Travel Documents

Check your passport for validity for the travel duration. No visas needed.

If your passport expires before you return to the US, begin the passport renewal process immediately by visiting the US State Department website here.

Book a Flight

Including 2 days for an overnight trip to Hakone, 7-10 days in Tokyo is great for a first trip.

Departing on Tuesday or Wednesday will be cheaper, and it’s a good idea for a few reasons. You’ll likely get on the plane between morning and lunch, and arrive in Tokyo on the afternoon of the next day. Getting from Narita Airport to central Tokyo takes about an hour, and you’ll be dropping off your bags in your apartment or hotel by dinnertime. Having wisely picked a place near the bustling Shibuya, Shinjuku, or Roppongi neighborhoods, you’ll be surrounded by awesome food and interesting nightlife to explore before passing out.

You’ll be jetlagged and wake up early the next day – perfect for the world famous fish 5am fish auction at Tsukiji (closed on most Wednesdays – be sure to check the calendar before getting up at the break of dawn – red-marked days are closed).

You can continue exploring Tokyo one neighborhood at a time, and stay in the city to enjoy the weekend with the locals in Tokyo. Once the weekend is over, take overnight trips to Hakone or other cities outside of the Tokyo metropolis – traveling during the week you can take advantage of weekday specials and less crowded trains. Here is an example of a great 7 day trip.

Use an aggregator like Orbitz.com or kayak.com to directly compare hundreds of flight prices, so you can get the lowest rate.

Please note: these are the sites we rely on regularly for booking flights – we get paid when you use these links to purchase travel – it’s free for you and helps us keep this site updated.

Book a place to stay

The key to picking a neighborhood for your hotel is accessibility. Hotel rooms are going to be tiny anyways and hopefully, you won’t be spending all your time in the room. Being in a boring neighborhood and having to walk 20 minutes to the subway is a pain – pick a neighborhood that has great dinner and nightlife options, as Tokyo’s subway trains stop running between approximately midnight and 5am, and taxi rides from one end of Tokyo to another can cost you ($60 or more – it’s worth paying more for a good location).

We typically stay in the Tokyu Stay Aoyama Premier hotel in the prestigious Aoyama district of Tokyo, because it is extraordinarily convenient (located right above the Gaienmae subway station on the Ginza line), close enough to nightlife (20 minute walk or 5 minute subway ride to the Shibuya and Roppongi nightlife neighborhoods), but quiet and tucked away in one of Tokyo’s most stylish neighborhoods.

The best part? The rooms are about $150 for a single room with full-size bed, just about the cheapest you’ll find in Tokyo, and they even have washing machines so you can pack light. While clean and modern, the rooms can be tiny and businesslike, and are overlooking a cemetery (which is actually nice – it is filled with beautiful trees and looks like a park. Green space is at a minimum in Tokyo!).

If you are staying for a month or more (you can probably inquire for 3 week stays), the same $150 a night gets you a luxurious serviced apartment suite at the downstairs Tokyu Stay Aoyama Residence, complete with a kitchen, living room, adjacent sleeping nook with queen sized bed, and huge bathroom with full size bathtub and separate shower.

Our second choice is the Shibuya Granbell Hotel – while it’s centrally located it can be hard to bring your luggage there and the rooms are a bit smaller, but it’s closer to the action in downtown Shibuya.

We recommend against trying to get the “traditional Japanese” experience in Tokyo – have the authentic ryokan experience in Hakone-Yumoto.

Those with money to spend will be well served by the stylish and useful Tablet Hotels website. On there, you will find the Ritz Carlton, situated in one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo, near one of the bustling foreigner nightlife spots in Tokyo, Roppongi – a convenient location with world-class dining and nightlife, but avoid the Roppongi Strip unless you’d like to be accosted by a hustling club promoter or overly friendly women. Those looking for the Lost in Translation experience can try the Park Hyatt Tokyo in Shinjuku, replete with the New York Bar featured in the movie, with one of the best views of Tokyo, day or night. Unfortunately, it’s a ten minute walk from the closest subway, which is often the fastest way to explore the city, but if you’re staying here you’ll probably taxi about anyways.

Budget travelers can search for cheap hotels/hostels using the Welcome Inn Reservation Center Website, or at the Japanese National Tourism Organization counters at the airport and on the 10th floor of the Kotsu Kaikan Building in Yurakucho. It’s best to stay as close to Shibuya, Roppongi, or Shinjuku as possible, but if your budget dictates that you need to stay all the way up in Ueno, you’ll have all the other hostelers to hang out with.

Other options are staying at the love hotels, “manga kissa” internet cafes, or capsule hotels scattered about the city with rooms (…or cubicles/sleeping boxes) rented out by the hour for a reasonable rate. You can stuff your suitcase in one of the lockers located outside the subway stations if need be.

Please note: these are the sites we rely on regularly for booking hotels – we get paid for some of the links when you use them to book – it’s free for you and helps us keep this site updated.

Make Reservations

Soaking in the hot springs nestled at the foot of Mount Fuji in Hakone-Yumoto is a traditional Japanese experience worth flying for – be sure to book it for a Monday or Tuesday as these rates are cheapest. The Odakyu Travel website is in English and the easiest way to book your trip.

If you want to explore more of Japan, a JR Pass enables you to take unlimited rides on the JR lines that connect cities in Japan for $300-400 for one week, $500-650 for two weeks, $600-900 for three weeks. One one-way trip on the bullet train between Osaka and Tokyo would cost $130 on its own, and the Narita Express from the airport to downtown Tokyo costs $30-40 dollars each way, so it may be worth it for you. You must be outside of Japan to purchase it, and once you get there it is valid from the date you activate it (if you’re staying in Tokyo or Osaka first for a few days it may be more cost-effective to hold off on activating it). You can begin the process online at the JR Pass website. Keep in mind that the bullet trains get booked very quickly, especially during holiday periods, so visit a JR green window booth (midori madoguchi) to reserve your seats in advance.

Make reservations at high-end restaurants that you’re traveling for, like Sukiyabashi Jiro or Sushi Kyubei. If you’re staying in a hotel, you should ask your concierge for help arranging the reservation, or go with the foreigner-friendly Roppongi branches.

Make Friends

If you’re looking for some local friends to hang out with, someone to help you get tickets and accompany you to the Studio Ghibli museum, want to go to a Japanese-language-only venue (and are willing to pay for your local guide’s meal/admission/whatever) etc., you can try the Tokyo Free Guide website. They’ll set you up with a local volunteer guide that can help you navigate the often confusing Tokyo metropolis.

For the more adventurous, the classified personals on Metropolis Magazine’s website or the Japanese-language facebook mixi.jp can be interesting places to meet new friends.

Of course, the jetsetter that you are, be sure to post a message on facebook and twitter – you’re bound to have some friends in Tokyo!