Japan: Tokyo Take 2 (Mega Post)

So like I mentioned in a previous post, Will LOVED Japan when we went 8 years ago.  He has been begging to come back ever since.  However, while I loved Japan too, I always wanted to go somewhere new before making a return trip.  Well, Will's dreams finally came true and while Kyoto and Osaka were new cities, we have actually been to Tokyo before.  Needless to say though, Will found plenty of new and fun experiences for us.  Our days were so full that I couldn't even attempt to write recaps when we got back to our hotel each day (the same hotel we stayed on during our honeymoon!).  Here is an overall recap of our most notable Tokyo adventures.  I'm sure that Will will quickly point out that I didn't mention every neighborhood or store that we went to, but this was the big stuff.  The stuff that made it into my iPhone photos and therefore, in my current memory.

First, let's take a moment to applaud William Choi for his detailed trip planning.  I mean, look at that custom Google map with all pins carefully picked by Will! Now you can see how we were so busy.

Back to the highlight reel...

We had the most amazing sushi with the Omakase menu at Yasuda.  Best sushi of my life. SO good.

We went to Odaiba where we saw the "Gundam Unicorn" (nerd alert!) that was a 1:1 scale.  

Then we stopped into the Toyota City Showcase where we got to try safe driving simulations and some kind of future segway wannabe.

We also went to the teamLab Borderless exhibit at the Mori Building Digital Art Museum.  It was super cool and we were lucky to be in town during the exhibit.

 

We also had the best chicken katsu of my entire life (and I don't even like chicken katsu- but it was a Michelin rated katsu place) with Will's childhood friend from home, Isaac, who lives in Tokyo with his family.

 

Then we had the most Ramen filled day...

First, we went to the CupNoodles Museum where we made ramen from scratch AND we also made customized cup noodles.  It was by far my favorite museum we've ever been to!  This is a must-do for any Tokyo tourist.

 

 

Then we continued our ramen love by going to the Ramen Museum in Yokohama where there is essentially a food court made to look like an old Japanese town in 1958 (when ramen was invented).  There are 9 little outposts of various ramen restaurants, many of which are historically well known.  They also showcase the variety of styles and flavors of ramen.  While we couldn't try them all, it was cool to see so many options in one place.

 Then we went to the Anata No Warehouse which is basically a massive arcade in Kawaski that is designed to look like the Walled City of "Kowloon."  They had all kinds of video games and crane games and of course, the crane games had the most random prizes.

We also went to "Piss Alley" (actually called Omoide Yokocho) in Shinjuku, which is a small alley known for yakitori places.  While the yakitori place was fine, it didn't blow me away compared to some we have had in the U.S.

 

One of the highlights of the entire trip though was doing the MarioKar (can't actually use MarioKart due to trademarks) tour through the city!  It was goofy to be dressed up in Mario characters as we literally drove go karts in the middle of the street with regular traffic.  Locals and tourists alike would wave at us and take our picture.  It was so fun driving the cars though and getting to see different parts of Tokyo.

and here we are waiting at the light at the famous Shibuya crossing... ready, set, go!

And of course, we weren't being touristy enough with just the Mario Karts, so we had to go to an owl + hedgehog cafe.  Pretty cute way to take a wifi and a/c break.

 We also went to Nakamise Shopping Street and Hozomon gate.

On a different day, we went to Shibuya and went to a DELICIOUS conveyer belt sushi place called Katsumidori Seibu Shibuya in the Seibu department store.  We have conveyer belt sushi places in America but this one had sushi that was actually amazing.  While Yasuda was my favorite, this restaurant was Will's favorite of all time.  The line to get in was super long but since no one has to wait for their food to be made, the line went pretty fast.

 

We also paid tribute to Hachiko, the most faithful dog, whose story will just melt your heart.

And then to finish off our trip, on our last day we went to see a New Japan Pro Wrestling match at the historic Nippon Budokan.  While I hate wrestling, it was entertaining to see a live event in Japan.

Whew, that was a long post.  These are the highlights of Tokyo.  There were definitely more delicious meals, cool neighborhoods, quirky stores, and random Japanese cultural moments that didn't make it to this post but there was just too much to share!