Offbeat ideas for a Tokyo trip?

[spacecadet]

I'm looking for some ideas for an upcoming trip this October and I figure this is probably the best forum I know to ask.

 

I've visited Tokyo once or twice a year for the past 15 years with my wife, who's from there (consequently, we pretty much have to go there and not another city, although we can take a day trip or two).

 

So by now we've done all the touristy stuff, a lot of nature stuff in the surrounding area and a lot of stuff most tourists would never think of (like the ANA maintenance facility tour, which was probably my favorite of this kind of thing). We both have our favorite neighborhoods and we visit them every time we go. Beyond that, both of us are literally tapped out on things we definitely want to do. We're at the point of scouring the internet for stuff we haven't heard of before.

 

Does anyone have any ideas for things a couple of seasoned, middle-aged but open-minded visitors might not know about and would enjoy? I think we both like modern Japan moreso than historical stuff, and we'll get historical stuff from my in-laws anyway. The kind of thing I'm probably looking for are things like the Sapporo brewery tour, Robot Restaurant, the aforementioned ANA tour, the SCMaglev and Railway Park, planespotting on the Haneda Airport observation decks, or Sega Joypolis - those are the kinds of things we didn't really know about ahead of time but found as we were planning previous trips.

 

Thanks for any advice!

[katoftw]

If you have done everything in Tokyo.  Why not get on a shinkansen and go elsewhere?

[spacecadet]

If you have done everything in Tokyo.  Why not get on a shinkansen and go elsewhere?

Do you have a specific suggestion for something that can be done in a day? Like I said, we've done most of the surrounding area stuff too, plus Nagoya, Osaka, and Kyoto.

Edited April 3, 2015 by spacecadet

[ToniBabelony]

Beer?

- Kirin Brewery in Kawasaki: Keikyū Main line, Namamugi station. Yes, the station name is actually very loosely translated 'Draft Beer';

- Suntory Brewery in Fuchūhonmachi: JR East Musashino, Nanbu lines, Fuchūhonmachi station;

- Asahi Brewery in Minamiashigara: JR Central Gotenba line, Matsuda station and Odakyū Odawara line Shin-Matsuda station. Take the shuttle bus to the brewery. Pretty nice route as well.

 

Also, take some strolls around in traditional living areas with lots of shopping streets (shōtengai) like Ōta-ku (sandwiched between Shinagawa and Kawasaki) and the Shitamachi area. A gourmet-tour on the Toden Arakawa tram is quite popular nowadays. The supermarket delivery ojisan had that little tip for us the other day because he knows my son and I like trains so much. xD

 

For railway related things, I'd recommend any of the local company's museums and/or events to visit. JR East's museum in Saitama, Tōkyu's museum in Miyazakidai, Tōbu in Higashimukojima, and Keio in Tamadōbutsuenmae (not very thrilling, but nice for kids) for example.

 

Ah, another idea may be to visit the aeronautical museum next to Narita airport (since you're interested in that kind of thing). You also will have a rare chance and excuse to ride the Shibayama Railway line from Higashi-Narita station (former Narita Airport) to Shibayama-Chiyoda station.

Edited April 4, 2015 by Toni Babelony

[maihama eki]

Take a quick day trip to Nagano on the new E7 in Gran Class.  In my opinion, the finest and most technically advanced rail travel experience in the world.  Nagano has some nice sites all within easy reach of Nagano station.

 

In the evening, go from Shimbashi Station on the Yurikamome line out to Odaiba across the Rainbow Bridge and have dinner at one of the restaurants that has a view of the city and Rainbow Bridge.  Beautiful night views.  There are a lot of interesting things out in Odaiba for the technically oriented if you want to go earlier - Miraikan (Science Museum), Toyota Mega Web, Panasonic Center, and of course the amazing architecture of the Fuji TV Building and Tokyo Big Site.

 

Spend the day at Tokyo Disney Sea - perhaps the most amazing theme park in the world - and with a more (kid at heart) adult orientation.  Arrive early and don't go on the weekend or holidays.  There are quite good restaurants and lounges to enjoy as well.  You'll get to ride Disney's amazing Resort Line monorail, and the Disney Sea Electric Railway as a bonus.

 

I recommend Time Out Tokyo for ideas around Tokyo for English speakers.  http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo

 

Maybe you have already done some or all of these.

[gmat]

Kingfisher.  

Not easy to see but perhaps worth it when you catch a glimpse of a bluish blur drumming its wings as it zips by. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_kingfisher

Birdwatching may be unusual for you and your wife, but could worth it. October is too late in the year to see turtles sunning themselves on rocks or even snakes swimming across a river. Feed the river carps from a small bridge and the turtles will come. But they are too slow so the carp snatch the bread out of their mouths. You can also feed pigeons at the same time. Early in the morning or very late in the afternoon is a very good time to see a large heron (not the more common egrets) stalking its prey. The Nogawa River is small enough so you can stay on the bike path but still get a close view of the river life. 

Grant

[Demetrius]

I gotta take notes on this since I hope to go to Tokyo soon within a year to conduct research.

[Guest ___]

Spacecadet, what is your time line for Japan? Looks like we're overlapping, maybe we can meet somewhere for some fanning for a few hours/

[SantaFe1970]

 

Birdwatching may be unusual for you and your wife, but could worth it.

I am a very mild bird and nature watcher, but am intrigued by your hints, gmat. I will be visiting Japan myself this May, and may well have some early-morning time to myself in Nara, Kyoto (staying near the main station), and in Asakusa, Tokyo. Any ideas for glimpsing fish/turtles/birds then and there?

 

And, for those who haven't seen one, a kingfisher in flight, working up and down a river or stream in search of minnows, is a beautiful thing indeed. 

[gmat]

Santa Fe, I don't get out so much nowadays and haven't been that way looking for birds very much. So I might not be so helpful at this time. But it's an excuse to cycle near Asakusa one Sunday and report back in a couple of weeks. This Sunday I'm busy with a school activity. 

Also, most of my travels have been on bicycle, as I could cover a larger area to see more birds, so some comments might not apply to you.

Here is an older thread on another forum about quick birding near Tokyo.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=16125

 

Senzokuike Pond Park near the Senzokuike Station on the Nakagomi Line is a very good place to see oodles and oodles of turtles, but May might still be a little too cool. If you sit on a bench next to the pond, pigeons with gather around you. Very close. Of course signs discourage feeding the fish and the pigeons. 

My experience is that even the 'concrete canyons' can offer opportunities. Any patch of canal deep enough and turgid enough to support fish, and with rocks or low lying ledges, will have a turtle sunning themselves.

 

When you take some of the smaller lines like the Mito Lined or the Kashima Railway, you have a good chance of seeing interesting birds when you pass rice fields, ponds or rivers. At the start of the Kashima Railway Line, we passed over a river and I saw a black swan. On the Mito Line, our train startled a pheasant and it flew next to our train for about 40 meters. On the Karasuyama Line we startled a bat in a tunnel.  Bikkuri Bahn saw a monkey on the Chichibu Line in the mountains. So did I.

 

At dusk on the Seibu Shinjuku Line, two stops from Haijima, I saw bats flying near the station. I've also seen bats from the platform at Futakotamagawa Station, and also saw a heron in the river from same the platform as the Tama River crosses the line there. 

 

On a platform inside Shinjuku Station, I tracked a pigeon weaving amongst the passengers for a couple of minutes and it didn't have to fly. There is a small black and white bird that you can often see on the station platforms and along the narrow canals.

 

If you get out at Takao Station, swallows build nests on the viaducts and you can watch the birds flying to their mud nests. Some swallows build their nests under the roofing of station platforms. I believe I saw some at Kobuchizawa Station, last summer. 

 

If you have a chance to stop at Hama-Kawasaki Station on the Nambu Branch Line, swarms of sparrows? and a few other birds stop to eat the grass seeds and small berries in the grass next to the station. I tried throwing bread pieces for them with mixed results. Try bringing grains of rice or birdseed. Not much traffic and not much people so the birds come very close. I also once saw an osprey (I think) circling above. 

At dusk, lots of birds will congregate in trees along the streets and chirp like mad. The most unusual one was a tree on top of a building with its own flock chirping away. I've also seen a flock of birds sitting on a powerline before heading off to their night roost.  At Aobadai beach, there are small islands that used to be coast defence batteries. I've seen waves of cormorants flying by to roost in those islands.

 

That's all for now,

Grant

[SantaFe1970]

Thanks, Grant, for the nature-watching ideas. 

 

Not sure how lucky I will get on my upcoming trip -- and I'll be traveling the typical, first-time visitor's Nara-Kyoto-Tokyo route -- but you've sparked me to think about future trips to Japan, and the possibility of getting deeper into the country. (Via some very interesting trains, too, of course.)

 

Thanks again.

[Mudkip Orange]

soapland tour

[miyakoji]

That took a whole week, Mudkip.  A whole week.

[mrp]

Another interesting place for wildlife is the Tokyo Port Wild Bird Park.

 

http://www.wildbirdpark.jp

 

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tokyokoyacho+Park/@35.6182902,139.7573069,13z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x34de616de85136f0

 

I used ride down there sometimes on a weekend.  It was a bit of a hike from Azabu, but I reckon Tokyo is probably the best city on the planet for bike riding.  Bicycles there seem to magically be able to safely share the footpaths with pedestrians.  And there are no ridiculous helmet laws.  Actually, I guess there are lots of great bike routes - like around the Imperial Palace, or Ginza on Sunday when they close off the street to cars.

 

[railsquid]

"Todoroki Gorge" (等々力渓谷) is a nice walk, I'm sure there must have been some birds there; I vaguely recall seeing some kind of interesting wildlife, probably a snake): https://www.gotokyo.org/jp/tourists/topics_event/topics/130422/topics.html

 

On the way (or on the way back) how about a trip to the Parasite Museum? http://www.kiseichu.org/Pages/english.aspx

 

But before (or after, depending on disposition) you go there, how about some train curry? http://www.niagara-curry.com/

[ToniBabelony]

But before (or after, depending on disposition) you go there, how about some train curry? http://www.niagara-curry.com/

 

Or if your inner teenager is boiling inside of you, this is also a place: http://littletgv.com/ I've been there a few times. The seats are a bit small, but the staff is super cute! xD

[railsquid]

Nice, I always wondered what that was like. Some day when I'm finally bored with the shops ;)

[spacecadet]

Thanks, a lot of these are just the kind of thing I was looking for. I'm sure we'll do some of these. A few of them I have actually done before, but there are definitely some things here I'd be into trying. I actually was hoping to take a ride in Gran Class on the E7 anyway, so that's almost a definite.

 

Spacecadet, what is your time line for Japan? Looks like we're overlapping, maybe we can meet somewhere for some fanning for a few hours/

I actually don't know the exact dates since we're waitlisted at the moment, and also my wife's gotta get vacation time. It'll be sometime in October, though, mid to late I would guess.