I didn’t realise that I hadn’t been sightseeing in Tokyo that much from a tourist’s viewpoint until Luca came to Japan in November. There are some popular tourist destinations in Tokyo, and it’s easy to find them online, but I took him to my favourite areas where I often go for meals, drinks, shopping and some places at his request.
On the evening of 21st, he arrived at Narita airport after his 24-hour trip via Dubai. The following morning on the 22nd, we had a fairly big earthquake and media warnings. He experienced an earthquake for the first time in his life, but he seemed fine. I immediately got a phone call from my mum asking if he was scared and whether he was ok. She was worried about his reaction; he was rather calm.
The first place we went to was Shibuya, Harajuku, and Aoyama area. We had lunch at a standing sushi bar along Shibuya Centre-gai and walked around the streets in the afternoon. In the evening, I took him to a traditional Japanese Tofu restaurant located just under Tokyo Tower.
Tofu restaurant ‘Shiba Ukaitei’
On the 23rd, we went to Asakusa Nakamise-dori and an unagi restaurant, and moved onto Akihabara to go to the AKB48 cafe which was so much fun! In the evening, we went to Korakuen Hall to watch a pro-wrestling match which we loved!
On the 24th, he asked me to go for ramen lunch, so I took him to Ramen Street in Tokyo Station. There are so many entertaining small shops: character shops, sweets shops and ramen shops in the underground arcade of Tokyo Station. We bought so much Pocky!
That night, I introduced him to my father at a traditional Japanese restaurant located in Ueno Park. We were all feeling nervous and had poor appetites at the beginning, even though the dinner was excellent. But later, we had fun with some UFO topics which my father loves to talk about! The first meeting was a bit funny but it went well. After the dinner, Luca and I went to Roppongi to chill out and have some drinks.
Traditional Japanese restaurant ‘Inshoutei’
During the rest of the trip from 25th to 28th, I took him to Kichijoji which is my hometown, Asakusa again, Harajuku again and Akihabara again. He really loved Harajuku and Akihabara. We walked around Shinjuku and Yurakucho as well, and we also met up with my friends, Steve and Fuyuhiko for drinks.
For a place to spend the last day of this trip, I chose Odaiba and a Hawaiian restaurant for lunch in Aqua City Odaiba. The view of the Tokyo Bay area from the restaurant’s window was fantastic. I strongly recommend the restaurant ‘Queen’s Bath Resort’ to tourists as a highlight of a Tokyo trip.
He flew back to the UK from Haneda airport on 29th, saying ‘I don’t want to leave Japan!’ During this stay, I just showed him to some of my favourite places and made opportunities to meet my friends and family. My friends said they want to see him again. I was also able to enjoy Tokyo and recognise our culture that surrounds my friends, family and myself.
