Danak

I will be in Tokyo from April 26th (flight lands at 1pm) and then flying out the next day at 4pm. Any suggestions on what to do in such a short amount of time and get a good feel for Tokyo?

I also heard it can take 4 hours to get into Tokyo from the airport...is that true?

mrwunrfl

It's 90 minutes to 2 hours by train, depending on where you go.

Your post is a fairly common one here: what to do with a 4-hour, 8-hour, 24-hour layover at Narita, so you can find several answers in previous threads by searching. In particular, you should search for "Mike Newman" to get the URL for his Narita layover webpage. I think he covers overnight layovers there.

Danak

Do i need a visa to leave the airport and go exploring? I want to leave Narita and go to Tokyo for the 29 hours...

mrwunrfl

What kind of passport will you have, USA, Canada, North Korea, or what. If USA then you don't need a visa.

Danak

My husband has a US passport and i have a Canadian with a US green card

Spygirl

Danak-you and the DH have a 90 day tourist entry without a visa for Japan. As for getting into Tokyo-it takes exactly 60 minutes to get from Narita to Ueno station in Tokyo-via the Keisei Airport Express train, cost is 1950Y, (cash only) comfortable train, not crowded, the 3 or so stops (depending on which terminal you're in) announced in English/Japanese. The Keisei Skyliner Express ticket office is in the Narita lower level arrivals area, just before the trains. I always use this train (which is a private rail company) to get into Tokyo because it's so easy, just buy your ticket and get off at the last stop.

From Ueno-follow the signs to the subway-Ginza line go 4 stops to the end-Asakusa-where you'll be in the heart of tourist Tokyo-the Sensoji Temple at Kaminarimon gate with the giant Japanese lantern at the entrance-a picture of which is on all the postcards-you can eat and wander the shopping streets around this area, or go get on the Ginza line to explore further.

Danak

Spygirl- you have been so helpful. What can i really expect to do in such a short time. If our flight lands at 1pm in Toyko I should probably expect to get into Tokyo in around 2-3 hours. Is there any shopping/tourist stuff open at that hour that you can suggest?

Also, we plan to go the next morning to the Tsukiji Fish Market - any suggestions on things to do after. Our plane departs at 4pm that day? how long do we have to be there in advance?

Florence

Bonjour Danak,

Spygirl has given you good advice about getting to Tokyo. I'll add book your return ticket when leaving the airport already. If you already have your boarding documents for your next day flight and have only a daypack, you need to be at the airport 1 hour before your flight.

There is a tourist information counter with English speaking staff in the Keisei Ueno station, right in front of the turnstile. You can get free maps and informations on what there is to see.

I suggest you book a hotel around Ueno station, or in Asakusa, or near Ginza/Tokyo station. Those areas are all along the Ginza subway line and therefore convenient for visiting Tsukiji market the next day.

You will find everything is open when you arrive, you might visit the shopping streets around Ueno station, or the park and the odd museum, or go to Ginza, then to your hotel, have dinner and wander around.

Next morning, go early to Tsukiji fish market, then take a waterbus from Hama-Rikyu gardens (behind the market) towards Asakusa. From there, you can stroll that traditional area, good for tourism and shopping, all the way back to Ueno station where you can take the train back to the airport.

Danak

Merci beaucopu Florence. What time should we get to the fish market?

Also here is a strange question - will we smell from the fish market? the reason i ask, is that if we should check out of the hotel in the wee hours of the morning, or go back and shower/change and then go see more places.

hobbes

A gorgeous small museum set in a beautiful garden complete with tea room to wander into is the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts at Aoyama Dori, open 9-4:30. I prefer the Aoyama area to wander around, browse, shop to Ginza which I found very crowded. I would also suggest the Meiji Shrine which is stunning - open 9 - 4. The best time to visit the fish market is 5-5:30 AM. An authentic Tokyo experience for lunch is Maisen, near Aoyama Dori cheap too.

Florence

Bonjour Danak,

As Hobbes wrote, go very, very early in the morning if you want to see some action at the fish market.

You shouldn't smell from it (I've never seen a smelly fish market - or smelly fish for that matter - in Japan) since you're not supposed to go very near to any fish except the ones you'll eat.

Danak

We plan to go way to early in the morning! Is it easy to get around in Tokyo?

Spygirl

Danak-you have to remember-this is a huge metropolis-and when you are unfamiliar with the transportation system and the area, it's best not to try to do too much. Taxis are very expensive-the minute the door closes, it's an immediate US6.00-before you've gone anywhere.

That's why I advised you to to go to Asakusa, because it's a little quieter up in the northeast part of the city than down in the centra/financial areas of the city, and you can really just walk around the Sensoji temple complex and the very Japanese neighborhood that surrounds it and get a flavor of old Tokyo.

One thing I want to add, airlines require you to be at the airport for any international flight a minimum of two hours before. I can tell you that last April, when flying out of Narita on a Sunday, I needed every bit of three hours, because it was terrifically crowded, depending on the carrier, you may have long lines at check-in, then there is the security checkpoint, and finally, passport control. So you need to plan accordingly. The good thing is, if you get to Narita early enough, there is plenty of shopping to do once you get through passport control. There are branches of the big Tokyo dept. stores (depato) as well as electronic shops, and all manner of other souvenir shops. This is just a suggestion of course, but I would not say it is easy to get around Tokyo for the first time without assistance, so you might want to limit yourself to one particular area, and not try to take on too much when you have less than a day.

Danak

So subway is the best way to get around...We are flying home with Continental and my husband and I are both have Elite status - i know it helps big time at Newark airport - how about Narita?

Peteralan

Danak...some good suggestions above. With such a short time, I think I would explore the Ginza shopping area and go to a park ( I think maybe Ueno is one park name ). As you will be there in April there's a good chance you will see the beautiful cherry blossoms. Have fun!

emd

Danak: You might want to ask about Continental status at Narita on the Airlines forum here or check the continental forum on www.flyertalk.com.

Spygirl

Ah, Peteralan, you can go anywhere in the world and go to a park,(as nice as Ueno Park may be). On the other hand, you can only see Sensoji Temple, Japan's largest Buddhist temple, in Tokyo's Asakusa. If I have less than a day to see something of Japanese culture, I think that would be it, and then if I had the time, I'd jump on the subway to go down to Ginza.

Danak

right now i am thinking of 2 hotels - the Ana hotel in Tokyo or the Ginza Capital. Have u heard or been to any of these?

Elainee

We used an excellent private guide in Tokyo. She speaks perfect English, knows the city, and will take you to whatever you want to see and/or places she thinks you will like. In such a short time, it would be a shame to need to figure out everything yourself in such a spread-out city and spend part of your time on a learning curve. Jun has been used by other Fodor people with as good results as we had. Her email is [email protected]

cjackson

When I was in Tokyo a few years ago, we headed for the subway v-e-r-y early, to go to the fish market. There was hardly anyone on/around the subway. Extremely clean, and very helpful personnell. They've since redone the subway signs to be more "friendly" to Westerners. At any rate, when we got to the fish market - we found out it wasn't open on that day! But we did visit a great open air market that we passed on the way, and congratulated ourselves on making our way successfully through the subway system, on our own. You should have no problem, Danak. Get a map and head out!