Sites you have to see in Tokyo

Ever since my kids came along, we have dragged them along on our adventures.  We went to Hirosaki to see the cherry blossoms recently, but we also spent a bit of time in Tokyo as well which served as our base.  I did a little research combining kid friendly activities with sites I wanted to visit as well.  It’s a balance keeping them entertained and fulfilled.  But at some point, you let them in on what you want to do too and ask for their patience (ahem the little lady does in fact also like perusing luxury purses). So I wanted to share my list of sites you have to see in Tokyo so you have an idea of the main attractions there.

Sites you have to see in Tokyo

Museum (Ueno Park)

Ueno Park is one of the city’s major national parks but is so much more than a park.  Of course you can rent boats at Shinobazu pond and enjoy the hanami (cherry blossom viewing) in the spring.  It is also a major center of cultural activity and contains many of the major museums in Tokyo.  It’s ideal if one location has multiple options – woohoo to setting a whole day of activities right?  You can find anything from the National Museum of Nature and Science (where we went and is great for kids!) to the Royal Museum and Japan Art Academy. We almost went to the zoo, but settled on the National Museum of Nature and Science.

I liked the size of the museum and the fact that there were English instructions to direct us.

The displays were rendered with lifelike detail and it was well maintained.

My little ones loved the kids play area with a natural history theme.  We had to get tickets for a specific slot, but luckily obtained this easily about 30 minutes before entering the play area.

Shrine 

Japan is the home of many different shrines honoring significant figures from different points in time. You may very well stumble across a shrine in your neighborhood as I did on a recent stroll.  I had a few different shrines on my list, but decided on the Yasakuni shrine due to its proximity and interesting history.  This shrine honors more than 2 million people and even animals that died in service to Japan. I previously visited Asakusa Shrine and the neighboring Senso-ji temple which is supposed to be the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan. The scale and details in shrines are enough to impress even a 4 year-old!

Shopping area (Shibuya, Ginza, Shinjuku, Harajuku)

Japan is undoubtedly one of the best places to shop.  Dress like a funky Harajuku girl or go glam in an international luxury brand.  It is definitely fun taking a peek at the retail scene in Japan. I made brief trips to each of these areas and will write another post about them specifically someday.  But they all have a mix of local Japanese brands and international brands. I most enjoyed Shibuya and Harajuku because of its mix of individual stores. In contrast, Shinjuku and Ginza had standalone stores, but quite a few large department stores as well.

I visited Amore Vintage (3 in the area with the most extensive Chanel/Hermes collections) and had a nice break at Dominique Ansel Bakery.

The baby was suffering severe jet lag or just going crazy for no reason, but I drowned my sorrows in a Cronut which was readily available at the bakery. I don’t have a lot of pictures of the shopping areas, but posted some on my Instagram stories.  I’ll also write another post about luxury purse shopping in Tokyo because it is SO COOL (in terms of selection at least).

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