A Wrap on Tokyo 2012
There are only two good things about coming back from a holiday; seeing the people you missed and sorting through all of your fun purchases. It’s only been a few days since returning from Japan and I’m already wanting to go on holiday again.
This is just a little wrap-up post about things I did in Japan and what the best eats were. If you have any questions at all feel free to leave a comment and I’ll do the best I can to answer.
Where to Stay
My friend and I chose to stay at Hotel Century Southern Tower in Shinjuku for the entire two weeks. Its proximity to Shinjuku Station (about a minute walk) was a huge bonus, the staff were exceptional, the views were amazing and the price was great for the quality of accommodation we stayed in.
How to Get Around
Especially if you’re staying in a hotel near one of the major JR train stations, a JR Pass is the way to go. We paid about $550AUD for a two week pass but it’s well worth it, especially if you’re planning on doing some bullet train trips to Osaka or Kyoto (they go for over $100 each way!) The taxi prices aren’t too bad if you’re only travelling a short distance and can split the price between a few people. For the first 2km the price is fixed at about $9.00AUD.
Where to Take the Kids
Obviously Tokyo Disney Resort is the big one here and actually isn’t too expensive for under $200AUD for a 2-day passport so you can get into both Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea (pictured below). If your budget doesn’t stretch that far, the Studio Ghibli Museum at Mitaka is just a short train ride from Shinjuku and tickets are around ten bucks. Obviously these are some great activities for adults too, I had a bitchin’ time!
For the Adults
You can’t go past a good night of Karaoke at a karaoke bar. Most have booths with an extensive English song catalogue with drinks available as well.
Getting Traditional
Meiji-Jingu Shrine in Harajuku is an amazing site to see, traditional buildings, archways and a tea house are surrounded by trees and there’s an iris garden inside which is absolutely beautiful. It’s right near Harajuku Station too, so super easy to get to and close to the shops in Harajuku as well if you want to do the whole area in a day.
Cheap Eats
Loving Hut is such good value for money whether it’s for lunch or dinner. At dinner time you have a selection of about six main meals which are served with salad, sides and dessert for about $13AUD and at lunch a set pre-prepared lunch box for about $8AUD.
Reliable Eats
Mos Burger is pretty easy to find and we managed to locate one everywhere we went. Still falling into the cheap eats category, the vegan burger is about $3.00AUD but you may need a couple!
Fancy Eats
Chaya is the place to be for both atmosphere and extensive vegan selection. Open for lunch and dinner, a set meal starts at about $30AUD with several options increasing in price from there as well as an a la carte menu.
Best Find
The only place I stumbled upon without the assistance of the interweb, Vege Kitchen & Cafe in Shibuya was a total score. Super cheap lunch options starting at around $9.00AUD right up to lunch and dinner set menus for around $60AUD it’s perfect for a break during or after a long day of shopping.
Don’t Miss
Shibuya Crossing, just outside the Hachiko exit of Shibuya Station, is a sight to behold. The best view can be seen from the Starbucks across the road; try to get a window seat and watch the lights turn green while masses of people cross the street. Especially spectacular in the rain with all the umbrellas!
Japan is totally one of the most spectacular places I’ve ever been. The vegan food isn’t as easy to come across as say the US however taste-wise Tokyo definitely gives it a run for its money. Unlike a trip to Europe or to some extent America, you can see a lot of Tokyo and the surrounds in a much shorter time. Next time I go, I’ll either just stick around Tokyo for a week or perhaps do an additional week in the Osaka/Kyoto area (we did a day in Osaka but it wasn’t long enough).
So that’s it, Japan all wrapped up for you in a neat little package. Now I just need to think of where to go next…
Thank you so much for posting all of this information, it is incredibly helpful!
The boyfriend and I are going to Japan (Tokyo and Osaka) at the end of the year and are still unsure about a few things, so sorry in advance if I bombard you with questions 😛
Did you find Shinjuku was a good location to stay? We are staying in Tokyo for two weeks and have no idea what region to stay in :S
Did you learn any Japanese phrases or use cards to help you explain what you can’t eat? We are a bit worried because we don’t speak any Japanese except for a few words lol.
One last question. I’ve never flown internationally before, are you allowed to take pre-packaged food on planes? I was thinking I might stock up so we always have food to fall back on if there’s nothing else to eat!
Hey Abbie 🙂
Bombard me with as many questions as you want, I’ll answer them as best I can. Firstly, can I come with you? PLEEEEASE?!
Shinjuku was an absolutely amazing location to stay in! Our hotel was 2 minutes from the station so it made it super easy to get around Tokyo. We were also within 5 minutes walk of a lot of awesome shopping as well as really close to Shinjuku-Gyoen which is a HUGE park. We also spent a lot of time in Harajuku in Shibuya, just a few stops from Shinjuku station on the train. In terms of food, we were within walking distance of Chaya and Mos Burger as well as a short taxi or subway trip to Loving Hut.
If you plan on going to Vege Kitchen and Cafe, I still can’t find the address but if you jump off at Shibuya station and head out the Hachiko exit, you’ll come to Shibuya Crossing. Instead of going diagonally across the crossing, turn to your left and cross. Keep walking and you’ll see 109 Shibuya, a huge youth shopping centre (go in, it’s awesome), keep heading up the left side of that building. Keep walking until you see a 7-Eleven and across the road you’ll see it!
I downloaded a couple of Japanese translation apps by Lonely Planet but to be honest I didn’t use them much. You can use them offline which is handy if you’re not going to be connected to a network. In all honesty, most people understood English and when I explained I was “allergic” to certain things they understood. I don’t think you’ll encounter too much trouble here but I’m sure there are come helpful phrases on the internet somewhere.
Finally, yep, you can take food on the plane 🙂 Just make sure you declare it on the way there and back and you shouldn’t have any trouble. You probably won’t be able to take fresh fruit, vegetables etc but snacks and stuff will be fine.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Thanks for replying!
Haha sure the more the merrier 😉
Plane tickets are booked! We are basing ourselves in Kyoto for the first week, and then Tokyo for the remaining time of our trip.
So you used the trains pretty much all the time? So it’s definitely worth getting a train pass then?
Also do you think it’s worth getting an apartment with cooking facilities? Since we are staying for 3 weeks we are not sure whether it will be too expensive to eat out every night. But then once we buy all the ingredients for cooking that may work out just as dear.
Hey Abbie 🙂
We used trains at least once a day, sometimes a lot more. I’m not sure how much daily trips can cost but I thought $550 for a 2 week rail pass was quite reasonable considering it includes bullet trains. If you’re going to be in Kyoto, you’re probably going to want to go to Osaka and a couple we met told us that on a normal train the trip is an hour and on the bullet it’s only 10 minutes! Especially if you’re planning to train it from Kyoto to Tokyo, you’re probably better off getting the rail pass as individual trips can cost around $160!
In terms of food I probably wouldn’t be too concerned with finding something with kitchen facilities, I really only saw one or two supermarkets the whole time I was there and if you’re not going to be able to read labels it’s going to be challenging to find ingredients unless you just have fruit and vegetables! As I said in my post about snacking, if you can find somewhere with imported foods you can probably make cheap meals out of those items, rather than worry yourself with cooking (for instance, a couple of nights I ate some imported packaged garlic bread with some olives as a meal). I also found some crackers and peanut butter so you could do that for breakfast or lunch too to save some dough. If you’re after cheap vegan eats, I’d recommend Loving Hut because lunch is about $8 and dinner is about $12. Vege Kitchen & Cafe have lunch options for around $12 as well. Mos Burger you can get for under $10 easy as well as the numerous sushi joints. I REALLY encourage you to save some cash up to do a big blow out meal at Chaya. You can get something for around $35 but if you want to splurge some set meals go for around $80!
Thanks that helps heaps.
Yeah that was my concern, reading labels…since I assume most of it would be in Japanese! Haha.
We’re planning on getting the rail pass for the first 2 weeks, and the remaining week we will stay put in Tokyo and just pay for travel around the city as we go 🙂
Thanks again for all of your help! I can’t wait to gorge myself on all of the amazing food haha 😀