bank as well as lush cherry blossom trees. It's the perfect place for an evening walk to grab shots of the blossoms lit up at night or to sit down for dinner at one of the swanky eateries in bustling laneways. Be mindful that it does get extremely crowded but it also makes for some unique, night cherry blossom viewing and the crowds thin out around the restaurants. After grabbing some pictures, we headed to 'Curry House' to enjoy some Japanese curry with omelette and rice.
Iconic Sights to Explore and Things to do
Tokyo Skytree: Visit the The Tokyo Sky Tree for
stunning 360 views of Tokyo. This is Tokyo’s largest structure and the second
highest skyscraper in the world! Its near Sumida park so both can be visited on the same day.
Senso Ji Temple: Set in Asakusa, one of Tokyo's most traditional neighbourhoods, the stunning temple is extremely popular and gets very crowded but there are still some quieter areas where you can hide for a breather from the tourists. Be sure to get your fortune told in the main temple area and cover yourself in incense for prosperity.
Shibuya crossing: Home to two of the busiest train stations in the world, Shibuya crossing is the perfect spot to people watch. We found the second floor of Starbucks on the corner to be the best spot for watching the craziness from close enough to enjoy it and far enough not to be overwhelmed.
Harajuku: Go shopping in the colourful streets of Harajuku. Here you can
often find the Harajuku kids (especially on the weekends) colourfully dressed up
in cosplay as their favourite anime characters. Takeshita Street in particular is filled with variety of food to try. It gets very crowded on weekends but that's when cosplay kids come out to play so its well worth the effort.
Godzilla: Japan is synonymous with cult-classic Godzilla and to pay homage to it, the city even has it's own Godzilla Street. The head of the Godzilla can be spotted towering over the Toho Movie Theatre.
Tsukiji fish market - If you want to see fish being sold, the
Tsukiji Fish Market is the place to go. It's for early risers to see the local sellers trade their
wares starting at 5am. Visitors cannot go to the inner market which is reserved for
wholesalers but can visit the outer markets. For vegetarians like me it doesn't hold that much interest but my friend wanted to go so I accompanied her. We got some sushi at a sushi restaurant (including a vegetarian option for me) as well other snacks like white strawberries which are famous in Japan and Ichigo daifuku. The white strawberries are supposed to taste much sweeter although to me it tasted the same.
Sumo wrestling practice: Seeing sumo in action is up there with the best cultural experiences one can have, so I highly recommend pencilling in a tournament into your itinerary. Although it can be quite difficult given only six sumo matches are held in Japan every year. If you do miss out, you can do what we did: head to a sumo morning training session. It's a lot more intimate given you're only about 20 feet from them. Given the proximity and that this is a practice as opposed to a performance, the training sessions do have several rules that need to be upheld but I found they only enhanced the experience.
Hedgehog Café: Animal cafes are
abound in Tokyo. Sip coffee or tea while playing with the cute little animals, but please research animal cafes before
visiting, as some have very questionable ethics.
Piss Alley or Omoide Yakocho: Although it's name translates to "Memory Lane", this famous street is dubbed Piss Alley for it's post WW2 use when public toilets were non-existent. And while the infamous alley now has plenty of toilets, it still carries enough historical charm to make you feel like you've turned back the clock. Tiny yakitori restaurants, red lanterns and smoky grills made the perfect ambience to have our dinner but given we don't eat meat we headed to CoCo’s Ichibanya Curry House instead, which has a vegetarian menu.
Tachinomiya: Tachinomiya, typically translated as "standing bars," and are exactly what they sound like: bars that contain tables, but no chairs. Often tucked in narrow alleys, tachinomiya were traditionally unpretentious establishments near working-class neighbourhoods or train stations where folks could grab a drink on their way home from the office. However, now a lot more atmospheric ones can be found. We went to one which served sake and meat to grill for yourself. As a vegetarian I only had some vegetables to grill but it was still a wonderful way to enjoy some sake.
Maid café: Themed cafes are everywhere in Japan and apart from animal cafes, maid cafes are another unique Japanese offering. As the name suggests, here Japanese
girls dressed as French maids serve and entertain you with song and dance.
Shop at Don Quijote: Don Quijote also known as Donki is a mega store in Japan and a must visit for all tourists. Whether you're looking for souvenir shopping or tending to travel needs, this store has everything and provides tax free shopping. I bought tonnes of Japanese snacks, especially 10 different flavours of kit kat and quite a lot of Japanese beauty products.
Vending machine drinks: Without a doubt my favourite thing to do, vending machines in Japan offer all sorts of drinks both hot and cold, milk teas, green teas, etc. I loved grabbing one everyday, but if you follow my lead, keep in mind that the cost does add up.
Robot restaurant: This takes the cake for the strangest thing I've ever experienced. And though I haven't made up my mind about whether I found it entertaining or not, I'll say this: it's a must watch because it allows you to experience Tokyo in all it's strange, unique glory. It is not exactly a restaurant, its a show and you can order bento boxes and drinks. I was told the food isn't all that great so I chose just the show option. The show is basically colourful and huge robots, Japanese girls singing JPOP and lots of bright lights.
Ride the bullet train: Also known as Shinkasen, these speedy trains run at 320km/h. Luckily for me you can't feel that when sitting inside making it a very comfortable way to travel. And staying true to Japanese culture, the train too was extremely punctual.
Explore Shinjuku: Toyko's largest neighbourhood is so big that I'm not sure where to begin when describing it. Its a good area to stay in as a tourist as everything can be found here however, be careful to not stay too close to the red light district which is also found in Shinjuku.
Visit Akihabra: This district specialises in electronics and Japanese pop culture. The maid cafes are found here in abundance as well as the arcades. We spent quite a bit of time at one of the arcades, both playing but also watching the locals play DDR in fascination.
Shop in Ginza: Ginza is the city's central shopping, dining and entertainment precinct, filled with department stores, eateries and general shops which open every day of the week. We picked up a few goodies here and went to the world's largest Uniqlo outlet which is multiple levels and a world of its own.
Vegetarian Food you must try
Japan is a tough country to navigate for vegetarian foodies. Buddhist vegetarian cooking is aplenty but if you want to try other famous dishes, it can be quite hard to find alternatives. But below are some amazing places to try famous Japanese dishes that I got around to while in Tokyo:
Ramen at T’s Tantan: This vegan only ramen restaurant has two branches and an English menu which is a huge convenience. The biggest testament to how good this place is is the fact that I ate there three times during my five day stay. I tried the the black sesame Tantan, the tonkotsu ramen and their signature T's Tantan. All were great and I loved the gyozas too. If I could have eaten here everyday of my trip I totally would have!
Tendon at Tendon Tenya: Tendon is a tradition Japanese dish comprising of a bowl of rice served with tempura on top and a special sauce to go with. Tendon Tenya is a franchise throughout Japan that does an all veggie tempura option at a very affordable price. I ate this near our accommodation in Asakusa but there are several branches all across Tokyo.
Sakura ice cream: Another perk of visiting during the famous Cherry Blossom Season is that you'll be met with sakura flavoured drinks and ice cream in every corner. I tried this one at a sushi restaurant and though it looks just like a standard strawberry soft serve, it tasted nothing like I've ever had before. Fresh, natural and definitely a must try.
Japanese Curry at Coco Ichibanya: Aside from ramen, this is one of my favourite Japanese dishes and Coco Ichibanya does a real good one for vegetarians. It’s a chain with branches all over Tokyo. The curry comes with a variety of toppings to choose from like potato, carrot, green beans and onion or eggplant, tomato, asparagus, mushroom, etc. I tried the eggplant one and chose to make it very spicy. Yes you can choose the spice level and it was definitely hot! This was again a favourite and I ate here twice.
Harajuku is a haven for unique and trendy food items and new Instagrammable food items pop up all the time. Whilst I was there, I tried the below:
Com Crepe: Crepes are the classic dessert to have in Harajuku. Com Crepe however combined it with crème brulee to create a luxury crepe like no other. The rolled up crepe contains a sweet custard filling, which is even finished off by caramelising the top, giving a satisfying crunch when you get stuck in.
Long! Longer!! Longest!!!: Imagine all your favourite food's served in never-ending sizes. This size-based snack shop gives you a glimpse into that fantasy with soft serve, 'tunnel potato' (a curly fry on a stick), churros and cotton candy, all available in the sizes 'long', 'longer', and 'longest'. I had the tunnel potato which was was 52 cm long!
Croquant Chou ZakuZaku: This confectionery shop has quickly stood out in the saturated Tokyo food market thanks to it's unique twist on the cream puff. ZakuZaku’s version is served as sticks with a crunchy almond-crusted coating and rich custard cream filling made with milk sent directly to the store from free-range farms in Hokkaido. They are made fresh inside the store allowing purchasers to freely observe the magic happening in the kitchen area.
Calbee Plus - Calbee is Japan's leading potato snack company and this outlet offers all sorts of fresh potato chips and fries with different flavours. I had the potato crisps in sour cream flavour but there are options like chips with chocolate topping served with ice cream or giant potato churros. A must try and unique experience.
Waffles in Shinjuku: I came across a small stand called Mr. Waffles in Lumine 2 Shinjuku that offers Belgium style take away waffles in flavours like cinnamon, earl grey tea and almond which were a wonderful snack to enjoy on the go.
Japanese Steamed Buns: These are a great takeaway snacks when going on a long train journey. Tokyo bullet trains have a lot of food options but not many that are vegetarian friendly. Thankfully, I came across takeaway shops selling steamed buns at stations offering lots of vegetarian fillings like corn, sweet potato, chestnut, eggplant, etc.
Onigiri from Convenience stores: Another popular snack for locals on the go, is onigiri but most of the ones I encountered have some sort of animal or seafood filling. Since labels are in Japanese with a few in English, it's important to read the label or ask if its vegetarian. The most common vegetarian onigiri I came across was pickled plum.
The hotel we stayed at offered us great buffet meals with variety of options both traditional japanese and western options.
Overall I would say 5.5 day were quiet ideal for a Tokyo itinerary however Tokyo has unlimited attractions to explore so if you fall in love with the city like I did, you'll have plenty to entertain yourself with for a longer holiday.
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