What to Do in Tokyo – by author Jonelle Patrick

There was only one person I wanted to start this series – Jonelle Patrick, author of some of my favorite books set in Tokyo. The second time I went to Japan I found Jonelle’s website and spent an entire weekend reading the whole thing – I couldn’t get enough.

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Then I got hooked on her books. The Only in Tokyo series is a must-read before you go if you want to understand some of the elements of modern Japanese culture like host clubs and idol bands – plus, they’re really good detective novels. Start with Nightshade.

Over the years we became online buddies and then finally, a few years ago we finally met in person in the lobby of a hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and ran around Tokyo together.

We hunted down statues in little outfits, went to some very, erm, interesting bars, and had a blast – and, once you read her guide to her favorite things to do in Tokyo, you’ll get to do the same. So now, over to Jonelle.

1. Where Should People Start Their Day?

If you’re like me, you’re itching to plunge into local culture right away, so let’s head straight to the Sushi Zanmai flagship restaurant, in Tsukiji and breakfast on some sushi that’s so fresh, it’ll make you moan with longing every time you remember it.

Ha, I see you wrinkling your nose! If the idea of fish for breakfast squicks you out, just remember it’s probably midnight in whatever time zone your body thinks you’re in, so all good.

Also, this is the most un-fishy fish you’ll ever eat. Everything at Sushi Zanmai—including the stuff you have no idea what the heckin’ heck it is—will not only be surprisingly inexpensive, it’s so fresh, you can’t even smell it.

The flagship Sushi Zanmai has the bonus of being located in the Outer Market of the old Tsukiji Fish Market,* and its narrow alleyways are still lined with old-fashioned booths selling everything from fisherman’s two-toed boots to freshly shaved smoked bonito.

After you eat, prowling the alleys for an early-morning browse is an excellent way to enjoy the hours before everything else opens at 10:00.

*The actual fish market with the auctions and such has sadly been moved to a boring modern highrise out in Odaiba, so you can no longer walk around and see giant tuna being cut up with bandsaws.

In the Outer market, though, you can still see a vendor measuring out a sack full of katsuo-bushi, the shaved smoked bonito that’s the base for dashi (Japanese soup stock).

2. What’s Your Favourite Instagram spot in Tokyo?

You will surprise and amaze with photos uploaded from your visit to The Trick Art Museum!

This collection of life-sized optical illusion paintings is designed so you can insert yourself in forty-five different scenes and take pictures that make it look like you are doing amazing (and utterly Japanese) things.

It’s an excellent thing to do on a rainy day in Tokyo.

The Trick Art Museum is located in Odaiba. See more about how to get there here.

3. What Site in Your Books Is Your Favourite?

Kappabashi Street! It’s the main boulevard through the restaurant supply district, where they sell everything from griddles for making octopus balls to super-realistic plastic food models.

One of the main characters in The Last Tea Bowl Thief runs a shop that sells traditional plates and bowls from all over Japan (non-coincidentally, quite similar to the Kappabashi shops where I bought an embarrassing number of Japanese dishes from all over Japan), but I chose the neighborhood because you can still feel a genuinely Japanese spirit there.

The neighborhood streets are still lined with traditional wooden buildings, and most of the shops have been selling knives, rice cookers, or gorgeous lacquerware soup bowls for generations.

It is—in short—the perfect place to hide a priceless tea bowl that’s been missing for three hundred years.

It’s also the perfect place to discover little sake shops with tasting bars, stores selling plum blossom cookie cutters, the world’s sharpest knives, banners advertising ramen and draft beer, special ladles for saucing your eel, and maybe catch a glimpse of a Japanese hearse tricked out with an ornate red and gold shrine on its back.

4. What’s Your Favourite Thing to Do When It’s Raining?

If you can get tickets to the Borderless Digital Museum GO.

They sometimes sell out on holidays, weekends, and rainy days, but if there are tickets available, it’s one of the most amazing things you’ll ever see in your life.

The enormous building houses a maze of rooms filled with constantly morphing digital environments, from waterfalls to schools of fish to a mirrored infinity room filled with glowing lamps that change color as you move among them.

teamLab Borderless is now located in Azabudai Hills which is kind of near the Tokyo tower. It’s immensely popular, so you will need to book in advance.

They also have a second site called teamLab Planets near Odaiba – find tickets for that here.

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teamLab has also teamed up with Ginza restaurant Sagaya to create an art-filled dining experience called Moonflower Sagaya – see more about it in our piece on all the places Apple TV filmed in the Tokyo episode of The Reluctant Traveler.

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After you spend hours and hours at Borderless if it’s still raining when you finish, head over to Art Aquarium in Ginza.

This has been my absolute favorite summer event for years, but now you can see it year-round! Huge custom-designed aquariums are dramatically lit in an ever-changing spectrum of colors, showcasing the fish inside like living jewels.

Every kind of goldfish imaginable is on display—from ordinary orange ones to giant spotted varieties with extravagant fins—and it’s an experience you can’t have anywhere else in the world.

Even if it doesn’t rain, you should go!

Buy tickets for the Art Aquarium here.

5. What’s the Most ‘Only in Tokyo’ Thing Visitors Should Do?

You should absolutely go to the Fukugawa Fudo-san temple to watch one of the five fire ceremonies they perform every day (featuring bare-chested priests playing taiko drums and, naturally, FIRE).

Then walk through their hall of 10,000 crystal Buddhas, see the room with 108 glow-in-the-dark saints, and make a wish on dissolving paper at the dragon fountain.

See more pictures here.

6. What’s Your Favourite Bar?

That would be Codename Mixology because they don’t just mix original cocktails, they do it with their own insane flavors of infused spirits.

Vodkas flavored with wasabi, bacon, and bamboo are only a few of the unexpected taste treats on offer, and watching a professionally-trained Japanese bartender make a smoke-infused chocolate martini isn’t something I’m ever going to see back home.

Codename Mixology has a couple of different bars in Tokyo. The original branch is in Akasaka. Click here to check exactly what’s open during your trip.

7. Do You Have a Favourite Hotel?

I’m sorry to say that I’m completely unqualified to answer that question (since I never stay in hotels when I’m in Tokyo), but I will share some Japan-centric tips for picking one!

• Before you book, check how many minutes it takes to walk from the hotel to the nearest train station (it will be on the website), because you’re going to be covering that ground A LOT, sometimes with heavy luggage or shopping bags.
• If you’re planning to make reservations for restaurants or get tickets to museums/shows/attractions, pick a hotel with concierge service. Many restaurants and ticket vendors don’t use English, so if you don’t speak/read Japanese, you may need help arranging things once you get there.
• If facing unfamiliar foods first thing in the morning isn’t your favorite thing, choose a hotel that includes a breakfast buffet. Japanese hotel breakfast buffets are AWESOME and offer both Western and Japanese choices. They’re also the quickest and easiest way to get fueled up and out the door in the morning.

8. What’s Your Favourite Garden in Tokyo?

My favorite secret garden is the Kiyosumi Teien.

This immaculate Japanese garden is gorgeous and serene any time of year, and not only is there a fresh, Insta-worthy vista every time you turn around, but it’s never crowded.

Walking around its large pond can easily be done in under an hour, but I bet it’ll take you longer because you’ll want to detour across the many lovely bridges to its picturesque islands, pause on the monumental stepping stones to enjoy the giant carp and turtles gathering around in hope of some chow, and stop to appreciate the manicured trees and mossy nooks.

Also (bonus!) it’s just a block away from another hidden gem, the Fukagawa-Edo Museum, which houses a life-sized samurai-era town you can explore.

Kyosumi Teien is located in east Tokyo.

9. What is Your Favourite Shop?

I ought to be banned from buying anything in Japan ever again because I am powerless to resist and I HAVE BOUGHT ALL THE THINGS, but there’s one place I just have to visit whenever I’m there: the Isetatsu Chiyogami store.

It’s filled with extremely affordable traditional printed papers, all of which have been made with woodblocks that date from the samurai era.

VanGogh even featured one of their designs in a painting, when he was going through his “Japanese” period!

They have an amazing selection of patterned papers, plus scenes that are suitable for framing. My favorite series (which can’t be bought anywhere else) features cats doing traditional Japanese stuff.

Check their location and exact opening hours here.

It’s located in Yanaka which is an undiscovered neighborhood filled with ancient quirky businesses, a puppet master, and a cat-themed shopping street, so save time for walking around, when you go.

10. What’s the Best Day Trip From Tokyo?

Get thee to Kamakura.

It’s an easy one-hour train ride away, and full of shrines and temples that will rival anything you’ll see in Kyoto, including the biggest bronze Buddha in Japan, the Fox Shrine, the Money-Washing Shrine, the Bamboo Temple, the Divorce Temple, and the Dish-Breaking Shrine.

Who is Jonelle?

Jonelle Patrick is the author of five novels set in Japan, and has been writing about Japanese culture and travel since she first moved to Tokyo in 2003.

In addition to The Last Tea Bowl Thief and the Only In Tokyo mystery series, she produces the monthly newsletter Japanagram, blogs at Only In Japan, and runs the travel site The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had on her author website, jonellepatrick.com.

She also teaches at writing workshops, appears as a panelist at Thrillerfest, and was the keynote speaker at the Arrow Rock Writing Workshop.

She’s a graduate of Stanford University and the Sendagaya Japanese Language Institute and is also a member of the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, and the Historical Novel Society.

She divides her time between Tokyo and San Francisco.

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