What to do for first night in Tokyo?
 

My wife and I (who are in our mid 30's) will be going to Tokyo for the first time at the end of May. We will end up landing at Narita at 3:30 pm and I'm guessing that we will arrive at the Park Hotel Tokyo around 7 pm (if we're lucky). Can anyone please suggest what we can do after check-in? We are only there for 2.5 days after that night. The hotel is in the Shiodome/Ginza area. Perhaps getting a bite and drink somewhere with a great view would be nice (maybe in the same hotel?). We also would like to go to the fish market the following morning. My wife thinks we'll be too dead to, but I disagree. What do you think?
Thanks in advance if you can help,

Kurt

You could take the subway to Shibuya, look at the Tokyo Times Square, wander about if you have energy, or go back on the subway to Shinjuku look at the neon and go up the Tokyo Government building to see the skyline. Have dinner at one of the two areas. Nice tempura houses by Shinjuku one is in a tower with a view. That said, all we did the first day was walk about in a daze ;) so maybe a quiet dinner in the hotel would be just fine.

Yes, I think you will be up in time to see the fish market. Tokyo natives advised to go before 8 am. We went at 7 am and it was still if full swing.

We arrived at 3:15 and breezed through the airport. We were at our hotel - also in The Ginza by 5.

Just like moxie, we were dazed and confused, so we stayed near the hotel for dinner. However, do walk around a bit after dark, the neon in The Ginza is great!

We didn't get to the fish market till at least 7:30-8Am and there was still a lot to see. I count it as one of my favorite memories of Japan.

We made exactly as Angethereader, arrived around 5 p.m. at hotel, arrange the clothes from luggages, shower, a nice dinner at one of the resturants of the hotel.
We were at fish market after 8, and it was OK., we saw a lot and it was a nice experience.

As Moxie said, go in one evening in Government buildings at 46th (or 42nd??) floor, for the view of the city. It is free of charge and it is open till 10 p.m.
This is a modern building, and they say that it is a modern replica of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

Moxie, Ange, and Valtor- Thank you all for your great suggestions. I definitely will walk around Ginza the first night, even if I have to take a cold shower beforehand! The government building sounds nice too.
Hopefully I won't be too lagged. I can remember being in Bangkok, and everyday around 7 pm I would hit the wall and be ready to pass out. Even with multiple cups of coffee, I was overcome with exhaustion! Hope things will be better this time.

Best regards,

Kurt

My first night there I woke up at 4:30am. Went to the fish market at 5:00am and it was great...don't go too late

You don't have to go far.

There's a number of restaurants located on the upper floors of Shiodome where you can get a great view. There are lower prices ones on the ground level of Cabretta and on the basement levels of Shiodome. I like the tonkatsu place at there. When the staff realised I was a foreigner he taught me how to prepare the tonkatsu sauce and which was the sauce for the veggie.

If you fancy a walk there's lots of eating places along the railway track around Shimbashi.

I think how much you may want to do that night depends on where you are coming, how long your flight is, and most importantly, whetehr you sleep on the plane or not. After flying from the USA twice to Narita (once w/a stop in Milwaukee, once non-stop from Dulles), I can not imagine going out and using the subway my first night there. But then we do not sleep on the flight over, and we stay up the first night til 10 pm so that we are on Japan time right away (and neihter my two kids or me have had jet lag on either trip doing it that way; both times we sleep til 7 am or so on following day and awake refreshed). So we are dog tired when we get to the hotel in Tokyo. This last trip we landed at 3:30, got thru customs and got luggage in one hr., bought tickets for the limo bus to the hotel, used the ATM to get yen (5 min. wait), and exchanged our JR rail pass vouchers for JR passes at the JR office, and caught the 5:25 bus to the hotel, arriving at 7:30. We cheked in, went up to the club level of the hotel (great view, light food and drinks as you describe- a wonderful way to get greeted), unpacked our bags, and went straight to bed at 10 pm. There is no way I could have gone out and gotten on the subway or train to tool around Tokyo even a few stops, even though I knew the system from the previous trip.
I don't think you or you wife can predict how you will feel. Maybe make some tenative plans, but be very flexible and not disappointed if you ditch the plans and crash. For me, it would be more important how the following 2.5 days go (and whether I am dead tired and cranky unable to enjoy it) rather than pressing myself to go uot the first night if I found I was not up to it.

Jim- Will do the 5am Thingy! Thanks

K- I much appreciate the advice. I'll look for the Tonk! Thx:)

EMD- Hiya again. I too fly out of Dulles and never sleep on the way to Narita (Ok, I do get an hour over the south China sea after playing videogames most of the way:) but I will make sure to stay up as per your recom.
I don't plan on doing the JR pass. IS this a mistake? Thanks again for your reply!

Kurt

Hi

My wife and I went to Japan in May last year. I have posted a trip report with pictures and links on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/japan_tokyo.htm . Maybe you can find some useful information there :-)

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Thanks for that, Gard :)

Mango7...whether or not a JRPass would be worthwhile for you depends on your anticipated use of trains. If you price out your planned trips on www.hyperdia.com (use the TOTAL price as that is what you pay...fare + charge) and it is more than the cost of a JR Pass, then you know to get the pass.

Thanks Kim. Will be in Tokyo 5/24! :)