🇯🇵 Tokyo in 7 Days: Neon, Temples, and a Hakone Onsen

Narita Express to Shinjuku

Skip the taxi queue at Narita and ride the N'EX direct to Shinjuku Station in around 80 minutes. Reserved seating, generous luggage racks, and a calm window seat watching the rice fields give way to the suburbs.

Tabi says

Buy the N'EX round-trip ticket at the JR East Travel Service Center inside the terminal, it's cheaper than two one-ways.

Check in around Shinjuku or Shibuya

Drop bags at a mid-tier hotel like Hotel Century Southern Tower or Shibuya Stream Excel. Both sit on top of major stations, which matters after a 14-hour flight.

Tabi says

Ask the front desk for a Suica or Pasmo IC card top-up, you'll use it for every train, bus, and konbini for the rest of the trip.

Omoide Yokocho yakitori crawl

Duck under the red lanterns of Memory Lane just northwest of Shinjuku Station. Order grilled chicken skewers and a frosted mug of Sapporo elbow-to-elbow with salarymen at the counters.

Tabi says

Most stalls have a per-person seating charge of around JPY 500, that is normal, not a scam.