Ask John: What do I Need to Know to Visit Tokyo?

Question:
I’m thinking about going to Tokyo. Can you give me detailed advice about what I would need to know or have with me and the like?

Answer:
For a first time fan of anime touring Tokyo with a goal of visiting anime shops and acquiring as much anime merchandise as possible, there are a few things I recommend you bring with you, and one major thing I recommend you leave behind. You’ll need to take with you a lot of money, a strong physical constitution, and a good idea of where you want to go. You’ll need to leave behind the common misconception that most Japanese citizens speak English. Tokyo is a free visa country, so if you live in North America or the UK, all you need to enter Japan is a round trip plane ticket and a valid passport.

Plan at least a week in Tokyo, if not more, as it will take you at least that long to familiarize yourself with the sections of the city you’ll want to visit, and explore the anime shops. Also be prepared to forgo the day you arrive and the day you leave, as a bus ride from Narita International Airport to downtown Tokyo takes about 2 hours with average traffic, even though the distance is under 50 miles. And especially if it’s your first trip and you don’t speak fluent Japanese, make reservations at a 4 star hotel. You should expect to spend $150 or more per night on a hotel room, but a 4 star or better hotel will afford you a staff that speaks English and door to door bus service from the airport to the hotel. Believe me, as I speak from experience, dragging a heavy suitcase through the streets of Tokyo when your bus doesn’t go directly to your hotel is not exactly a pleasant experience. Furthermore, Airport Limousine bus service from Narita to Tokyo costs roughly 3,000 yen. A taxi costs almost 10 times that amount.

Most Japanese banks and better hotels will provide currency exchange services, but Japanese banks are only open on weekdays. Unlike most American airport currency exchange booths, the currency exchange booths in Narita Airport are run by national Japanese banks, so don’t be afraid to exchange a large amount of currency into Japanese yen at Narita Airport. You may find that the best exchange rate you’ll get during your stay will actually be offered at the airport. And take lots of cash or travelers checks. Japan is a cash based society, so many video game and anime stores will not accept credit cards and no place in Japan will accept American currency. Expect to pay for everything you buy, except your hotel room, in Japanese yen.

Tokyo is a pedestrian city, so expect to do a lot of walking. I strongly advise you to prepare yourself by exercising before you go. You’ll spend most of your time every day either standing or walking, so make sure that your legs and feet are prepared for intense, strenuous use. Bring muscle soreness cream and aspirin with you. You’ll probably find that you’ll need them, and simple pain relievers are surprisingly difficult to find in Japanese convenience stores. The train system in Japan will become a second home to you. You’ll use the Yamanote line most often, as it circles the heart of Tokyo. The train system is color coded, and is specifically designed to be accessible to foreigners.

However, you’ll find that most of Japan is not exceptionally tailored toward foreigners. As you’ll have guessed from watching and listening to anime, English is common in Japan, and it is a required course in Japanese primary school, but just as most Americans take a semester or two of foreign language and promptly forget everything they’ve learned, the average Japanese citizen will understand and speak little to no English. Become familiar with simple words and phrases like “shitsure-shimasu,” “ikura desu ka?” and “sumimasen” before you go, because you’ll use them often. Japanese people will be infallibly polite to foreigners, and will assist you to whatever extent they can if you ask, but in the fast paced society of Tokyo, expect most Japanese people to be too busy to take much notice of you.

Also practice using chopsticks before you go. Unless you plan on eating all of your meals at American fast food restaurants like McDonalds and KFC, you’ll need to learn to use chopsticks as Western forks, knives and spoons are virtually non-existent in Japanese restaurants. Western fast food serving sizes will probably seem small to an average American, but the cost of a value meal isn’t too much more than what you’d expect to pay in a big American city. Yoshinoya is a favorite food source for me in Japan because all Yoshinoya restaurants in Japan are open 24 hours, and an extra large “gyudon” (beef bowl of rice with sliced strips of beef and onions) costs only 540 yen.

Some of the main places you’ll want to visit include Akihabara, Shibuya, Nakano, and Shinjuku. If possible, print out maps before hand that show the locations of the shops you want to visit. Street addresses alone are virtually useless. Tokyo is such a crowded and compact city that even Tokyo natives often won’t be able to find a location with just its street address. If you don’t exactly know where to go, your best bet is to take the train to Akihabara and exit the train station at the “Akihabara Electric Town” exit. By simply wandering around you’ll find K-Books, which carries an extensive stock of used and collectable anime goods, Animate and Gamers, which both specialize in new anime merchandise, Melon Books and several Comic Toronoana shops that specialize in adult anime and doujinshi, and a plethora of video game stores that carry more console video games than you even knew existed. Trust me on this. One of the best pieces of advice I can give you regarding shopping is this- don’t buy anything new unless you have to. If you have enough time to spend bargain hunting, you can find virtually any anime item you’re looking for used, at a significantly discounted price- even brand new items that were only released the week before.

In Shibuya, you’ll find several movie theaters, another Animate store, and most importantly, the main Mandarake store. Aim for the Hachiko exit from the Shibuya train station. You’ll find almost directly outside probably the single most crowded intersection on Earth and the famous Shibuya 109 building. Fight your way through the crowds two blocks past the right side of the Shibuya 109 building until you see the little police station in the middle of a fork in the road. About a block past the police box on the right is the flight of stairs leading underground to Mandarake, the largest single anime store in the world. Especially if it’s your first time there, or if you don’t know what you’re looking for, plan to spend at least half a day exploring Mandarake. You’ll find everything you can think of there- from vintage manga from the 1940s to the latest release doujinshi, tin toys to the latest gachapon figures- all at tremendously discount, pre-owned prices.

The other prime anime bargain hunting spot is Nakano Broadway, a 4 story indoor mall located in Nakano, only one stop away from Shinjuku by the Chuo-Sobu Line train. As you arrive in the Nakano train station from Shinjuku, you’ll see it on your right. You literally can’t miss it. In Nakano Broadway you’ll find numerous branches of Mandarake specializing in yaoi doujinshi, shops for new and used doujinshi, hentai doujinshi, and manga, anime toys, video, CDs and video games, cosplay goods and costumes and more. You’ll also find 3 shops that deal exclusively in anime production cels: Anime World Star, Commit, and Zero; along with shops specializing in used console games, PC games, laserdiscs, Japanese audio and video, and discount luggage, alcohol, clothes, kitchen goods, and groceries.

While Shibuya is the trendy place for the average Japanese teen to hang out and be seen, Shinjuku is the entertainment district for the average Tokyo citizen. You’ll find arcades, restaurants, pachinko parlors, karaoke bars, department stores, anime shops and video game stores galore in Shinjuku. Wander around if you have time, and you’ll invariably come across shops you’ll find interesting. And be sure to look up. Especially in Akihabara, you’ll find that high-rise buildings will house different stores on different floors, including the basement. Sometimes, to find the best anime shops, you’ll need to adventure up flights of very narrow stairs to find shops on the third, fourth or fifth floors. Don’t let unmarked or unpromising looking stairways scare you away. If you’re not supposed to climb any higher, there will be barriers erected or clear obstacles blocking the stairs to let you know. Often times hidden treasure anime shops will not have signs on the street, or will have only the smallest, easily overlooked signs at street level inviting customers up to the fifth floor. Don’t be embarrassed or hesitant to enter buildings that don’t at first look like traditional retail stores. Remember that Tokyo isn’t exactly like what you’re used to in America. Some of the best deals and most impressive anime stores in Tokyo are ones that you have to put a little bit of effort into finding.

My final piece of advice is this: don’t hesitate. For many anime fans, a visit to Tokyo is a once in a lifetime experience. If you see someplace that looks interesting, check it out. If you see something you want, buy it. Money can always be replaced, but the choice anime toy or cel or book or video game you pass up then can’t find again may be a decision you’ll regret forever. You may only have one opportunity to check out that fourth story window in Akihabara that says “Sale! Anime Video” or “Used TV Game Soft.” Tokyo is one of the politest and safest metropolitan cities in the world, so you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain by making the most of your opportunities.