Only in Tokyo | Tokyo City Guide

There are a bunch of Alice in Wonderland themed restaurants in Tokyo, decked out in a variety of styles. The food isn’t great, unless you like luncheon meat laid out in the shape of the March Hare, but the surroundings are definitely one of a kind. If you’re not sure about visiting a maid cafe, this may be a good “safe bet”.

In a residential area on the outskirts of Tokyo you’ll find this charming neighbourhood with several bonsai nurseries you can walk around. If you’re interested in learning more about this art form, there is also a museum dedicated to the practice. It’s a bit of a trek so probably not one for your first Tokyo visit, unless you happen to be a massive bonsai fan. But it does make a lovely escape from the city. 

TeamLab, my favourite Japanese Interactive Art Collective, has outdone itself with this multi-room digital art museum. Countless rooms full of projection mapped interactive goodness. This place is HUGE so wear sturdy shoes and plan to spend at least two hours here. Planets by TeamLab is also super popular, but it looks like it skews slightly more towards children, so I’d probably stick with Borderless. As with the Ghibli museum, advance booking is essential. 

There are a bunch of indoor climbing gyms in Tokyo, but none are quite like B-Pump, a neon bouldering wall in the heart of Akihabara. Worth a trip for visiting climbers wanting to stretch their arms and legs after a long haul flight. 

You’ll see convenience stores  (Konbini) like Family Mart, Lawson and 7-eleven on almost every street corner. They’re the best place to withdraw cash. While you're there, make sure you pick up a Tamago Sando (Japanese Egg Sandwich), if only to debate which brand makes the best one.

You’ll find some amazing food halls in the basements of upmarket department stores like Isetan, Ginza Six and Tokyu Department Store. Think Selfredges food hall, but full of bento boxes, picture-perfect fruit sandwiches, onigiri rice balls and amazing baked goods. These are great places to pick up lunch for your Shinkansen ride to the country, or just a hotel room picnic if you;re feeling lazy. 

Probably the most famous Yokocho in Tokyo, this series of three cramped alleyways is full of over two hundred makeshift bars. These places popped up around train stations post war, as the US authorities tried to clamp down on the black market. Many of the early Yokocho’s were essentially brothels. Those days are long gone, but Yokocho’s still have a slightly elicit feel about them, which is part of their charm. The easiest bar to start (and find) is Albatross B. From there branch out to dozens of tiny 8 seat theme bars like Bar Plastic Model (full of, er, plastic models), The Open Book (a reading bar), La Jetée (run by a film buff and visited by lots of famous movie directors), and Deathmatch in Hell (horror themed).

This restaurant in Roppongi was apparently the inspiration for the classic restaurant scene in Kill Bill. The food is perfectly fine, but you really come here for the surroundings.

I’m a fan of this Japanese mayo brand, so I’ve been aware of this flagship store & factory tour for a while. However with so much else to do in Tokyo I’ve always wondered whether it was really worth taking an afternoon out to visit. That was until a friend described it as “The best thing I did on my recent trip to Tokyo”. I trust this friend's judgement so I’ve bumped it up to the top of the list for the next trip.

This is possibly my girlfriend's favourite shop in the whole of Tokyo. It’s hundreds of years old and specialises in brushes of all shapes and sizes, from handmade tooth brushes, to ones for sweeping your yard. I dare you to visit and not walk away without at least one new brush!

What started out as a Japanese phenomenon has recently spread across the world. These bars tend to be cozy places with amazing sound systems aimed squarely at audiophiles. So you go, order a drink and listen to whatever the in-house DJ feels like playing. Perfect for individuals or small groups, don’t be surprised if you’re asked to be quiet (or even leave) if you’re making too much noise. Some places like Spincoaster and Record Bar Analog focus on more modern music and allow you to pick what gets played, while more traditional listening bars like Bar Martha, Bar Track, JBS or Jazz Big Boy tend to focus on Rare Groove and Jazz and rely on the proprietor's tastes.

Love hotels are a distinctly Japanese invention, allowing couples who lack privacy in their multi-generational homes, to nip out for a couple of hours of “extreme cuddling”. Love Hotel Hill has the highest concentration of these pay-by-the-hour hotels, and makes for an interesting afternoon stroll and a spot of people watching.

Maid and Butler cafes are a uniquely Japanese experience, providing lonely Tokyo-ites with a bit of a human connection. Despite popular misconceptions, the majority of these cafes are pretty tame and regularly attract families and couples. However if you go poking round the backstreets of Akihabara I’m sure you can find something a bit more edgy. This particular outpost of the Maid Dreamin brand was created by TeamLab, and is designed to resemble a Nintendo Game. As such it’s a safe and fun way to explore this particular cultural quirk. 

This multi-story manga superstore in Akihabara is heaven for comic-book nerds (Otaku) of all shapes, sizes and proclivities. There’s a tonne of super-weird stuff in here, including floors specifically aimed at men and women. I’d say you haven’t visited Tokyo until you’ve witnessed multiple generations of family members shopping for Sherlock Holmes inspired “Slash Fiction”.

If you found Mandarake interesting, then you’ll love Nakano Broadway, a covered market full of collectable stores (making it especially handy on a rainy day). If you want to get your Otaku fix somewhere slightly less seedy than Akihabara, this is the place to come. The shopping arcade has a number of Mandarake outlets, including a beautifully designed one selling premium robot collectibles costing upwards of $100k. You’ll also find  Coffee Zingaro, an over-the-top cafe owned and designed by artist Takashi Murakami.

Finally made it to Ninja Akasaka, and it was well worth the wait. Sure it’s a little touristy, but it’s also a lot of fun, and unlike the majority of themed restaurants in Tokyo, the food is actually pretty good.

If you’re wanting to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for an hour and soak up a bit of nature, Tokyo has some wonderful parks and gardens to choose from. Most people head to Shinjuku Gyoen, especially during cherry blossom season. However I prefer Hamarikyu Gardens, Kiyosumi Gardens, Koishikawa Korakuen Garden, Kyu-Shiba-rikyū Gardens or the small but perfectly crafted Rikugien Gardens. If you just have time for one place, don’t miss the gardens in the Nezu Museum.

Tokyo has a number of pet cafes where you can go and hang out with cats, dogs, owls, hedgehogs and snakes for a set fee. While I get the attraction, a lot of animal welfare charities believe them to be unethical, so I'd strongly advise to stay away.

It’s fair to say that Tokyo is powered by coffee, whether that’s a cool new third (fourth) wave cafe, or a hot can of BOSS coffee from a vending machine. As such, despite a long heritage with tea, finding good tea can be somewhat tricky. Enter the Sakurai Japanese Tea Experience in Aoyama. During the day you can try a variety of teas by the cup, or choose a tasting menu paired with tasty treats. As the sun sets, this place turns into a bar focussing on tea made cocktails. While they do offer walk-ins, you may want to book in advance.

Visiting a public hot bath is a uniquely Japanese experience. The baths are separated by gender, no swimsuits (or often tattoos) are allowed and you have to follow fairly tight usage rituals. The main difference between a sento and an onsen is that onsen use geothermally heated mineral waters, while sentos are just standard water. Saya-no-Yudokoro Spa is one of the only true Onsen in Tokyo. Otherwise you’ll have to travel further afield (like Hakone). There’s been a raft of refurbished sento’s popping up recently like Koganeyu and Mikokuyu which play cool music and serve their own craft beer.

While this place bills itself as a Ramen Museum, the amount of educational content is pretty minimal. Instead the real USP are the two floors to Ramen restaurants, designed to look like an old-fashioned Tokyo slum. So think Harry Potter World, but for noodles. It’s a pretty cool place so worth the trip to Yokohama.

Really Andy. Public toilets? Well yes, but these aren’t just any toilets. These are a collection of 17 toilets designed by some of Japan's top architects including the likes of Tado Ando. While they’re all interesting in their own ways, the most famous is probably a collection of three made from transparent coloured glass which turn opaque when the door locks. So popular are these toilets that German Director Wim Wenders (of Paris Texas fame) shot a whole movie called Perfect Days, all about the life of a Tokyo Toilet cleaner, which scored a whopping 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

You’ll find vending machines in pretty much all train platforms and most side streets. As well as the usual assortment of waters and fizzy drinks, you can also get bottles of hot coffee and green tea (great hand warmers in the winter), hot food, beer, cigarettes, collectables, underwear, and cans of cake (yep, you heard those last two correctly). 

These tiny alleyways, usually around train stations, sprang up in the post war era, first as black market sites and then later as brothels servicing mostly American G.I.s. These days they’re mostly a collection of small, ramshacked bars and yakitori restaurants. If you’ve ever seen the Netflix show, midnight diner, you have a rough idea of what you’re in for. Golden Gai is probably the most famous and most accessible of these alleyways, while Omoide Yokocho is possibly the most photogenic. Nonbei Yokocho is also rather fun. Most are an odd mix of tourists and salary men, but Ebisu Yokocho seems to cater for a slightly younger and hipper crowd.