A Layover in Tokyo
“I found a return ticket with a 17-hour layover!!! In Tokyo!!!” Only I would be excited by a 17-hour layover. But it wasn’t just a 17-hour layover; it was a 17-hour daytime layover. We landed at 6:00 AM and would take off at 11:00 PM. That meant we would have an entire day to explore Tokyo, a city and country we have never been to. Most people avoid layovers, but I love the chance for adventure. Everyone had something they wanted to see, but we settled on a focus. See one temple, see cute shops, see the Shibuya crossing, and get a few snacks and meals along the way. Once we decided on that, we created this fun itinerary that had us visiting the key spots, which were all close to each other.
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Airport Time
We spent a surprising amount of time in the airport. Not only did customs and immigration take time, but we also found we had landed in Terminal 2, while our connecting flight was out of Terminal 3. We had to take a bus (free) to Terminal 3, everyone wanted to get dressed in fresh clothing, we had to find the coin lockers for our bags, and then everyone was too hungry to leave without eating. We landed at 6:00 AM but did not leave the airport until 9:00 AM. However, once we managed to all get moving out of the airport, we followed the clear signs to the Kiekyu line and the Monorail (leave at the same place).
Traveling Into the City
There are two easy trains that head out of Haneda, the Keikyu line and the Tokyo Monorail. We took the Monorail and then connected to the Yamanote line, all the way to the Yoyogi stop. The monorail is above ground and a little bit of a nicer and faster ride, but a little more expensive. The Keikyu line has more stops but is marginally cheaper. Both are easy to access with a Suica card that you can buy at the entrance to the public transit.
Meiji Shrine
Once we got off at the Yoyogi stop, it was a short walk to the entrance of the Meiji Temple complex. One quick warning: this place is gigantic. It’s a huge park complex dedicated to Emperor Meiji & Empress Shoken, meant to be a peaceful oasis honoring their role in modernizing Japan. We happened to be there on Coming-of-Age Day, so there was a lot of traffic control because of the religious holiday. But it was a beautiful tree-lined walk surrounded by nature. Once you walk through the Torii Gate and enter the temple, you enter a large complex. There, you can get in line to join in the traditional ritual where you throw a 5-yen coin into the offering box before you pray and pay your respects. You can also pay to participate in Kigansai, a sacred prayer ceremony for personal wishes to give thanks. All around you could see Japanese poems written on the walls. The best part of being there on Coming-of-Age Day was all the young women in intricate kimonos, and the costumes we saw during a traditional tea ceremony.
You could not exit the way you came due to the holiday, so we were directed to walk a long path to the bottom of the park complex. We found the Meiji Jingu Forest Terrace, where there was a café and several food trucks. We bought some Japanese snacks (red bean soup, katsu chicken, and Tatar Katsu chicken). Then the hangry family was ready to walk to our next stop.
Takeshita Street
Takeshita Street is a pedestrian-only street in Tokyo known as the heart of the Japanese cute culture. Here you will find shops that sell funky clothing styles, cosmetics, and colored contacts, cute plushies of popular anime characters, and, of course, all the notebooks, pens, and other cute tchotchkes you can find. I gave the kids some coins for the Capsule Store, where you select those little toy machines we used to visit as kids in the restaurants, put in their coins, and get a random toy of the theme that machine had. I don’t get it. The teens LOVED it.
We had to have a snack here as well. We got Tanghulu, which is fruit covered in hardened sugar. No one wanted to share, so we all got one. They were VERY sweet. But it was a fun experience.
Shibuya Crossing
This was the stop that everyone agreed they wanted to make. Shibuya Crossing is a famous spot where all traffic stops, and you see tons of people cross several wide, busy avenues all at once every two minutes. It’s called the Shibuya shuffle, and it’s a sight to behold. We tried to go to the observation deck, but it was sold out for the day. We had heard that in the Shibuya Scramble Square building, there was a Starbucks on the 11th floor with a view. As we went up there, we found the view was actually in the Share Lounge, next door to the Starbucks. This turned out to be the best deal. Share Lounge is actually a co-working space. For $12 an hour, you can go in and find a quiet place to sit and have unlimited drinks and snacks. There was even beer on tap! We decided to buy an hour. What a fantastic choice. The kids found a couch right by the window, connected to the Wi-Fi, and relaxed, looking out, while on their phones. My husband and I got coffee and snacks and sat at a table by the window, watching the shuffle, the skyline, and chatting and relaxing since we had only had a few hours of sleep on the flight the night before. It was well worth the money and the opportunity to relax. I highly suggest it.
After an hour, we went back to the ground floor so we could go out and participate in the Shibuya shuffle ourselves. We joined the massive crowd, and when the lights gave us the signal, we followed the herd across the longest diagonal (just because). The kids were nervous being in the crowd, but in the end, they thought it was amusing and wanted to do it again.
Marvel Pop-up
When we crossed Shibuya, we happened to find a Marvel/Star Wars pop-up store. Anyone who knows us knows we are HUGE Marvel fans. We walked through and saw some amazing merchandise I’ve never seen anywhere, like elaborate baseball jackets made for each character, pins, mugs, and soft t-shirts that had the coolest designs. The kids spent some of their spending money on pens and pins for their backpacks, and we took some pictures with the Marvel setups before heading out.
Sushi Dinner
You can not come to Tokyo and not have sushi. I think that is punishable by jail time at least. My husband wanted a sushi bar experience, and we found Sushi Ginza Onodera Musuko Shibuya. This was a small restaurant, where there were only seats by the bar, where you could watch the chef prepare each piece in front of you. Each seat has an iPad in front of them, and you use it to order each sushi piece individually. They had the normal pieces you’d expect (salmon, tuna, white fish, etc.), but they also had fish I had never tried before. Charred rock fish. Whale tongue. They had kid-friendly options as well. My daughter loved the crab hand roll and the fried octopus. Each piece was created and then served on the plate in front of you as it was made. Water and Green Tea were free, but you could order drinks as well. There was one waiter who handled all the drinks and checked you out at the end. We were able to tell him which iPads we had ordered from, and he put them all on one bill. We all agreed that it may have been the best restaurant meal of the entire trip. But the real surprise was how affordable it was compared to a sushi dinner in the United States. We paid ½ the price our normal family would have paid and got world-class sushi. It’s spoiled me, possibly for life.
Traveling Back to the Airport
After dinner, we were all exhausted and ready to head back to the airport, even though we still had plenty of time. We were able to get on the subway at the Shibuya station and switch to the monorail at the Hamamatsuchō stop. At that airport, we went to the lounge to rest before our flight.
Tips
- Google Maps is your friend: The subway is really easy to use. Not only does Google Maps tell you the exact lines to take, but it will also tell you what car to get into, so you are at the exit that is most convenient for you.
- Pack Snacks: We dealt a lot with the hangries at the beginning of the trip. I wanted to get breakfast in the city, but it took so long at the airport, and no one wanted to wait longer. Meiji Temple didn’t have a lot of places to have food until we found the food truck area. Pack snacks to steer people clear of the hangries and plan food stops accordingly.
- Good Walking Shoes: You will walk a lot. Public transit is wonderful, but you still need to walk to your final destination. There are hills and stairs and a lot of people. And you don’t want to waste your short time in Tokyo limping due to bad shoes. Our whole family wore our Sketchers, and no one complained of sore feet.
- Bathrooms Everywhere Are Great: Even in the subway (and yes, we had to actually try this). They all have the Japanese toilets with the seat warmers, bidets, etc. If you have littles, make sure to go in with them to help them understand the controls (or not touch them, your choice). Otherwise, you might find a kid had turned on the bidet functions when they should not have…
- You can only add money to the Sucia card in increments of 1,000 Yen: Plan accordingly. We did not, and now have a lot of leftover value. Also, everyone needs their own card; you cannot share, since it’s distance-based pricing.
The day in Tokyo whet everyone’s appetite for a future trip to Japan. We loved the food, the culture, how clean everything was, and how friendly everyone was. We haven’t had sushi since the trip because we want to preserve for as long as possible the memory of that fantastic meal. My kids want to go back and explore more of the cute shops. And I want to go and see more historic temples, but this time with a tour guide. A Day in Tokyo was wonderful, but now I want more. Time to plan the next trip.
Edited by SKS
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