5-Day Tokyo (Japan) Itinerary, Guide & Tips for First Timers
Tokyo is one of our favourite places to visit and it can be really overwhelming to plan, so we’ve put together this 5-day itinerary, guide and tips for first-timers.
We prefer to wake up early and do quite a lot during the day, so feel free to alter this itinerary or mix/match things around to suit your own preferences!
Contents
📝 5-Day Tokyo Itinerary
✍️ Key Travel Tips for Tokyo
Day 1: Harajuku & Shibuya
🍳 Breakfast from a konbini
For your first breakfast in Tokyo, we highly recommend visiting a convenience store (or ‘konbini’) like 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, or Lawson. They’re not like others in the world, and are truly worth checking out!
We love getting their egg sandos, small fried rice, steamed pork buns, and some 7-Elevens even have fruit smoothies that you can blend yourself at the machine. They are so refreshing and we love the Blueberry Fruit Smoothie best!
⛩ Head to Meiji Shrine
After grabbing a quick breakfast, start your morning at Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingu). To get there, take a train to Harajuku Station (JR Yamanote Line) or Meiji-jingumae Station (Tokyo Metro Chiyoda or Fukutoshin Lines), which are both a short walk from the shrine's entrance.
Meiji Shrine provides a peaceful escape from the busy city, with a forest of over 100,000 trees. At the entrance, pass through the massive Torii Gate and then follow the path to the main shrine buildings. Along the way, you’ll also see beautifully arranged sake barrels.
⏰ Opening Hours: Every day from sunrise and closes with sunset. The times differ by month (check here).
🎟️ Admission: FREE for Meiji Shrine. However, there are small fees for the museum and inner garden.
🛍️ Explore Takeshita Street, Harajuku
After Meiji Shrine, walk to the nearby Takeshita Streetin Harajuku. This street is well-known for its quirky shops, trendy cafes and vibrant culture.
Along the street, you can:
Snap cute photobooth pics at Purikura-No
Try a delicious crepe from Marion Crepes
Get different capsule toys from the Gacha Machines along the street - one of our favourite things to do in Japan!
✍️ Tip: It can get very busy, so we’d recommend going before 10am.
🛍️ Shop around Harajuku
After exploring Takeshita Street, take some time to wander through Harajuku’s side streets and hidden gems. There’s so much more to discover beyond the main strip! Some of our favourites are:
🪄 Harry Potter Shop: this opened in August 2025 and it’s Japan’s first Harry Potter Flagship Store, with 2 magical levels to explore. You can see what it looks like in our video here.
🛍️ Kiddy Land: a HUGE toy shop spread over 5 levels, with Snoopy, Sanrio, Miffy, Mario and heaps more. We always spend so much time (and money) here.
📱 Cas:pace: sells unique phone cases. We got the popular vending machine phone case (pictured below).
🥢 Dear You: sells cute homeware, kitchenware and ceramics. We bought the cute chopsticks pictured below! Note: On Google Maps, it shows up as ‘Zakka+Sake Bar DEARYOU’ since there’s also a sake bar at the back.
🍚 Lunch at Tonkatsu Maisen Aoyama
For lunch, head to Tonkatsu Maisen Aoyama, a popular spot just a short walk away. We ordered the pork cutlet set (¥1,880), which came with rice, miso soup, and pickles, and it was so delicious!
✍️ Tip: Try to arrive before 11am (opening time) to avoid long queues.
🌆 Spend the afternoon in Shibuya
After lunch, head to the neighbouring district Shibuya - one of Tokyo’s most vibrant and bustling districts. If you're coming from the above lunch spot (Tonkatsu Maisen Aoyama), walk about 7 minutes to Omote-Sando Station and take a quick 2-minute train ride to Shibuya Station.
Once you’re in Shibuya, make sure to cross the famous Shibuya Crossing. You’ll see hundreds of people moving in every direction the moment the lights change so it’s definitely chaotic, but fun to cross!
Spend the rest of the afternoon shopping in Shibuya. Some of our favourites include:
🛍️ Loft: huge lifestyle department store with 7 floors. There’s SO many products here, from stationary and stickers, to cosmetics, to interior decor and kitchenware, plus more. It’s the perfect place for souvenirs!
👒 Hands: another huge lifestyle store, with a variety of household and DIY goods.
👜 PARCO: has more than 190 shops with a mix of fashion, art, entertainment, food and gaming. It’s also home to the Pokémon Center and Nintendo Store.
✨ Disney Store: perfect for Disney lovers, especially if you don’t have time to go to Disneyland and explore their shops. There’s a cute castle-themed entrance, with lots of Disney toys and souvenirs to take home.
🌃 Go to Shibuya Sky for sunset
Spend the evening at Shibuya Sky. This is an open-air observation deck with 360-degree panoramic views of the city. It’s located on the 47th floor (top floor) of Shibuya Scramble Square Tower 🗼
⏰ Opening Hours: 10:00am - 10:30pm daily (last entry 9:20pm)
🎟️ Tickets: Get up to 10% off via Klook.com with code FEASTONITKLOOK. Make sure to book well in advance because this attraction is extremely popular and sells out fast. You’ll need to book a dedicated timeslot and tickets are released 28 days in advance.
🍜 Dinner at Tsukemen Yasubee (Shibuya)
Depending on your timeslot at Shibuya Sky, you can either enjoy dinner before or after your visit. We’d recommend trying Tsukemen (dipping noodles) at Tsukemen Yasubee (Shibuya).
Order your meal via the vending machine, grab your ticket, and then find a seat. We were even given bibs, which were not only fun but also super practical! Tsukemen is similar to ramen, but the noodles and broth are served separately, and the noodles are thicker.
Day 2: Gōtokuji Temple & Shinjuku
🍳 Breakfast at Rec Coffee
If you’re staying in Shibuya, we’d recommend checking out Rec Coffee for breakfast. It’s a relaxing spot and we particularly loved the honey butter toast and pudding.
😻 Head to Gōtokuji Temple
After breakfast, head to Gōtokuji Temple (’Lucky Cat Temple’), which is a must-see for cat lovers! 🐈 It’s a Buddhist temple, famous for its maneki-neko (beckoning cat) statues, which are believed to bring good fortune.
You can buy your own and make a wish, then either leave it at the temple or take it home. You can also write a wish on an ema (wooden plaque) or try your luck with a Japanese fortune slip. Check out our video about the temple here.
⏰ Opening Hours: every day from 6:00am - 5:00pm
🎟️ Admission: FREE to enter the temple
How to get to Gōtokuji Temple:
🚂 From Shinjuku: Take the Odakyu Line to Gōtokuji Station (~15 minutes), then walk 10 minutes to the temple.
🚂 From Shibuya: Take the train to SangenjayaStation, then another train to Miyanosaka Station (Tokyu Setagaya Line), then walk 5 minutes to the temple. This route is popular because at certain times throughout the day, there’s an adorable cat-themed 🐾 train from Sangenjaya to Miyanosaka! Check the schedule here before you go to find out what times the unique cat train will run.
🌆 Head to Shinjuku
After Gōtokuji Temple, catch the train to Shinjuku. You can go from Gotokuji Station to Shinjuku Station (Odakyu Line), which takes around 30 mins.
Shinjuku is a lively and busy neighbourhood in Tokyo, with neon-lights, 3D advertising and small alleyways filled with delicious food and drinks. It’s also a major transport hub, with Shinjuku Station being the busiest train station in the world!
🍣 Lunch at Uogashi Nihon-Ichi (Shinjuku)
For lunch, we’d recommend going to Uogashi Nihon-Ichi (Shinjuku) - a standing sushi bar, which was some of the BEST sushi we’ve ever had! So it was 100% worth it to eat while standing.
You order directly with the chef and watch them make everything right in front of you, and the sushi tasted so fresh.
🌆 Explore Shinjuku
After lunch, spend time exploring Shinjuku:
For Camera Shops: check out Yodobashi and Kitamura
For Photographers: if you want some cool shots of the Shinjuku pedestrian crossing, go to the top of the Shinjuku Bus Terminal (Level 4, next to the vending machine).
Godzilla Head: Make sure to spot the iconic Godzilla Head, located on top of the Hotel Gracery. You can view it from the street, and it roars with smoke and lights every hour between 12-8pm.
3D Electronic Billboards: Check out the giant wall of 3D electronic billboards, located at Cross Shinjuku Vision (across from Shinjuku Station’s east exit). The popular one is the giant 3D cat, which features in short videos between ads. You may see it yawning, stretching, walking around and jumping out of the screen - it’s definitely a cool sight to see!
🍢 Dinner at Omoide Yokocho (‘Memory Lane’)
End your night by having dinner at Omoide Yokocho (‘Memory Lane’) in Shinjuku, which is a must-visit for foodies! It’s a narrow alley packed with multiple small, counter-style izakayas that serve a range of yakitori skewers, grilled meats and drinks.
Although quite tiny (most only fit 10 or less people), it’s a fun experience being able to watch your food being grilled in front of you in a lively setting and the skewers were so delicious.
Day 3: Asakusa & Akihabara
🍳 Start your morning at Asakusa
Start your morning by heading to Asakusa. Asakusa's main attraction is Sensō-ji Temple, which is Tokyo’s oldest temple and also has a stunning 5-story pagoda. You can also explore all of the street food and souvenier stalls along Nakamise-dori Street leading up to the temple.
🍢 Get Asakusa Street Food for Lunch
There are many street food stalls around Sensō-ji Temple and Nakamise Shopping Street in Asakusa. Some of our favourite eats were:
🥘 Giraffa - Curry Pan (450 Yen) from Giraffa - Our favourite !!
🍓 Daifuku (400 Yen) from Asakusa Strawberry Daifuku
🥓 Fried Pork Bite from Asakusa Menchi
🍮 Matcha Crème Brûlée Crepe (990 Yen) from Asakusa Chaya Tabanenoshi
🍦 Hokkaido Milk Ice Cream (700 Yen) from Asakusa Strawberry Daifuku
🍡 Hanami Dango (150 Yen) from Kaede
Then spend some time shopping in Asakusa:
🔪 Kappabashi Street(known as Kitchen Town): sells lots of kitchenware, including knives and ceramics
🎁 Nakamise-dori Street: lots of stalls leading up to Sensoji Temple. Great spot to shop for souvenirs!
🛍️ Nishi-Sando Shopping Street: shopping arcade
🌸 Flower Miffy: if you love Miffy, you’ll love this cute store! It sells heaps of Miffy-themed items, and we bought so much here.
🧸 Sanrio Store: sells lots of Sanrio character items!
If you have more time or want to find a relaxing spot to escape from the crowds, we’d recommend heading to Asahi Sky Room. This is located insideAsahi Headquarters and then you need to go up the escalators to get to the Sky Room. It’s the perfect spot to enjoy a beer with amazing panoramic views! 🍺
🌆 Head to Akihabara
After Asakusa, make your way to Akihabara (also known as ‘Electric Town’). It’s a famous shopping district known for electronics, games and anime.
First, have fun at the arcades. They’re next level in Japan with SO many levels of claw machines and classic arcade games. Check out GiGo (our favourite), TAITO Station, Game Panic or Super Potato (for old-school retro arcade games).
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The smaller claws are easier to win and cheaper, so we’d recommend focusing on these compared to the big ones if you don’t want to waste too much money.
Some claws have rubber on the ends/tips. If you spot these, we found them easier to win on since they can grip the toy better.
At some arcades like GiGO, you can ask the staff for help (if you want / need it) and they may reposition the toys to be in a better spot for you.
If the claw grabs the plushie but immediately drops it (ie weak grip), don’t keep trying and move on to a different claw.
Try to go for toys that are closer to the opening or can bounce off another toy and fall right in.
‼️ Disclaimer: there were also many losses and we definitely spent way too much money on these 😂
Then spend some time shopping in Akihabara:
🗡️ For anime lovers: Animate Akihabara, Lashinbang and Akihabara Kotobukiya
📷 For electronics and camera lovers: Yodobashi Akiba
💥 For a mega 10-story store: Radio Kaikan (anime, comics, figurines, electronics)
🧸 For certain gachapon or figurines: Habikoro Toys (inside Radio Kaikan) has a whole store filled with HEAPS that you can just buy without having to try your luck on the gachapon machines. The store can be quite overwhelming since there’s so much there, but it’s really cool to check out!
🍜 Dinner at MO-MO Paradise
MO-MO Paradise is an All-You-Can-Eat Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu restaurant. You can select different types of menus, with the higher quality meat options being more expensive. We’ve been twice and always have a great time here, and the food is really good!
Day 4: TeamLabs, Ginza & Roppongi
🍳 Start your morning at TeamLab Planets
TeamLab Planets is an immersive digital art museum with different interactive rooms. Our favourite room is The Infinite Crystal Universe, where thousands of LED lights shift colours and sparkle around you. However, in January 2025, they expanded the museum's entire space by 1.5 times with 3 new interactive art spaces, which have more than 10 immersive artworks, so we’ll definitely need to go back and check out the new spaces!
✍️ Things to know about TeamLab Planets:
⏰ Opening Hours: 9am-10pm daily
🎟️ Tickets: Get up to 10% off via Klook.com with code FEASTONITKLOOK. Book well in advance because this attraction is popular and sells out fast. You’ll also need to pick a time slot. We’d recommend either the earliest or latest session (although we went at 8pm and it was still VERY crowded, so expect it to be very busy in general!).
👖 What to wear? There are mirrored floors, so it’s advised to avoid skirts or dresses (especially short ones) if you may feel uncomfortable. Also, some rooms involve walking in knee-high water levels, so wear shorts or clothing that can be rolled up quite high to avoid them getting wet.
🦶 Barefoot: This is a completely barefoot experience (since a few rooms require you to walk in water) and requires you to take off your socks and shoes, then store them in a locker before entering. If you don’t want to go barefoot, we’d recommend going to TeamLab Borderless instead (which doesn’t require you to go barefoot).
Note: there is also another similar digital art exhibition called TeamLab Borderless, but we haven’t been to this one yet. We heard that it used to be much bigger than TeamLab Planets before the expansion, but might be more similar in size now. Borderless also seems to be more accessible, since there are hard flat floors and no water rooms, with lots of digital projections.
🌆 Head to Ginza for lunch & Shopping
Next, spend the afternoon in Ginza - Tokyo’s high-end shopping, dining, and entertainment hub, known for its designer boutiques and flagship stores.
Grab lunch at Tonkatsu Hasegawa Higashi Ginza for amazing pork tonkatsu, then go shopping! Some of our favourite stores are:
👕 Uniqlo Flagship Store: the world's largest flagship with 12 floors
🛍️ Muji Flagship Store: the world’s largest flagship with 11 floors
✏️ Ginza Itoya: huge stationary store
🚂 Hakuhinkan Toy Park: toy store and you can also do miniature toy car racing (pictured below), which was fun!
Note: on weekends, the street is closed to automobile traffic and becomes a large pedestrian zone. The road closure takes place from 12-6pm (or until 5pm between October and March).
🌅 Go to Roppongi Hills Observation Deck for sunset
Head to Roppongi for sunset and check out the Roppongi Hills Observation Deck for incredible views of Tokyo and Tokyo Tower. It’s located on the 52nd floor of the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 250 meters above sea level. The open-air rooftop is no longer open to the public, so it is just the indoor observation deck.
🍜 Dinner at Ichiran
For dinner, we’d recommend getting ramen from the popular Ichiran (multiple locations). However, the lines can be VERY long, especially during peak hours, so try to go early or late if you can. We personally wouldn’t wait more than 30–40 minutes.
We love Ichiran because you can fully customise your ramen to suit your taste, such as noodle texture, broth richness and spice level. It’s also a great spot for solo travellers since they have individual booths and even better for introverts since you can make requests without even speaking (i.e. simply push the call button and show wooden blocks with statements like ‘I’m leaving my seat for a moment’ or ‘I don’t know the ordering process’ to the staff).
Day 5: Day Trip
There are heaps of half-day or full-day trips you can do from Tokyo, depending on your interests. Here are some of our top picks:
Kamakura: charming coastal town known for its historic temples, shrines, and scenic beaches. This was one of our favourite places to visit, so we’d highly recommend doing a day trip here!
Yokohama: a short train ride from Tokyo, Yokohama is home to the fun and interactive Cup Noodles Museum, and Yokohama Chinatown (the largest Chinatown in Japan with delicious food!).
Mount Fuji: a good day trip if you’re keen to see Mount Fuji and explore the surrounding areas, but are short on time. Just keep in mind that visibility can be unpredictable, so if you really want to see Mount Fuji, we’d recommend staying a few days in the Fuji Five Lakes area to increase your chances (which is what we did!). If you book any Mount Fuji tours on Klook.com, get up to 🎟️ 10% off tickets with our code: FEASTONITKLOOK
Tokyo Disneyland or DisneySea: a magical escape for the day, whether you're a Disney fan or just love theme parks. DisneySea is especially unique to Japan and great for all ages. Make sure to book tickets in advance, and get up to 🎟️ 10% off tickets via Klook.com with our code: FEASTONITKLOOK.
Key Travel Tips for Tokyo
Best time to visit
Spring (March – May) for cherry blossoms and Autumn (Sep – Nov) for the vibrant autumn colours. We’ve been to Tokyo twice in Autumn and we love how the weather isn’t too hot or freezing cold, so it’s pleasant to wander around.
✍️ Tip: Avoid Summer (June – August). We’ve been to Tokyo in Summer and it’s extremely hot and humid!
Getting around
To get around Tokyo, we mainly took the train and walked. We relied on Google Maps to help us navigate and figure out what trains we needed to catch.
Instead of purchasing individual train tickets for each trip, we purchased the ICOCA Card - which you can load a certain amount of money on, then tap it on the card reader at the ticket gates and the fare is automatically deducted from your balance. For Australians, it’s basically like the Opal Card! You can also get the digital version on iPhone and then top it up with more money via the Wallet App. This made it super convenient for us when we were catching trains, so we’d highly recommend it.
✍️ Tip: Avoid train rush hours (typically 7:30-9:30am and 5:30-7:30pm) because it can get extremely crowded and you may feel squished on the trains (not fun)!
Where to stay
We’d recommend staying in Shibuya, Ginza or Asakusa since they are close to lots of attractions and along common train lines.
🏨 Shibuya Stream Hotel (Shibuya): This hotel is very convenient, since it’s connected to Shibuya Station and it’s also located within Shibuya Scramble Square. They also have a robot service, where a robot will deliver free and unlimited bottled water to your room upon request (so cool!). However, due to its location, it’s not cheap. We paid around ~$430 AUD per night on our last trip (but this may change depending on the dates you choose / how long you stay for), so it really depends on what your budget is.
Internet & Connection
We’d recommend the Klook eSIM (+ get up to 10% off with our discount code FEASTONITKLOOK).
Activation is quick and seamless through the Klook App and you don’t need to worry about switching physical SIM cards. You can also activate it before you land in Tokyo, so that you get instant connection when you arrive.
We’ve used this in Japan and the connection was fast and reliable, so it was perfect for navigating with maps, translating menus and signs in Japan, and accessing our digital tickets quickly.
Travel Card & Cash
For a travel card, we’d recommend Wise. We use this for all our international trips and they also have a digital card for convenience so that you can tap and pay via your phone.
✍️ Tip: make sure to still bring cash, since lots of market stalls, smaller businesses and arcades/gacha machines only accept cash.
Language
Japanese is the main language, so lots of local restaurants will have Japanese-only menus and the staff won’t speak English. However, in the popular tourist areas and at most main attractions, English is mainly understand and spoken so you don’t need to know Japanese to travel here.
✍️ Tip: Download Google Translate to easily translate Japanese signs and menus. We also used it at restaurants when the staff didn’t speak English.
Tickets & Discounts
🎟️ Book popular attractions well in advance, such as Shibuya Sky, TeamLab Planets, TeamLab Borderless and Tokyo Disneyland / DisneySea.
💸 Discount: Get up to 10% off Japan activities, tours, trains and hotels on Klook.com with code: FEASTONITKLOOK.
