When to Visit

Any time of year is great to visit Japan! That said, I recommend March-May when the weather is at its most mild (and cherry blossoms can be briefly be seen).

Fun Things to See & Do

• Mori Art Museum Modern art gallery inside Roppongi Hills Mori Tower and featuring top-knotch traveling exhibits; purchase the observation deck tickets for a breathtaking 360° panoramic view of Tokyo at night

• SHIBUYA SKY Breathtaking views of the city from 229m above thr ground

• Tokyu Kabukicho Tower Variety of eateries and arcade gaming

• Ghibli Museum Suburban museum dedicated to Oscar-winning anime film producer Hayao Miyazaki’s work

• Asakusa Old-fashioned shopping district to the famous Sensoji Buddhist temple

• Yakult Swallows Tokyo’s second-favorite baseball team after the Yomiuri Giants, first in our hearts

• Shibuya Sunrockers Tokyo’s second basketball team, after Alvark Tokyo… if you think you’re seeing a pattern, trust your instincts

Places to Consider Skipping

• Golden Gai Once a bohemian hangout for artists and intellectuals, now 99% foreign tourists

• teamLab Notoriously Instagrammable 3D artwork

• TOKYO SKYTREE Touristy view that is less relevant than ever with the opening of SHIBUYA SKY or Mori Tower’s observation deck

• Tokyo Tower Japan’s answer to the Eiffel Tower, which wasn’t a question

Restaurants

• Tonkatsu Maisen Crispy, juicy deep-fried pork cutlet chain that is among the best in Tokyo

• Sushi Kushiyagawa Innovative, beautiful and playful sushi run by master chef of the same name

• Hanamachi Tora Amazing upscale izakaya-inspired Japanese fare served by head chef Katsuaki Hamada, tell him Jim sent you

Bars

• Analog Cocktail bar with latest music and patrons allowed one request per visit from their extensive selection

• Bloody Angle Chill beer and cocktail spot serving mostly international clientele and hip hop records; they have two locations

• SG Club Largely considered Japan’s best cocktail bar with New York prohibition style and downstairs bar with completely separate menu

• Bar Martha No-photos allowed record bar in Ebisu featuring decent selection of 1970s-1990s rock and pop

• Mikkeller Tokyo outpost of Danish-based brewery featuring variety of beers on tap and conveniently located next to Hanamachi Tora

• ØL Tokyo / ØL BY OSLO BREWING CO. Cozy hang with great tacos outside

Music Venues & Live Houses

• Liquidroom Ebisu rock and pop venue, mostly featuring domestic rock bands

• O-East Spotify-owned venue featuring many of the world’s best rock and hip hop artists

• Blue Note Tokyo & Blue Note Place Japan outposts for the legendary New York jazz club of the same name

• Club Quattro Tokyo’s branch of Japan rock club chain

• Billboard Tokyo Another music venue chain featuring mostly jazz and international R&B talent

• Snow Machine Aussie-run music event in Hakuba featuring domestic and Australian talent

• More Than Music Not a music venue per se, but a fantastic collective for rotating indie music events throughout the Tokyo area

Nightclubs

• Womb Four-story house venue located in Shibuya featuring Funktion 1 soundsystem and ranked #1 Tokyo nightclub on most lists

• Mitsuki Afterhours techno spot keeping the party going well past 5:00am on most nights

• ZEROTOKYO Shinjuku’s latest superclub featuring many of the best global house, techno and progressive DJs

• Zouk Ginza’s best superclub featuring wide variety of top 40, house and hip hop beneath their famous UFO

• CÉ LA VI Tokyo outpost of Singapore’s famous club of the same name, featuring three separate dance floors and great in summers

Tech Meetups & Networking Events

• Pechakucha 20x20 Design, tech and artist talks capped at 20 slides, each for 20 seconds

• Hacker News Tokyo's longest-running hacker networking event, started by Jay Winder and Paul Oswald (founders of MakeLeaps)

• InnoHyve Community of techies and entrepreneurs with bimonthly networking and panel discussions

• Takeoff Tokyo Two-day pitch event for global aspiring startups, investors and tech media

• Tokyo Tech Meetup Seasonal bilingual networking and tech talks run by Shoin Wolfe

Music Festivals

• FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL Summer institution in Naeba (2 hours by bullet train outside Tokyo) featuring domestic and international pop and rock acts with heavily British roster

• SYNCHRONICITY Domestic rock festival taking place across multiple clubs in Shibuya area in April each year

• Rainbow Disco Club Izu, Shizuoka-based electronic music festival leaning heavily techno, also found in Bali

• Summer Sonic Mainstream summer music festival in Chiba, just outside Tokyo

• Labyrinth Minimal and dark techno festival in Gunma

Recommended Trips Outside Tokyo

• Hakone Romantic getaway less than 90 minutes from Tokyo by train

• Hakuba Excellent skiing, hiking and kayaking 4 hours by car outside Tokyo, great for outdoors trips year-round

• Kamakura Ancient Japanese capital alongside Kyoto and Nara with rich history of Buddhism and featuring the famous Daibutsu

• Niseko Japan’s famous powder skiing serving mostly international customers located in Hokkaido, North of Sapporo

• Nozawa Onsen Great skiing 4-5 hours outside Tokyo and now serving many foreign tourists

• Kinugawa Onsen Popular (and romantic) hot spring resort town for young Japanese couples

• Suzuka Grand Prix Japan’s one and only F1 race based in Nagoya, with track serving Super GT races year-round