I just got back from Tokyooo! While I had been to Asia before, Tokyo was definitely unlike any place I had ever been and it was definitely my favorite place I had every been in Asia.

For the trip, I went with my school, University of Southern California, through the Marshall LINC program. While we were there, we had some free time but the trip mainly consisted of company visits where we learned about the country, the company as a whole, and how to operate business in Japan.

Going into the trip, I had no idea what to expect but quickly found my way around due to my favorite blogs as well as a tour guide we had for the whole school group. I found that the most important thing to know when going into Tokyo is to know about each neighborhood. Below I am including a guide for what to know about each neighborhood as well as some of my favorite sights we saw.

Shibuya

The neighborhood Shibuya reminded me a lot of New York’s Times Square. With tall buildings, lots of advertisements, bright lights, and large crowds, this will really give you a good sense of Tokyo. In Shibuya, you can find a bunch of restaurants, bars, and various other Japanese stores. I did not do much shopping in Shibuya, but loved coming here at night for dinner and to walk around !

Harajuku

By far my favorite neighborhood in Japan ! I could not get enough of this place and wanted to come back here every free moment I got. This is where all the shopping is, some great restaurants, and some great shops/sights to get a full sense of Japanese culture.

For street and Japanese style, the best place to shop in Harajuku is the street Takeshita. One of the coolest things I saw while I was here was a shop full of photo booths. In these photo booths, you take photos with friends and the Photo Booth turns you into what looks like an anime character. The photo booth would enlarge your eyes (a lot), add blush to your cheeks, lengthen your eyelashes, and soften your skin, and these photo booths were widely popular with the locals. Some other cultural experiences on this street are authentic Japanese fashion shops, crepe kiosks, ice cream shops, and cotton candy (amazing instagram props, lol). There was also a very cool thrift store called Chicago which had everything from bags, stickers, buttons, and a vintage kimono section. Another one of my favorite stores was a cool Japanese department store called Gr8. This store had every style and every price range you could think of as each floor had multiple shops in them with totally different vibes.

Also in Harajuku there is a tree-lined street called Omotesando, which is popularly known to resemble Paris’ Champs-Elysees. This street has a ton of high-end fashion shops like CHLOÉ, Celine, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Prada as well as having stores like Ralph Lauren and Alice and Olivia.

Shinjuku

While staying in Tokyo, we stayed in the hotel Keio Plaza located in Shinjuku. Shinjuku was a very fun location to be located because there is a lot of shopping and restaurants near by as well as it is very close to Shibuya and Harajuku. Shinjuku in particular is famous for its beautiful greenery and gardens. Shinjuku is also famous for the Golden Gai, which contains almost 200 small bars in 6 narrow alleyways.

Shinjuku was also the location of the famous Robot Restaurant. Going to the Robot Restaurant was one of the most unique things I have ever seen as it is basically a show put on by robots. While it is called a restaurant, we did not eat here and the atmosphere is much more about the show, not the food. So I would probably recommend eating before.

Sights

As for sights, I recommend going to some of the various temples of Japan. We went to these temples and they were so beautiful, it really gave you a great sense of Japanese culture and was something you have to check off the bucket list. Another beautiful sight is the Imperial Palace, surround by a stunning park. We went on a beautiful day and it was definitely one of my favorite things we did.

Another must see is the Tokyo Skytree. This is one of the tallest structures in the world and has an amazing view over all of Tokyo.

Another sight is the Tokyo fish market. This is something that is cool to walk around and see, and if you’re adventurous there is tons of very fresh sushi you can buy. You can also get up at 4am and see the amazing Auctioning of the Tunas. Since time did not permit, I was unable to experience this but I have heard it’s absolutely amazing.

Food

As for food, it was hard since we did not speak Japanese and because most of the restaurants in Tokyo hold less than 20 people. So for food, we used a lot of Yelp and I read a lot of blogs to find places to eat.

Here are some of my favorite blogs I used to help find places !

The Blonde Abroad

Vogue– Alex Chung’s Guide to Tokyo

Conde Nast Traveler

Happy traveling !