Top Ten Reasons To Go To Tokyo!
10. See where the 47 ronin are actually buried!
If you think that 47 ronin stuff was all Keanu Reeves and Hollywood, think again. Those dudes are ACTUALLY BURIED at a temple in Tokyo! Not only that, the museum at Segaku-ji has their signed confession and a receipt for Lord Kira’s DECAPITATED HEAD.
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9. Eat wasabi ice cream.
You’ll definitely know you’re not in Springfield anymore when you step into Ice Cream City, where you can chow down on flavors so weird you’ll definitely be able to brag about it later. Wasabi. Hot pepper. Curry. Soy sauce. Eel. Beer. And that’s just for starters.
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8. Make your own plastic food.
Where else can you go to a workshop where you learn how to make those amazing plastic food models you always see at Japanese restaurants? Go home with a piece of tempura and a head of lettuce you made yourself!
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7. Consume magical flaming food, served by ninjas.
Our ninja waitress turned this flaming egg into a piece of barbecued chicken right there at the table. Way better than being served by Goofy at Disneyland.
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6. Walk around Senso-ji temple, all lit up at night
If you’re a if-you’ve-seen-one-temple-you’ve-seen-’em-all type, you haven’t been to Senso-ji at night. Seriously.
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5. Eat sushi for breakfast
Where else in the world can you eat sushi for breakfast? The raw fish joints at the Tsukiji fish market are open 24/7. You’ll never eat better fish anywhere, ever.
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4. Pet fifty cats while sipping a latte
Tokyo is the original place to spend an hour surrounded by the kittehs of your dreams: fat cats, skinny cats, fluffy cats, giant cats, all just waiting to give you their undivided attention.
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3. Watch rakugo in Yoyogi Park
Traditional Japanese comic storytelling. In English. For free. Need I say more to convince you that you ought to get yourself to Yoyogi Park on a Sunday afternoon at least once in your life? As a bonus you might get to see dogs dressed in kimonos, rockabillies jitterbugging to Great Balls Of Fire, and kites strung with carp flags.
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2. Get your tootsies nibbled by “therapy fish”
Weirdest pedicure ever, for the whole family. Stick your toesies into this pool of therapy fish, and they’ll come out all smooth and shiny. Since you’ll be at the Oedo Onsen, you can also hop in and out of mineral baths from all over Japan, do a little blow dart target practice, and get yourself buried in hot sand.
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1. Snap the best profile pic EVER.
Set off a like-fest with your new profile picture from the Trick Art Museum in Odaiba. Insert yourself into forty-five different illusions, from ninja fighting to shark battling to being trapped by Japanese-style ghosts.
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If you really are going to Tokyo (or know someone who is), check out The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had, which has pictures, directions and maps to all the places I take my friends when they come to town!
Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, published by Penguin/Intermix. She wishes she could take you around herself, but she’s on deadline for Book #4!
