Tokyo Japan recommendations: places to visit, shoot and stay

Newenglandrocks
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Tokyo Japan recommendations: places to visit, shoot and stay

My younger daughter and I are taking a four day “detour” in Tokyo on her way to her term abroad next year in New Zealand. Our primary reason for being in Japan is to make turns in the white room for a week, but we also want to spend time together exploring Tokyo before heading to Hokkaido. My focus is going to be on together time, eating well, and tourist sight-seeing, not photography. I.e. no tripod, f/2.8 zooms, f/1.4 primes, etc.

I’m looking for recommendations about not-so-obvious sites to visit as well as neighborhoods in Tokyo that would be nice to stay in from the perspective of convenience for seeing sites around the city. The only two activities I have on my bucket list are seeing the Imperial Palace and making my second visit to the Tsukiji fish market. I’ve been to Tokyo before, but always for business, so this will be the first time where I have the entire day to explore the city.

We will be there late January to early February. Thanks in advance for any experience you can share.

Sep 17, 2023 at 03:48 PM

Charlie San
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Tokyo Japan recommendations: places to visit, shoot and stay

I have a not for profit site about photography and travel in Japan. It is a bit dated as I work on other projects but it may answer your questions and much more…

https://www.occasionalgaijin.com/

Sep 17, 2023 at 07:49 PM

Charlie San
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Tokyo Japan recommendations: places to visit, shoot and stay

I provided a link to my site on Japan and advised that it is a bit dated as my mind has been on other places and things nowadays. I thought I would make a few more comments based on your interests. Toyosu Fish Market is/was supposed to replace the Tsukiji Fish Market and it may be better to see the fish auctions there, but the old market is still active and has many restaurants. My wife recently visited Tokyo and went to both.

Haneda was the main airport for decades only to be replaced by Narita, but many flights now land back there. It is closer to Tokyo and you may have a choice. I would choose Haneda. Our favorite neighborhood to stay is Yanaka (Yanasen) and it also has a good mix of gaijins too. It is sometimes called Cat City, you will see why if you go there. There is a great old cemetery there, cherry blossoms, fine restaurants, gift shops, and a good bit of "shitamachi" too.

And, by the way, Japan is an easy place to travel in. Here is a good article on traveling with/out luggage in Japan…

https://craigmod.com/ridgeline/170/

Edited on Sep 19, 2023 at 09:54 AM · View previous versions

Sep 18, 2023 at 03:05 PM

elkhornsun
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Tokyo Japan recommendations: places to visit, shoot and stay

I check out the commercial tourist tours and learn where they go and how long they stay in a spot and where they spend each night for lodging. Japan does have modern high speed trains unlike the USA where the auto companies control the transportation system and that is a consideration with your planning. When visiting China we went to a very nice lake that was 300 miles from our point of entry but with the Chinese trains that distance was covered in two hours. In the USA going that distance takes 12 hours so not an option for most.

Sep 18, 2023 at 06:19 PM

Newenglandrocks
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Tokyo Japan recommendations: places to visit, shoot and stay

Charlie San wrote:
I provided a link to my site on Japan and advised that it is a bit dated as my mind has been on other places and things nowadays. I thought I would make a few more comments based on your interests. Toyosu Fish Market is/was supposed to replace the Tsukiji Fish Market and it may be better to see the fish auctions there, but the old market is still active and has many restaurants. My wife recently visited Tokyo and went to both.

Haneda was the main airport for decades only to be replaced by Narita, but many flights now...Show more →

Great advice on the fish markets! We are flying into Narita direct from Boston but then will be flying in and out of Haneda to get to Hokkaido for skiing and snowboarding. Interestingly, the flights to Hokkaido from Narita are totally sold out even though it looks to me far morr convenient to fly in and out of Haneda if you live in Tokyo or are visiting the city first.

I will be checking out and studying your website before the trip - thanks for sharing!

Sep 19, 2023 at 11:42 PM

Newenglandrocks
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Tokyo Japan recommendations: places to visit, shoot and stay

elkhornsun wrote:
I check out the commercial tourist tours and learn where they go and how long they stay in a spot and where they spend each night for lodging. Japan does have modern high speed trains unlike the USA where the auto companies control the transportation system and that is a consideration with your planning. When visiting China we went to a very nice lake that was 300 miles from our point of entry but with the Chinese trains that distance was covered in two hours. In the USA going that distance takes 12 hours so not an option for most....Show more →

Thank you for that great idea. I'll use that together with TripAdvisor to determine ideas about what to see. Since we have now decided on doing 5 full days off snow, we are looking for a day trip to Kyoto or Mt Fuji as possibilities.

Sep 19, 2023 at 11:45 PM

sidetracked
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Tokyo Japan recommendations: places to visit, shoot and stay

I was just in Japan for the first time a few weeks ago and had an amazing time. If you will be getting time in the mountains already in Hokkaido I’d definitely suggest a day for Kyoto at least. You can easily spend a week there but one day is better than nothing!

Newenglandrocks wrote:
Thank you for that great idea. I'll use that together with TripAdvisor to determine ideas about what to see. Since we have now decided on doing 5 full days off snow, we are looking for a day trip to Kyoto or Mt Fuji as possibilities.

Sep 22, 2023 at 12:39 AM


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