In April of 2025, I had the opportunity to work in Tokyo for two weeks. I had a fabulous time there. Many people ask me for some tips, so I decided to write some out. Don’t forget to check out my tips for travelling through Japan, written in 2013; they still stand.
It really doesn’t matter what you do: everything is great
I mean that. Japan is very easy to like and will be special in many ways to anybody who has never been there. Yet here is some specific advice (skipping the main tourist sights, which you should also try to see!).
I am no fan of Google as a war-enabling company. Still, Google Maps is amazing, especially in Tokyo, where its understanding of the subway system makes the city much easier to navigate. So, I’ve included Google Maps links for all locations.
The Jazz Kissa, classical music in a café, and a jazz club (don’t miss these!)
Jazz Kissa’s are “niche Japanese cafés stacked with whisky, vinyl and high-end audio systems” (see here). Very close to my office was Jazz Bigboy (maps), with an older man serving coffee during the day and whiskey (for a small cover charge) at night, all while blasting great jazz from the speakers in a very aesthetically pleasing environment. If I go to Tokoyo again, I want to spend all my hours there, reading books.
Meikyoku Kissa Lion (maps) really shouldn’t be missed. In the middle of the insanely busy Shibuya, this is a haven of calm. A place that looks as if it hasn’t changed in 100 years, that plays classical music only. You order your coffee in a hushed tone, with the idea being that everybody shuts up and listens—another wonderful place to read.
The best live jazz experience of my live was at Jazz SPOT Intro (maps). I believe about half the people in this tiny place took the stage to play and improvise the jazz classics.
The Tokyo Toilet Project
You are going to Tokyo, so you’ve seen the film Perfect Days, right? If not, get cracking! In it, you see the protagonist cleaning gorgeous public toilets. These toilets actually exist and can be visited (or used). I mapped out a ~17.5km walk visiting them all, and I loved it (on Garmin, or here is the gpx file in case you are interested), but you can also just visit some of your favourites. They are all in the Shibuya neighbourhood, and you can find them on the Tokyo Toilet website (this was my favourite, but this one was great too, and you shouldn’t miss the ones where locking the door makes the transparent glass go opaque (only in the warmer months).
The route takes you past Yoyogi Park (maps), which is well worth a stroll. If you are in that neighbourhood, and on a hot day, go and get a gelato with special Japanese flavours at fun.ice! (maps).
After spending some time on Toto toilets, I decided I needed one in my house too. Frisse Bips sells them in the Netherlands. I now have (and love!) the TOTO Washlet RW.
Going for a hike in the mountains
Mountains surround Tokyo, so great hikes are only an hour train ride away. I did this hike, reaching the tops of Mounts Nokogiri, Otake, and Mitake, respectively. It was really beautiful and very interesting (with a shrine at the end). Plan well and get yourself a bell so you don’t run into a bear by accident. Here is my gpx file of the route.
A 24/7 onsen and a regular old sento
A trip to Japan isn’t complete without doing some extensive collective bathing (men and women separated). For example, I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Thermae Yu (maps), an onsen in the busy Shinjuku neighbourhood of Tokyo. It gets its natural spring water shipped in from out of town, has a sauna (with loud television), and sleeping rooms. Your ticket is valid for 12 hours, so that the onsen can function as an alternative to a hotel for the night. If you have tattoos, you can still enter as a foreign national, but you have to buy stickers to cover them.
Another must-do is visiting a regular neighbourhood sento, a collective bathing facility where people come to wash themselves. This one was close to where I stayed and appropriately Spartan: Umenoyu (maps). There is a particular order of doing things in these places:
- You bring clean clothes, deodorant (they don’t have that) and a hairband (to put up your hair)
- You undress yourself and get completely naked, and you take in the small towel
- You take one of the little stools and a small water bucket
- You put some water in the small bucket and rinse the top of the little stool
- You completely soap yourself with the small towel (it should be long enough to reach your back as well).
- You make sure there’s no soap left on your body.
- You then take the warm bath, making sure your towel doesn’t touch the water (for example, by keeping it on top of your head) and that your hair doesn’t touch the water (so have it in a ponytail).
The important thing to remember is that you shouldn’t bother others (don’t splash your soap and water on them), that you only go into the bath after washing yourself thoroughly, and that your hair does not go in the bath.
Tadao Ando Street
I am obsessed with the Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Whenever you have a chance to see his buildings, you should (Naoshima is probably your best option). Tokyo has an Ando street with an interesting origin story (maps). But you have to be a really big fan of his work to really enjoy this. The art in the museum isn’t that interesting, and there isn’t much else around.
Some places to eat
You really have to make an effort to eat badly in Japan. That makes these tips feel very random, yet these are all places/experiences I enjoyed, and you might too.
My two favourite meals during my stay there were both at Tokyo Achikōkō (maps). I asked the chef to choose for me, and we chatted at the bar while she made very tasty food and served me delicious plum wine.
I had the most fun eating at Hama Sushi (maps of the branch I went to), where the sushi comes in on a conveyor belt at top speed. Expect to wait for an hour or so, made easier by the fact that you get a receipt with a QR code that leads to a website showing how many people are ahead of you and how much longer it will likely take. The whole thing is an experience.
For lunch one day, go to the Palace Side Building (maps), get a bento box of your choice inside, take the elevator to the rooftop, and eat your food there, overlooking the Imperial Palace gardens.
Anyways, there is so much more. I am jealous!
(Gift) shopping: socks, ceramics and weirdness
The Japanese obsessive attention to quality is renowned for a reason. For many products, they make the very best. This includes socks. Rototo (maps) socks are the best socks I’ve ever owned. I didn’t know socks could be this good (thank you, Michiel de Hoog).
They also make beautiful, affordable ceramics, both hand-made and factory-made. Try Dengama (maps). It is on Tokyo’s famous kitchen street, so get your kitchen knives and chopsticks there too.
And for all the weird and zany stuff you want to bring home to blow people’s minds, go to one of the branches of Don Quijote (maps). They never close. (The picture at the top of this post was taken at a ‘Donki’).
If you are into the hip (as far as I can judge: not really my thing)
The professor I was staying with had taste and style. He first took me to Bar Martha (maps), which is famous for kicking out customers quite randomly for making too much noise (hence the low star rating on Google). From their website:
All visitors are refrained from talking loudly or making noises that disturbs the music. All visitors are prohibited from taking photographs inside the venues, drinks, records and sound systems etc., because we do not agree that any visitors upload and spread the information about our venues on the internet through SNS.
Next, we went to a very small nightclub in a residential neighbourhood with a tatami mat on the top floor: Bar Bonono (maps).
We finished off the night at Steak Lodge (maps), a steakhouse open all night (till 7 in the morning).
That’s it. Enjoy! Let me know how it went and whether you have any not-to-miss tips to share.