Tokyo Itinerary – Day 3/8 - Beauty of Defect

Time to get into the real business. How can one visit Tokyo, and not visit the famed Tsukiji Market in central Tokyo for the ultra-fresh sushi and sashimi?

The answer is no, because you simply can’t miss it. That being said, the third day’s itinerary will be spent in central Tokyo!

Tsukiji Market

Take the Oedo subway line from Shinjuku station to Tsukiji-Shijo station (~20 min, ¥270). Tsukiji Market is ~5 min walk away from the station. A word of caution, though, is that the queues for all restaurants in the market were insane.

There was an extremely famous restaurant Sushi Dai (building 6), where you could possibly wait up to a few hours. To avoid the long queues, I would suggest you to come early at ~7:00am. You would probably still have to queue, but the waiting time may be shorter.

Arriving at a slightly later time at 9:00am, I chose not to spend hours waiting and opted for a random restaurant with minimal queue. The standard couldn’t be too far off, right?

In the end, I was pleasantly surprised with the freshness of the sushi and sashimi. So yes, I would recommend you to take a chance and not wait in line for hours. The food in Tsukiji Market are generally more expensive, but they will probably be the freshest sashimi you ever taste. Go ahead and indulge yourself!

Tuna Auction

The famous event at Tsukiji Market is the daily Tuna Auction in the inner market, where the price can go as high as a few hundred thousands for the fresh tuna. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wake up as early as 4:00am if you want to join the queue to watch the live auction as there is a limit of 120 tourists per day. Still, it is not guaranteed as the slots are on a first come first serve basis.

Ginza

After your meal, time for some shopping in the nearby Ginza. It is pretty near so I’d suggest you to take a walk with the help of google map (~30 min normal pace). Otherwise, take a subway towards Ginza station.

If you’re not into shopping, strolling along the streets in Ginza is an absolute fun thing to do.

Venturing into the famous Uniqlo building where you can try on clothes by standing in front of the Uniqlo Magic Mirror – a virtual fitting and dressing system to try on the clothes in different colours. How cool it that?

Same goes for the Shiseido store – stand in front of the magic mirror and you can see how different shades of products like lipsticks and blushers would look on your face.

For music lovers, there is a Yamaha building where you can play various musical instruments on the first level. Get on to different levels for different instruments too!

Japan has definitely taken window shopping to a whole new level.

Akihabara

After your stroll, get into the subway and head to Akihabara. It’s time to catch some cosplays and otaku in action!

Akihabara is an amazing place, especially if you are into anime and games. Plenty of cosplayers walk along the streets, and I guarantee that this is a scene you wouldn’t want to miss. Anime lovers can be found all over the places selling toys, figurines, manga, and more!

If you are a Gundam fan, be sure not to miss the Gundam Café near to the subway station. We tried the Gundam latte but were not impressed as the latte was probably 90% milk.

Cute girls in maid costumes are all over the places, trying very hard to persuade you to visit their Maid Cafés. If you’d like a maid to power up your omelette rice with some ‘moe moe’ magic tricks, follow them. Rumour has it that your omelette rice will instantly become more ‘oishii’!

Gaming arcades are all over Akihabara too. Remember seeing characters playing ‘Taiko’ in the anime? Have a try here and people-watch the young gamers. Some boys are really cute too.

Pablo Mini

Another thing you must not miss, is the Pablo Mini beside Akihabara station.

Oh my god, the mini cheese tarts are so heavenly! Comes in three flavours – Cheese, Chocolate, and Match (Green Tea), you can easily get a box of 6 and I guarantee that you will crave for more! Remember to taste them when they’re hot and fresh out of the oven, but do it when you join the queue again just in case you’re (definitely) buying them one more time.

All Pablo tarts are freshly baked on the spot. The cutest thing about Pablo Mini is that every time a new batch of tarts are baked and pulled out of the oven, a girl would ring a bell and called for a uniform slogan of ‘Pablo’ among all the girls in the store. Yes, this is the Japanese standard and it is AMAZING!

End your day with some Pablo Mini and you’re all set to return to your hotel with all these sweetness lingering in your mouth. Be sure to check out my other Tokyo Itineraries for more fun stuff to do in Tokyo!

Details of the places for today:

Tsukiji Market 築地市場

Hours:
Inner Market: Opened to public after 10:00am
Outer Market: ~5:00 am to 2:00pm
Closed: Sundays, National Holidays, and some Wednesdays (click here to check the calendar)
Fees: Free