A first week Tokyo itinerary, neighborhood by neighborhood

Tokyo is not a city you “do.” It is a set of neighborhoods that happen to share a rail map. The visitors who enjoy a first week pick three or four of them and let the others go. The visitors who are tired by Wednesday tried to see the lantern in Asakusa and the crossing in Shibuya before lunch, which is a commute with a camera.

The Yamanote loop makes this look easy on a diagram. The loop is real, and it is also slow at rush hour with a suitcase. Stay near a station you will actually use. Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo Station, Ueno, and Asakusa are all fair first bases. A pretty side street with a fifteen-minute walk to a minor line will feel longer on a rainy night.

Pair places that already sit together

Asakusa wants a morning. Senso-ji, the shopping street that leads to it, and a wander toward the river are one outing. Ueno is the natural partner: a park, museums if the weather turns, a louder market street. Akihabara is next door if electronics and anime are the reason you came. If they are not, you can skip it without having failed at Tokyo. Ginza is the quieter, more expensive walk, good for a department-store basement and a wide pavement.

• Asakusa and Ueno on one day, east of the city.
• Meiji Jingu, Harajuku, and Shibuya on another. The shrine is calm if you go early. Takeshita Street is not.
• Shinjuku for the evening you are already sleeping nearby: the viewing deck at the metropolitan building, a department store, then food.
• A west-side day only if you leave the morning clear. Kamakura or a garden will not fit beside a late flight.

Save

Meiji Jingu sits in a forest in the middle of the noise. Go when the gravel is still quiet. The south exit dumps you into Harajuku, which is fun in a small dose and miserable if you expected a temple. Shibuya is the crossing, a bookstore or a record shop if that is your habit, and dinner. You do not need a view from a tall building in both Shibuya and Shinjuku. Pick one.

Leave a day that is not a checklist

TeamLab, the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, a day at a studio park, the Skytree if heights are the point: each of these is a half-day with a ticket, not a stop “on the way.” The Ghibli Museum in particular sells out to people who booked early. If you want it, want it before you want a third cafe. If you do not get a ticket, Tokyo does not owe you a substitute. The neighborhood you are sleeping in has a dinner.

A good first week Tokyo itinerary often looks plain on paper. Two days on the east side, two days on the southwest side, one day for a ticketed thing, one day with a later start and no plan past lunch. You will still see lanterns, a crossing, a shrine, and more food than you can finish. You will also sit down. That is the version people repeat to friends.