Trip highlights
- 1Tsukiji outer market breakfast at 6am
- 2Ramen tasting trail: Hakata vs Sapporo vs Szechuan styles
- 3Depachika basement food hall crawl
- 4Yakitori under the Shinjuku train tracks
- 5Omakase sushi at a 10-seat counter
Daily spend
Where you're going
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In pictures
Photos: Unsplash
Day-by-day plan
Tsukiji & Ramen Orientation
Wednesday, October 6
Est. spend
$105
per person
🌅 Morning
Tsukiji Outer Market at 6am
Tsukiji Outer Market, 4-16-2 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku
The outer market never closed — just the inner wholesale auction. By 6am the tuna sashimi stalls, tamagoyaki stands, and dashi broth counters are all open. This is the best breakfast in Japan and it costs about $8.
Bar Central at the far east end of the market — sit at the counter and order whatever they're grilling. Tamahide tamagoyaki stand for the sweet rolled egg. Eat as you walk.
☀️ Afternoon
Fuunji — best tsukemen (dipping noodles) in Tokyo
2-14-3 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku (near Shinjuku Station South Exit)
Fuunji in Shinjuku invented the modern tsukemen — thick noodles served separately from an intensely flavoured chicken-and-fish dipping broth. Always has a queue. Always worth it.
The queue moves fast — 15 minutes maximum. Order the tokumori (large) if you're hungry. This is the single best ramen-adjacent dish in Tokyo.
Depachika food hall exploration — Isetan Shinjuku
Isetan Shinjuku, 3-14-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku
The basement food hall of Isetan department store is a masterpiece of Japanese food culture — 200+ vendors selling every regional speciality, perfect confectionery, and food gifts. Budget 2 hours and many small bites.
The basement B2 level has the highest concentration of prepared foods. The pudding counter (purin) changes daily and sells out. Go to B1 for sweets and confectionery as gifts.
🌙 Evening
Omoide Yokocho (Memory Lane) yakitori
1 Chome-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku
50 stalls crammed into two alleys behind Shinjuku Station — charcoal grills, chicken yakitori, cold beer, and smoke so thick it coats your clothes. Exactly what Tokyo nightlife should feel like.
Sit at a counter — not a table. Order yakitori omakase (chef's selection) and one cold Sapporo. The whole bill should be under ¥3,000 per person.
🍽️ Meals
Tsukiji market breakfast
Japanese seafood · $18 · Tuna sashimi, tamagoyaki, grilled scallops. Under $18 total for two.
Fuunji tsukemen
Japanese ramen · $14
Omoide Yokocho yakitori
Japanese yakitori · $35
Ramen Styles Deep Dive
Thursday, October 7
Est. spend
$95
per person
🌅 Morning
Ichiran — solitary tonkotsu Hakata ramen
Multiple locations — Shinjuku or Shibuya branch most convenient
The solo booth ramen chain where you face a bamboo screen, order on a slip of paper, and eat in focused silence. The tonkotsu (pork bone broth) is rich, white, and deeply flavoured. This is ramen at its most meditative.
Order extra noodles (kaedama) before you finish your broth — it's free or ¥130 for the first serving. Customise the richness, spice level, and noodle firmness on the order slip.
Ramen Museum, Shin-Yokohama (optional)
2-14-21 Shinyokohama, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama
A 1958-replica underground Tokyo neighbourhood housing 8 regional ramen shops — Sapporo miso, Hakata tonkotsu, Tokyo shoyu, Kitakata and more under one roof. Genuinely excellent and great for side-by-side comparisons.
Take the JR Yokohama Line from Shibuya (25 minutes). Order half portions (half noodles, full broth) to try more styles. The 1950s decor is genuinely atmospheric.
☀️ Afternoon
Nakamuraya — Shinjuku curry bun (kare pan)
Shinjuku Nakamuraya, 3-26-2 Shinjuku
Nakamuraya invented the Indian curry bun in 1927 and still sells it from their department store. The deepfried curry bread is a Japanese classic — rich, sweet-spiced, and deeply nostalgic.
Gyoza tasting — Harajuku and Omotesando
Harajuku / Omotesando
The area between Harajuku and Omotesando has two excellent gyoza specialists — Gyoza Lou and Gyoza Ohsho. Compare steamed versus pan-fried, Osaka versus Tokyo folding styles.
Gyoza are best eaten immediately — order and eat at the counter while still sizzling.
🌙 Evening
Afuri — yuzu shio ramen
Afuri, multiple locations — Harajuku branch best
The most elegant ramen in Tokyo — a clear yuzu-citrus shio broth, pale yellow, with perfectly calibrated salt and acid. Everything Hakata tonkotsu is not. Essential for understanding the spectrum.
The yuzu shio (salt) is the signature. The mazesoba (dry noodles with egg yolk) is their second-best dish. Queue at opening (11:30am) or after 2pm to avoid lunch rush.
🍽️ Meals
Ichiran ramen breakfast
Japanese ramen · $12
Ramen Museum — multiple styles
Japanese ramen · $22 · Budget ¥1,500–2,000 for two or three half portions.
Afuri yuzu shio ramen
Japanese ramen · $16
Asakusa Market Day & Izakaya Crawl
Friday, October 8
Est. spend
$130
per person
🌅 Morning
Ameyoko Market, Ueno at 9am
Ameyoko, 4 Chome Ueno, Taito-ku
Tokyo's most atmospheric street market under the JR tracks — dried seafood, pickled vegetables, Korean food, fresh fish, and senbei rice crackers. The vendors are exuberant, the prices are fair, and the smells are extraordinary.
Try karaage (Japanese fried chicken) from any of the stalls — it's made fresh and eaten on the street. The dried cuttlefish at Ninnikuya is the best single-stall purchase.
Nakamise-dori street food, Asakusa
Nakamise-dori, Asakusa, Taito-ku
The approach to Senso-ji temple has 90+ stalls selling traditional Japanese snacks — ningyo-yaki cake, matcha-flavoured everything, and the best senbei in Tokyo roasted over charcoal.
Kimuraya bakery at the end of Nakamise sells the original melon-pan bread. Asakusa is worth seeing at 8am before the tourists — the market stalls open earliest here.
☀️ Afternoon
Kappabashi Kitchen Street — the tools behind the food
Kappabashi-dori, Taito-ku (between Asakusa and Ueno)
The wholesale kitchen equipment district — 170 shops selling every knife, pot, wok, and ramen bowl in Japan. The plastic food display models are extraordinary works of craft art.
Buy a Japanese kitchen knife here — the quality is exceptional and the prices are 30–50% below retail. Yamacoh and Tsubaya are the two best knife shops on the street.
🌙 Evening
Izakaya crawl — Yurakucho under the tracks
Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku (under the train tracks, 5 min walk from Ginza)
The 10 izakayas built under the Yurakucho railway arches have been serving office workers since 1956 — yakitori smoke, cold beer, and conversation across tables with strangers. The most cinematic evening in Tokyo.
Don't book — just walk in. Move between two or three different bars to try different yakitori styles. The tsukune (chicken meatball) skewer is essential at every stop.
🍽️ Meals
Ameyoko market breakfast
Japanese street food · $12
Standing sushi — Uogashi Nihon-ichi
Japanese sushi · $20 · Standing sushi bar near Tsukiji — omakase for ¥2,000. Incredibly fast, incredibly fresh.
Yurakucho izakaya crawl
Japanese yakitori/izakaya · $45
Omakase Day
Saturday, October 9
Est. spend
$300
per person
🌅 Morning
Toyosu Market tuna auction (pre-booked observation)
Toyosu Fish Market, 6-6-1 Toyosu, Koto-ku
The inner wholesale auction at Toyosu (moved from Tsukiji) admits a limited number of visitors to observe the tuna auction from a glass-enclosed observation area. Book months in advance through the market website.
The observation deck opens at 5:25am — you must have pre-booked. The lottery for slots opens online 2 months ahead. If you can't get the auction, the outer market restaurants open at 7am and are genuinely excellent.
☀️ Afternoon
Ramen: Nagi Golden Gai — Szechuan spice fusion
Ramen Nagi, Golden Gai, Kabukicho, Shinjuku
Nagi in Golden Gai makes a Szechuan-Japanese fusion ramen that defies categorisation — numbing Szechuan peppercorn in a rich pork broth. Eight seats, tiny, extraordinary.
Golden Gai is the most atmospheric neighbourhood in Tokyo. Walk the alleys even if you don't eat here. Many bars are regulars-only — Nagi is the accessible exception.
Wagyu tasting at Ushigoro Bambina
Ushigoro Bambina, Nishi-Azabu, Minato-ku
A wagyu beef specialist where you taste A5 Miyazaki beef side by side with different prefecture grades. The marbling on A5 is so extreme that it melts at body temperature. One of the most memorable eating experiences in Japan.
Book well in advance — this is a popular lunch destination. The course menu includes different cuts of the same grade so you understand how position changes the flavour.
🌙 Evening
Omakase sushi dinner — Sushi Saito class
Various — Sushi Sho, Sushi Saito (very hard to book), or Sushi Kimura as accessible alternatives
An omakase sushi counter at the level that made Japan's sushi culture famous — the chef selects everything, nigiri arrives one piece at a time, you eat at the chef's pace. Book months ahead for the truly acclaimed counters or use a reservation service.
For accessible omakase without a months-long wait: Sushi Kimura in Ginza (¥15,000 per person, reasonable advance booking), Harutaka in Ginza, or use Tableall reservation service which specialises in difficult Tokyo bookings.
🍽️ Meals
Toyosu breakfast — outer market
Japanese sushi/seafood · $30 · Sushi Dai or similar — outrageously good 10-piece omakase for ¥4,000.
Nagi ramen + Ushigoro wagyu
Japanese · $100 · The two best things in food: ramen and wagyu, on the same afternoon.
Omakase sushi
Japanese sushi · $150 · The meal of the trip. Budget ¥20,000–30,000 per person at a proper counter.
Shimokitazawa & Neighbourhood Eating
Sunday, October 10
Est. spend
$155
per person
🌅 Morning
Shimokitazawa — the neighbourhood that eats well
Shimokitazawa, Setagaya-ku
Shimokitazawa has the highest concentration of excellent small cafés, bakeries, and independent restaurants per square metre of any neighbourhood in Tokyo. Bear Pond Espresso, café Zenra, and a dozen neighbourhood warungs.
Bear Pond Espresso (2-36-12 Kitazawa) — Tokyo's most intense coffee. The T-AM thick espresso is the move. Cash only, closes early when beans run out.
☀️ Afternoon
Yanaka Ginza — old Tokyo street food
Yanaka Ginza, Taito-ku
The best-preserved traditional shopping street in Tokyo — senbei roasted on coals, hand-made mochi, menchi katsu (fried mince cutlet from Nakamura butcher), and retabiyaki corn ice cream.
The menchi katsu at Nakamura butcher (3-13-3 Yanaka) — a 500-yen fried meat patty that locals queue for daily. The Yanaka Beer Hall at the end of the street for a mid-afternoon break.
Afternoon mochi making class
Taito City area — book through Airbnb Experiences or local booking sites
A 2-hour class making traditional wagashi (Japanese confectionery) and mochi — the teacher is a Kyoto-trained wagashi artisan operating from a small studio in Yanaka.
Search 'wagashi class Tokyo' on Airbnb Experiences. Classes are small (4–6 people) and you take your creations home wrapped in proper Japanese paper.
🌙 Evening
Ebisu — Tableaux Lounge and dinner
Ebisu, Shibuya-ku
Ebisu has Tokyo's best neighbourhood restaurant strip — Tableaux (the original, still excellent), La Bitta, and The Roastery coffee for a final digestif.
Tableaux (Ebisu, 3-18-17 Higashi) — a 1990s institution that somehow got better with age. French-Japanese hybrid menu, excellent sake list.
🍽️ Meals
Shimokitazawa café breakfast
Japanese café · $14
Yanaka Ginza street food
Japanese traditional · $15
Ebisu neighbourhood dinner
Japanese-French · $70
Ramen Finals & Sake Tasting
Monday, October 11
Est. spend
$120
per person
🌅 Morning
Ramen Jiro — the extreme ramen pilgrimage
Ramen Jiro Mita Branch, 2-16-4 Mita, Minato-ku
Ramen Jiro is Tokyo's most polarising bowl — an enormous quantity of thick noodles in a murky pork-and-soy broth, topped with a mountain of bean sprouts and garlic. For serious ramen pilgrims only. The Mita original is 30 years old.
Order process: when asked 'yasai, ninniku, abura, karame?' answer your preferences for extra vegetables, garlic, fat, and soy. 'All' (zenbu) if you want everything. This bowl is not for the faint of stomach — do it as the only food for several hours.
☀️ Afternoon
Sake tasting at Hasegawa Saketen
Hasegawa Saketen, 1-8-2 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku
The best sake retailer in Tokyo — 500+ labels including regional craft sake never exported. Tasting flights arranged by region, the staff speak English, and the knowledge is encyclopaedic.
Tell them the food you've been eating this week — they'll match sake styles to your meals. Buy 2–3 bottles for home; sake travels well.
Wagashi and matcha at Toraya
Toraya Tokyo, 1-3-40 Akasaka, Minato-ku
Japan's oldest wagashi confectionery house — supplying the Imperial Palace since 1520. The yokan (sweet bean jelly) and matcha paired together is a ceremony in itself.
🌙 Evening
Final ramen: Konjiki Hototogisu
Konjiki Hototogisu, Shinjuku (multiple branches)
Michelin-starred ramen — one of the few Michelin stars in Japan given to a ramen restaurant. The signature is clam and truffle shoyu ramen — clear, delicate, and completely unlike anything else. The perfect last ramen.
Queue before it opens — the clam truffle ramen sells out by early afternoon. The star was awarded for this bowl specifically.
🍽️ Meals
Ramen Jiro — extreme bowl
Japanese ramen · $10 · Eat nothing for 3 hours before. This is a meal event.
Sake tasting + wagashi at Toraya
Japanese · $43 · Small bites rather than a proper meal — today is about flavour, not volume.
Konjiki Hototogisu Michelin ramen
Japanese ramen · $18
Final Market & Departure
Tuesday, October 12
Est. spend
$90
per person
🌅 Morning
Gran Sta food basement, Tokyo Station
Gran Sta, Tokyo Station B1, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo Station's underground food hall is one of the greatest 'airport food' experiences in the world — every major Japanese regional speciality wrapped perfectly for travel. The best place to buy gifts and airport food simultaneously.
Ekiben (station bento boxes) from Gran Sta represent every region of Japan — buy an Osaka-style pressed mackerel sushi or a Kyoto kaiseki bento for the flight. Under ¥1,500 ($10).
☀️ Afternoon
N'EX to airport, ekiben lunch on the train
Tokyo Station → Narita Airport (N'EX)
The Narita Express from Tokyo Station to the airport — eat your Gran Sta bento on the train with a canned beer. The ideal end to a week of perfect eating.
The premium car has wider seats — worth the ¥500 upgrade for the bento table experience. Book the train ticket with your airport arrival the previous evening.
🍽️ Meals
Gran Sta ekiben breakfast
Japanese regional · $15 · Buy two regional bentos and compare styles on the platform.
Train bento lunch
Japanese · $12 · The most civilised airport transit meal in the world.
Before you go
📅 Best time to visit
October–November: perfect weather (18–24°C), excellent autumn ingredients (matsutake mushroom season, Pacific saury), and the kaiseki menus are at their most seasonal. March–April is cherry blossom but restaurant booking is harder.
🛂 Visas
Most nationalities receive 90-day visa-free entry on arrival. No prior application needed. Japan is one of the easiest countries in the world to enter.
💱 Currency
Japan is still predominantly cash — carry ¥10,000–20,000 at all times. ATMs at 7-Eleven and Japan Post reliably accept foreign cards (others often don't). Suica IC card covers all transit and convenience store purchases. Tipping is actively unwelcome — do not do it.
🆘 Emergency numbers
police: 110
ambulance: 119
💬 Things you won't find in a guidebook
- Never eat while walking — it's considered impolite. Find a spot, stop, eat.
- Queues at food stalls are quality signals — join any queue over 10 people without hesitation.
- Convenience store onigiri (Lawson, 7-Eleven) are genuinely excellent food — breakfast option when nothing else is open.
- Many ramen restaurants are cash only. Always carry ¥5,000 in small bills.
- Order loudly and confidently — Japanese restaurant culture rewards directness, not hovering.
- The word for 'delicious' is 'oishii' — say it often and mean it.
One thing worth not skipping
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