Places I'll Visit In Japan 1 (Tokyo)

Hi cuties! Ive been home for the last few days so ive had to postpone my closet tour slightly, but ill be posting about it later in the week! While I was away, I thought I would make a post about the places ill be visiting in Tokyo! I will also be visiting Osaka and Hiroshima, but I will talk about those in a separate post. This will be my 2nd trip to Japan, and this time i'll be going with a friend, which is super exciting!

Ill be arriving in Tokyo on the 20th July in the middle of the morning, after a 15 hour trip including a stopover in Frankfurt (i'm going to be so sleepy!). We are staying in a rented house close to the Chuo line, which is super convenient and easy to reach the Yamanote line to take us all around the city! We are staying in Tokyo for 8 nights before we travel to Osaka, and will be returning to Tokyo for 2 days at the end for lots of shopping! 

Last time I visited Japan, i missed some of the popular spots in Tokyo because I spent a lot of time visiting Akihabara, as well as lots of shrines and temples. This time, I really want to visit some of the anime cafes, and amusement parks and museums I missed before, as well as seeing some of the beautiful cultural landmarks again. 

So let's have a look at where we plan to go!

1. Tokyo Disney Sea/ Disneyland

The Tokyo Disney resort is located in Chiba prefecture, close to Tokyo, close to the seafront. It has a Disneyland park as well as the Disney Sea park which is unique to Japan, where you can find unique characters like Duffy bear and company! Tickets cost the same (6400 yen) to enter each park, and can only be used on one park at a time. I'll definitely be visiting the Disney Sea park as it has an area where you can meet Duffy, dinner shows with performing characters, a mermaid lagoon, lots of shops, as well as the Tower Of Terror ride which is so much fun! During July the summer matsuri festival will also be happening, which will be lots of fun to see. I would also love to visit Disneyland so we can meet Minnie and Daisy! 

2. Shirokuma Cafe

Shirokuma Cafe is my all time favourite anime, and my friend and I were so excited to discover that there is a real cafe dedicated to it in Tokyo! It's located in Takadanobaba which is easy to get to on the Yamanote loop line. The cafe serves a selection of tasty drinks and food, and their menu can be found on their website. You can also find character merchandise, as well as full-size plush models of the characters sitting around the cafe to enjoy a drink and sneaky selfie with! Its open from 10am to 10pm as well, which lets you enjoy the cute atmosphere any time of the day. I can't wait to see all the cute products and try a real shirokuma cafe mocha!!

Look how cute and tasty the panda roll cake looks! 

3. Sanrio Puroland 

I visited this park on my 2013 trip to Japan, and it was my favourite day of my entire holiday! My friend who lives in Tama took me there and we had a lovely and magical day. The park itself is in the suburb of Tama New Town, which is about 35 minutes from Shinjuku by the Keio express line. Luckily the line is easy to find as Shinjuku station has lots of signs! The park itself is all indoors, and only has a few rides, as the main attractions are the characters and the shows you can watch! Last time, we watched a Jewelpet show, a character competition and a Twin Stars play, which were all adorable! They have added a new Jewelpet show which I would love to see, as I adore the anime.

(This show looks so lovely!)

The park has a few different dining spots, including a buffet cafe where you can eat until you're stuffed for 2,000 yen and watch Kitty perform a cute singing and dancing show. There are also a few different shops, including a huge shop with a different display for each character!! I especially adore cinnamoroll, and can't wait to buy a little plushie of him. 

4. Tokyo Skytree

Last time I was in Japan, I stayed in Minamisenju which is close to Skytree, but I was too much of a wuss to visit as I'm a little afraid of heights! This time, I really want to see the tower, even if I don't go all the way! At the time it was built, it was the world's tallest tower! Tickets for the observation deck can be bought online if you have a Japanese credit card, or otherwise you can buy them at the tower ticket office. It costs 2060 yen to go to the first deck, which will definitely be high enough for me!! There is also a shopping centre and aquarium at the base of the tower which are a good place to recover after being up in the sky...

The tower itself is in Sumida and can be reached by the Asakusa subway line to Oshiage station, or the Tobu Isesaki line to Tokyo Skytree Station.

5. Studio Ghibli Museum, Mitaka

This is the place I most regret not visiting on my last trip to Tokyo, as the Ghibli films are what got me interested in Japan initially, before I knew anything about the fashions or culture. We both adore Ghibli films, as do my friends and family back home, so i'll be buying lots of gifts for people there. The museum is located in Mitaka and is easily reached on the Chuo line from Shinjuku (and from near our house, mwahaha).  Buying tickets is a little complicated, as you must buy the tickets from a different provider depending on your country of origin (details are on the official museum website). Tickets cost 1000 yen, and in the UK can be bought at specific travel agencies. 

Sadly, photos aren't allowed inside the museum, but there is a guide book available to buy, as well as a wealth of character merchandise. There's also a huge model of the robot from Laputa outside, which I can't wait to see in real life. Inside the museum you can view many of Miyazaki's sketches on display, which must be so awe-inspiring to see.

6. Shibuya 109

I totally missed this department store on my last trip, as I didnt have a big interest in gyaru or himekaji fashions at that time. I spent was too much time and money in Harajuku, in closetchild and the LaForet department store! Shibuya 109 contains a huge range of gyaru and other populat young womens brands like Liz Lisa and Honey Cinnamon, a brand I recently discovered and love. Conveniently, the store and its website accepts foreign debit cards which is so nice as it means you don't have to carry lots of cash around. The reviews i've read so far say it can get very busy and is somewhat expensive, but I'm very interested to see what little gems I can find, and how it measures up to LaForet, which i'll be going back to for sure!!

(I will be spending a huge amount of time in Angelic Pretty and Nile Perch)

7. Ueno Zoo

This was the first landmark I visited in Tokyo, as I visited Ueno park after I got off the plane, to kill time before my hotel allowed me to check in. The park itself contains various shrines, temples,mstayues, museums, tea houses and so on in addition to the zoo, and is a huge and beautiful area. The zoo itself is very cheap at about 500 yen for an adult ticket, and has a lovely range of exhibits. They even have pandas, and lots of different bears, including Hokkaido bears who are huge and a little scary O.O. There are lots of stands selling merchandise, as well as food stalls where you can get snacks like ice cream and fries. It gets very hot in summer, so a water bottle and umbrella are a must to keep cool! Shirokuma Cafe was based on this zoo, and so we are so excited to visit the animals from the show, particularly Lesser Panda for me! 

So those are the principle places, both old and new, that we will be seeing in Tokyo this time. We will also spend lots of time seeing Harajuku, and possibly Odaiba and the Tsukiji fish market as it's very close to us. I'd also like to see the old Edo style town of Kawagoe near the city, but it all comes down to having enough time! 

Thank you all for reading and I hope this was interesting! Ill post more about my trip in the coming months before we leave and please ask if you have any questions! 

Love, Cee x