Tokyo, Japan

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Tokyo! After a whirlwind eight days visiting four other places in Japan, we finally reached its biggest city, Tokyo. We stayed for five nights in Ginza, a nice, relatively quiet commercial district filled with luxury brands and nice hotels and restaurants. Alex had made a reservation ahead of time, so after checking in to the hotel, we dropped right in to the Ginza Music Bar, where they had been holding the prime spot at the bar for two, right in front of the vinyls DJ, waiting for our arrival.

 

We started the next morning with a treat hailing from another country. January is definitely not a peak time for tourism in Tokyo, but there was still a bit of a line for this spot! Pasteis de nata — Portuguese egg tarts — from Cristiano Doçaria Portuguesa. They were actually very, very good.

Continuing around this quiet residential neighborhood, near Yoyogi Park and Shibuya.

Monocle shop.

A tamago sando from Camelback Sandwich.

Then we made our way down to Shibuya and visited the old, split-level HANDS store. And Alex picked up another sweatshirt from Saturdays to add to his neutral-colored Saturdays sweatshirt collection.

Good ole Shibuya Scramble! As seen from the Starbucks overlooking the famous intersection.

Then we went down to cross it on foot, even though we really didn’t need to.

Back in Ginza at dusk, where they have a daily slow streets situation where they close the main strip to all car traffic.

Dinner with Whitney & Ryan and family!

After dinner, we went for a stroll around the Tsutaya Bookstore inside the Ginza 6 department store.

And then we followed that up with a visit to this historic beer hall down the street, the Lion Beer Hall.

Next morning! We began with a visit to one of Alex’s old favorites, Turret Coffee, near the Tsukiji Fish Market.

The last (and only) time I was in Tokyo was twelve years ago, back when Tsukiji was the location of the actual fish market, where they sold seafood and held bluefin tuna auctions. The market has since moved to Toyosu, with Tsukiji now a bustling tourist spot with lots of different food stalls.

Tamago!

Stopped in for some sushi in a casual sit-down spot.

Side quest! I came across a ten-year journal while we were at Tsutaya, which inspired me to look into long-term journaling for not only myself but also for my friends, whom I would be seeing soon for my birthday party back in the Bay. A quick internet search revealed Hobonichi, a cult favorite for journaling. And of course they had a small flagship store in the Jimbocho neighborhood on the north side of Tokyo. Worth a side trip! Nine 5-year Hobonichi journals purchased!

Also in this neighborhood, a cult-favorite coffee shop, Glitch. Think elevated sit-down tasting experience, but coffee. One of these two cups was $30USD.

I don’t actually drink coffee, but I’m here for the vibes!

Also, this metro station happens to have this statue marking the birth of baseball in Japan! An American teacher Horace Wilson taught at the school previously located here, and he introduced his students to the game of baseball. Fun little monument for baseball-loving Alex.

Back in Ginza, we visited this little hole-in-the-wall art supply shop. I found this book of Taiwanese sketches (by a Japanese artist) but it was a display-only copy and not for sale.

Over to the famous seven-story Itoya stationery store. It was so packed with people, it was actually not a very fun shopping experience. Best to come with actual goals for what you want to buy! But also much more pleasant if you can come at off-peak times. Otherwise the store is quite narrow and not very easy to navigate amidst crowds.

Another dusk in Ginza.

Our first shabu shabu experience in Japan… Slightly different from the hotpot customs we’re used to, but familiar enough! And very delicious.

The next day Alex went to get a haircut, so I waited until afterwards to meet him for lunch. Having already been in Taiwan and Japan for almost three weeks at this point, I decided we should try a different cuisine, so I picked Indian food! Alas, it was not that good. But you can’t win them all.

Then Alex took me to Omotesando for some vintage Chanel shopping!

To be clear, I don’t own any luxury brand items. But I had mentioned to Alex once that if I did, it would probably be a Chanel bag. He took note and had been secretly shopping for one for months. But then he finally decided it would make more sense to let me look for myself while were here in Japan. It’s certainly fun to look!

There are many specialty vintage shops around Omotesando, some with entire sections or sub-stores dedicated specifically to each brand like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and more.

Donuts & coffee.

Back in Ginza again, Tsujita ramen. There was a line, but it became 3x longer by the time we left.

The next morning, birthday breakfast for me! Ricotta pancakes at Bills, an Australian brunch spot.

Our friends Steph and John have also arrived in Tokyo! We met up with them for a look around the free Grand Seiko Museum. Great exhibits about time, timekeeping, and their many, many beautiful watches and clocks.

Alex booked a special dining experience for my birthday lunch– a tofu tasting menu! At Tofu Ukai in Shiba Park, right under the Tokyo Tower.

Such a beautiful historic garden setting! And a very special dining experience. There was a chef in the hut inside the courtyard frying tofu, with the servers running the dishes up to us in the dining room.

I do love tofu!

With a beautiful walk around the grounds afterwards.

Alex also got me this tiny bouquet and carried it around in his backpack water bottle pocket for the rest of the day.

Shops around Daikanyama: Traveler’s Factory; Kinto.

Epulor, a coffee shop vinyl bar with one very hardworking woman doing everything.

And another vintage shop, this one not with all of the others in Omotesando… and I found my tassel baby! a 1991 Chanel camera bag. Hooray! Thank you Alex!

Dinner is this very fun izakaya place back in Ginza with Steph and John. My plate says “Mom and Dad, Thank you for giving birth to me.” Perfect for this birthday dinner, haha.

John was also celebrating his birthday in Japan, just one week after mine!

Love.

Final day for Alex and me in Japan! We started at Kaminarimon.

We signed up for this mizuhiki workshop together so we could learn to tie these Japanese knots, typically used as decoration on cards and for ceremonial occasions.

Alex and John made keychains while Steph and I made earrings! Love them all!

Kura conveyor belt sushi for lunch!

Muji!

Then, time to browse Kappabashi, the kitchenwares street. I found a bunch of beautiful rice bowls at this tiny shop, run by an old lady.

I did not purchase the matching tea set, though I am still considering going back for them someday.

John makes knives! So it was fun to browse some of these knife shops with him. So many things to look at.

Taiyaki break after ogling all the kitchenwares.

Back to Sensoji Temple at golden hour.

A quick visit to Kakimori, a stationery shop where you can customize your own notebook (but you generally have to come back to pick it up on another day).

And for our final meal in Tokyo, sukiyaki! This place was only ok. But the company was excellent.

And that was it! A very early morning pass through Tokyo Station to go out to Narita Airport.

And we flew JAL business class back to Taipei! Alex really liked his Japanese set meals in both the lounge and on the plane!

Very nice, too bad this was just a short four-hour flight between Tokyo and Taipei. But we enjoyed it!

We would ironically end up back in Tokyo again just a couple months later, but I’ll eventually share more about that too! I am very, very grateful for all of these experiences. For now, check out the rest of our Taiwan & Japan winter travels below.

Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco. She compulsively documents and blogs all of her daily adventures. Follow her on instagram and view more of her professional work at annawu.com.


Taiwan & Japan, 2025

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