In October 2023, my friends and I flew to Tokyo, Japan, to rediscover the city. We were around Tokyo in 2015, but we only visited selected places due to limited time. We were new travelers back then.
In the next few weeks, I will share with you the places we visited. Please note that we did not aim to see everything on this trip. We carefully chose the places we wanted to go to and took our time going around. We also kept our itinerary open and flexible for possible last-minute discoveries and changes.
Today, I will show snippets from our visit to Tsukiji Outer Market, Gotokuji, and Ginza. Prior to visiting these places, I, together with my friends, had been to Roppongi, Yokohama, and Shibuya.
In case you missed it, we were in Tokyo back in October 2015. Check out this post to learn more about that trip.
Plane Tickets
My friends and I booked ₱1 base fare tickets to Tokyo during Cebu Pacific Air’s anniversary sale back in March 2023. We paid ₱7,116.72 each for a return ticket to Tokyo, including 7 kilograms of carry-on allowance, 20 kilograms of checked luggage allowance, and a complimentary standard seat.
I previously wrote about both Manila to Tokyo Narita (5J 5056) and Tokyo Narita to Manila (5J 5055) flights under the Flight Reports section. I hope you can check them out.
Accommodation
My friends and I booked only one accommodation for this trip. We stayed with Imano Tokyo Ginza Hostel, an amazing and budget-friendly hostel on the quiet side of Ginza.
I wrote about our stay at Imano Tokyo Ginza Hostel in the previous hostel of the day feature. I hope you can read here why I consider this hostel to be my new favorite property in Tokyo.
Going Around Tokyo
Going around Tokyo can be quite challenging. Instead of thinking about which specific route or subway or train line to take, my friends and I opted to just use our IC cards throughout the trip. We did not avail of a subway pass or an unlimited train pass.
Basically, we searched our destination via Google Maps and followed either the fastest train option (if we were in a hurry) or the most economical or cheapest train option (if we were not chasing anything). Thankfully, we found every destination we intended to go to. Thank you, Google!
Tsukiji Outer Market
Tsukiji Outer Market is one of Tokyo’s food havens. It has a wide range of food stalls, restaurants, retail, and wholesale shops that locals and visitors can enjoy. The central wholesale market used to be in this area until the Tokyo government recently transferred it to Toyosu.
We went to and walked around the outer market around lunchtime. We saw long lines at food stalls and restaurants. My friend and I ended up having high-quality Japanese beef skewers for lunch.
Nearest Stations: Tsukiji Station (Hibiya Subway Line) or Tsukiji Shijo Station (Oedo Subway Line)
Gotokuji
Gotokuji Temple is Tokyo’s lucky cat temple. The famous Buddhist temple, located in Setagaya Ward, is home to thousands of luck-inviting cat figurines.
We went to Gotokuji after Tsukiji Outer Market and spent some time around the temple complex.
Nearest Station: Gotokuji Station (Odakyu Odawara Line)
Ginza
Ginza is one of Tokyo’s upscale shopping districts. It is home to numerous department stores, luxury brand boutiques, art galleries, and fine-dining restaurants. It is one of the best places to go shopping. Name a shop or a brand, and you will find it here.
It was one of the nearest shopping districts to our hostel. My friends and I walked around Ginza a few times during this trip.
Nearest Stations: Ginza Station (Hibiya, Marunouchi and Ginza Subway Lines) & Yurakucho Station (JR Yamanote Line, JR Keihin-Tohoku Line and Yurakucho Subway Line)
Thank you for joining me in today’s photoblog. Have you been to these places? Which one do you like the most and why? Is there a specific place that caught your interest or attention? Feel free to share them in the comments section below. Do you have any questions about anything mentioned above? You may also send them to me via email to contact@thewkndtravel.com.
I hope you stay tuned for more Tokyo 2023-retaled content in the future. Before you go, I hope you can like, follow and share my social media pages – Facebook and Instagram. This will help me increase my reach; it will also keep you up-to-date with the latest blog posts, itineraries and flight reports on this website. Thank you and see you in the next one!
PS. Photos were taken using my OnePlus 9 Pro.