Our trip highlights

1. Shop on Kappabashi Kitchen Street

If you’re visiting this page, chances are you like cooking and if that’s the case you must visit Kappabashi Kitchen Street.

We absolutely recommend the store Kama-Asa (we have a lot of things from this store, including our cutting board which is very popular). I also liked visiting Takaso which is a pottery store—we got our rice bowls and chopstick rests here. If you’re looking for knives, we recommend Kama-Asa or Jikko.

Kappabashi is a bit out of the way from central Shibuya, so plan your itinerary accordingly—we blocked off a whole morning/afternoon for travel and 4 hours of shopping and even then we felt a bit rushed at the end (lol).

Nearby you can eat at Benitsuru Pancake. We didn’t eat there because we showed up with no reservation which was a mistake, but it’s on our list! We also have a ton of other cafes saved nearby—check them out in our Google Maps so you have options.

You can see our mini-vlog from our Kappabashi shopping day here and Musashi’s haul here.

2. Eat at Ramen Break Beats and shop in Nakameguro

Requires reservations — make them before your trip to be safe!

Ramen Break Beats was the restaurant that elicited the most post-meal-mindblown reaction from us on our trip. This spot was recommended by @foodwithmichel (who is Tokyo-based, he has a ton of great Tokyo recs on his page) and it is absolutely worth the travel to get to this spot.

Reservations are required; you should be able to make them about 1 week in advance with no major issues.

Nearby is Nakameguro, which is a cute trendy neighborhood along a river—very picturesque. Worth a quick shopping stroll. Some shops to check out: kindal (second hand designer shopping), 1ldk (menswear and apartment shop), the nonnative shop (menswear), and visvim (we don’t totally get the hype but decide for yourself).

3. Eat sushi at Tsukiji Fish Market and/or omakase

Quick soapbox for those of you who don’t really eat sushi (because I know y’all are out there): if you eat fish, you must have sushi in Tokyo. I didn’t eat sushi growing up and the first time I had it was when I was 20 at the Tsukiji Fish Market and (not even exaggerating) it was life-changing. It is absolutely worth prioritizing sushi on your trip.

The Tsukiji Fish Market is something I think you should go to at least once in your life. There are a bunch of creators on Youtube & TikTok that will walk you through the process of maximizing your experience (usually by waking up at 3am). We personally haven’t done that, and we also visited Tsukiji when it was at it’s old location (not the new one) so things might have changed since but I would highly consider visiting even for a chill stroll at a normal time in the morning.

Another popular sushi-activity is shelling out for a nice omakase restaurant. Admittedly, Musashi and I aren’t totally obsessed with finding and eating the best omakase so take that into account when looking at our list. We ate at Hantano Yoshiki (~$270pp) and enjoyed the experience (it was a solid “really good” but don’t feel strongly enough about it to recommend to you as a “must do”).

That said, here are a few places we have on our list:

• Sushi Mizukame (¥39,000 / ~$270pp)

• Sharikimon Onozawa (¥42,500 / ~$290pp)

• Sushi Ryuta (¥27,500 / ~$190pp)

• Sushi Yuu (¥22,000 / ~$150pp)

• Manten Sushi (¥8800 / $60pp)

• Tachiguizushi Akira (¥6000 / $41.40) — not omakase, it’s a la carte standing sushi

4. Vintage shop in Shimokitazawa and visit Little Soul Cafe

I’m so glad we stayed in Shimokitazawa—it might be out of the way if you’re staying in Shibuya or on the east side of Tokyo but IMO it’s worth the trip out. Shimokitazawa is very well known for its second hand vintage shopping. Even if you don’t buy anything, it’s fun to see what people are wearing! Would recommend just wandering into stores you find interesting, the main area itself isn’t too big.

While you’re out there, there’s also a bit more of a modern complex (reload shopping center) with a coffee shop we really enjoyed called Ogawa Coffee Laboratory—you can route there and if you have the time you might enjoy walking around!

One of our must-do’s is visiting Little Soul Cafe. We really enjoyed this spot. It’s a quaint vinyl listening bar run singlehandedly by the owner who mixes drinks, waits tables, and DJ’s mostly Soul/R&B/Disco. A Google review describes it as “A temple for soul music lovers and a trademark of Shimokitazawa…[with] an owner who knows soul like no one else.”

Honestly just watching him work his magic selecting an amazing list of music is the main reason we recommend this spot—we had our Shazam open all night. We were told by a local that Nas would frequent this spot when visiting Tokyo. Note: it’s an open smoking bar so if that bothers you, maybe skip.

5. Go to Tsutaya in Daikanyama and explore

We bundled a shopping day in Daikanyama with Nakameguro since they’re so close to each other. There are a bunch of stores (clothing, trinkets, etc) in Daikanyama but honestly we just ended up spending 3-4 hours at the Tsutaya bookstore—we felt so inspired. There are books about so many hobbies and interests, and they have some books/magazines in English too.

6. Eat at one of the popular Tokyo pizza restaurants

Requires reservations — make them before your trip to be safe!

You might hear some people say that the best pizza they ever ate was in Tokyo—Musashi and I haven’t been to Italy yet as adults so we cannot verify but we can say the pizza we had at Pizza Marumo was absolutely stellar and mindblowing.

The commonly talked about “top 3” pizza spots in Tokyo are:

1. Savoy

2. Pizza Studio Tamaki (PST)

3. Seirinkan

We didn’t plan far enough in advance so we couldn’t get reservations at any of these, and instead opted for what’s often talked about as an honorable mention, Pizza Marumo, which was started by Chef Yuki Motokura who used to work at Savoy.

I watched @jeremyjacabowitz’s “best pizzas of tokyo” video as a primer for all of this!

By the way: when Musashi goes to a new pizza spot he likes to order a marinara pie. When I saw all of the creative pizzas at Pizza Marumo I thought to myself that a pie so simple as a marinara would be a waste, but for Musashi that’s how he can really taste and discern the quality of all of the key pizza elements. And I’ll say: the marinara pizza was soooooo good. We ordered 3 pies and all of them were good, but the marinara was our favorite.

7. Relax in Hakone

This isn’t in Tokyo so we’re kind of cheating with including this on the list but this was one of the highlights of our trip. Hakone is known for its nature and hot springs—we really appreciated getting out of the city for a bit.

We splurged and got a nice suite at Hakone retreat villa 1f with a private onsen. Upon researching a bunch of places, we picked this one and our only regret is not staying longer.

8. Hang out in and around Yoyogi Park

Yoyogi Park is nice to people watch, but also the area near it—specifically on the southwest side—is quite cute and trendy! Recommend grabbing a coffee and people watching at Fuglen and then nearby is Ahiru Store—this wine bar inspired one of our favorite spots in New York, The Four Horsemen. We weren’t able to visit on our trip because they were on a winter break but we can’t wait to eat there on our next visit.

9. Udon Shin

Reservations highly recommended — make them before your trip to be safe!

Udon Shin was another one of our favorite bites on the trip—despite the fact that it’s a bit touristy, if you plan correctly and don’t end up waiting in line for too long, we definitely think it’s worth it.

You can get a reservation on Tablecheck (reservations accepted 30 days in advance) but you can still snag a table without one. They use a ticket system to queue; we had a friend grab a ticket ~8:45am which put us as one of the first parties seated when they opened at 11am.

We shared more of these tips in this video caption.

10. Curry Bondy

While we haven’t tried enough curry places in Tokyo to know if this is the best, we really enjoyed Curry Bondy in Jimbocho. Expect a bit of a line (we arrived at 11:30am and waited ~30 minutes).

Our mini-vlog of our visit is here.

11. Shop at Don Quijote, Muji, Uniqlo, and GU

At the risk of telling you things you already know, you should visit these iconic Japanese superstores.

There are Don Quijote’s all around Tokyo and the schtick is that almost all of them are open for 24 hours. It’s kind of like a Target in America—they sell a lot of different things in there: food, beauty, stationery, toys, clothing etc. This is a great place to go to pick up some goodies for loved ones back home.

Yes, we have Muji in the States but the vibe and selection is just so much fun in Japan. Same goes for Uniqlo and its sister store GU—we visited these spots multiple times during our trip.

12. Take an ikebana class (if you’re interested!)

Requires reservations — make them before your trip to be safe!

Those that follow us on Instagram might have seen me post my ikebana flower arrangements. You might have also seen that I took an ikebana class at the headquarters in Japan. Many of you have DM’d me asking about this, so I wanted to share some details for you in case this is of interest :)

• I went to the Sogetsu Headquarters — there are a bunch of different ikebana styles and sogetsu is the style I am studying. There are many other facilities that will offer ikebana lessons, but to me this is the most “official” one with a longstanding history.

• They offer an English beginner class. If you’re totally new to ikebana I would recommend this!

• Class price for me was ¥7000 / ~$50 which included the cost of 2 plant materials (you can pay for more). You will need to ask instructors to borrow scissors (assuming you didn’t travel with them).

Our mini-vlog of the class is here.

Separately, we stopped by Tsutaya - Ikebana and Tea Ceremony shop to pick up a vase; it’s near the main Aoyama shopping area so worth stopping by if you’re in the area!

Honorable Mentions

Places that were solid or highly recommended to us that didn’t make the top list above.

Restaurants

*Reservation required or highly recommended

⭐️⭐️ Worth going out of the way for (in addition to all spots above):

• Ukiyo* west of Shibuya for innovative and relatively affordable tasting menu - We loved going here and had such an enjoyable evening. Will be back!!

• Jambo Hanare* in Yushima for Yakiniku (wagyu beef) prefixe menu - Didn’t get to visit but friends swear by this place.

• Tonkatsu Suzushin in Shinjuku for very famous/popular katsudon (pork cutlet rice bowl) — This place was all over my feeds when it came to Tokyo recs. Didn’t get to visit, but it’s top of the list next time we’re back.

⭐️ Good if you’re in the area:

• Shinjuku Yakiniku Hormone Daruma for yakiniku (beef and offal) — We ate here and really enjoyed it

• Uogashi Niho-Ichi Shibuya Dogenzaka for a standing sushi bar (a la carte) — For the price, service, and experience this was almost a “worth going out of the way for spot” but it’s in central Shibuya so conveniently located. A good recommendation when you’re looking for a bite that’s more casual and lowkey. Their geoduck nigiri was one of Musashi’s favorite bites on the trip.

• Mimasu in Shinjuku for sushi — Saw this place on TikTok. It’s been open since 1910, is family owned, looks very cozy, and has affordable sushi! Didn’t get to visit but also can’t wait to try.

• Ayagawa in Ebisu for chicken ramen — One of Musashi’s chef friends’ favorite ramen shops in Tokyo. We really liked it—the noodles are thick and chewy. Our mini-vlog here.

• Ryan* in Shibuya for soba — We enjoyed this spot, especially Musashi! Don’t skip the dashimaki (egg omelette made with dashi).

• 蕎麦と鶏 はんさむ 下北沢 (Soba noodle shop) in Shimokitazawa — We popped in here on our last day and it was so comforting. A simple meal that’s delicious!

• Tonki in Meguro City for tonkatsu— Saw @cabagges.world go here and it was highly recommended by a friend so we had to try it! This place is a well oiled machine and we loved seeing it. Great service too.

• Hikiniku To Come in Shibuya for hamburger patties — Recommended to us, we didn’t get the chance to make it out but good option if you want to “mix up” what you’re eating

• Gyukatsu Motomura for beef katsu — There are several locations in Tokyo. Would line up a bit before opening.

Cafes

• Glitch Coffee Roasters in Shinjuku— very popular for its craft & care toward its specialty coffee.

• Coffee County in Shimokitazawa — similar to Glitch, lots of care in the beans and preparation.

Shops

• Onitsuka Tiger in Omotesando for sneakers — You probably already know about this but grab a cheeky lil pair! We love ours :)

• Public Tokyo in Shibuya - This is a Japanese store known for its minimal urban design and relatively accessible price point. There are a few locations here. We both got a sturdy coat here!

• Lemaire in Ebisu — Lemaire is a French fashion label known for its elegance and quiet luxury. Things here are definitely a splurge but this new flagship space is so beautiful and quaint. Worth stopping by if you’re in the area!

• Sacai in Aoyama — Sacai is a Japanese fashion label started by Chitose Abe who previously used to work at Comme de Garcons. It’s a little more architectural and experimental, I have 2 shirts from here (one I got at a second hand shop).

• Ciota near Yoyogi Park for denim - Saw this store on Sophia Chang’s Tokyo vlog. I ended up getting a set at Lemaire before I could visit this store, but I had my eyes on a denim set here for sure.

• kindal harajuku second hand store for vintage designer - There are a bunch of locations around Tokyo! It’s fun to pop in and see what goodies they have (good selection of clothing and accessories).

• 2nd Street for thrifting/vintage shopping - There are several locations around Tokyo. We went to the one in Shimokitazawa and I got a Paul Smith jacket for $20!!!

• Jam Vintage in Harajuku for thrifting - Musashi got a shirt here and wears it all the time!

• Aoyama Book Center — Fun to walk around and get inspired!

• Sugahara Shop Aoyama for glassware — This is the flagship for this artisan glassware brand. It’s a bit of a splurge but Musashi has been a longtime fan of this brand.

• Loft in Ginza - There are several types of goods here: stationery, dishware, cooking, makeup/skincare, etc. Overall it’s a fun shop to pick up gifts and browse.

• Itoya in Ginza for stationery - There are >13 floors in this store. It’s fun to wander and pick up a few small things!

You can see our haul of everything we bought here.

Our Tokyo Vlog

coming soon :)

The Full List

Disclaimer: many of the saved locations are places we haven’t actually visited, but really wanted to, and they were either recommended to us or were places I saw other creators go to. We’re including them just so you have more options of places to explore when you visit!