One Day in Tokyo

Fortunately, last week I had one free day for sightseeing in Tokyo before moving to the conference location in Niigata. It was a tiring but very exiting day in Tokyo. Tokyo offers a very wide range of attractions well worth a visit. After having a look in the internet and asking the hotel staff about the places that they would recommend in Tokyo, I planned my journey through Tokyo to visit 4 key points of interest: Imperial Palace, Ueno park, Ginza, and Ikebukoro. I got the day pass "Tokyo Free Kippu" (1580 Yen) with unlimited use of all subway lines and JR trains in the central Tokyo area on one calendar day. I used the JR Yamanote Line, Tokyo´s most prominent train line which takes a circle line and connects Tokyo´s major stations (Tokyo, Ueno, Ikebukoro, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Shinagawa). I started with the Imperial Palace which is a 10 minute walk from Tokyo Station. The Imperial Palace itself is not open to the public but the Imperial Palace East Gardens which are part of the inner palace area can be accessed.


After visting the Imperial Palace East Gardens, I moved to Ueno Park, a large public park next to Ueno station that offers a large variety of attractions. I visited there the Tokyo National Museum and learned more about Japan´s history especially the Edo and Meiji Periods. I also visited the Zoo, Shinobazu Pond, Toshogu Shrine, and the statue of Saigo Takamori who played a key role in realizing the Meiji Restoration of 1868.


Then I took the Ginza Subway Line from Ueno to move to the famous Ginza shopping, dining and entertainment district, with numerous department stores, galleries, cafes and restaurants. I visited there the clock tower of the Ginza Wako building, the Sony building and several department stores like Mitsukoshi, Printemps and Seibu.


I spent then the rest of the night in Ikebukuro next to my hotel. Ikebukoro also offers a plenty of entertainment, shopping and dining opprtunities. Ikebukuro station is Japan´s second busiest rialway station after Shinjuku Station. I got dinner in a Japanese restaurant, visited some points of interest like Bic Camera Main Store and enjoyed the very crowdy nightlife in the area around Ikebukuro station and Sunshine City.