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  • Twelve Hours in Tokyo - Suggestions?

    Hello everyone,

    I am in transit in Tokyo next month for 12 hours, arriving at Haneda at 10am and departing from Haneda at midnight to SFO (On a 787!).

    Appreciate suggestions on what to do in the city, and where to have lunch. I've not been to Tsukiji but that is probably best visited early in the morning right?

    Thanks in advance...

    I'm flying JAL by the way, so if all goes according to plan, a TR on this should show up here at some point...

  • #2
    Yes, it's a bit late for the action at Tsukiji, but there's still places to eat around there. I love walking around Asakusa, taking a boat ride around the harbour. Enjoy!

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by yflyer View Post
      Hello everyone,

      I am in transit in Tokyo next month for 12 hours, arriving at Haneda at 10am and departing from Haneda at midnight to SFO (On a 787!).

      Appreciate suggestions on what to do in the city, and where to have lunch. I've not been to Tsukiji but that is probably best visited early in the morning right?

      Thanks in advance...

      I'm flying JAL by the way, so if all goes according to plan, a TR on this should show up here at some point...
      yflyer, you don't need to visit Tsukiji early morning. The sushi shops around the market are open during the day. While there are some that seem to have perpetual queues in the market itself, the rest of them around there are just as good IMO.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by CarbonMan View Post
        yflyer, you don't need to visit Tsukiji early morning. The sushi shops around the market are open during the day. While there are some that seem to have perpetual queues in the market itself, the rest of them around there are just as good IMO.
        Hi all, same question here, 12hrs layover on my way to LAX, no sure what to do... I'll be flying Suites but I think I read the ANA First lounge is as crappy as the Business one. So I'll go into town, but where ? Been several on biz trips so I've seen all the touristy things... any off-the beaten track suggestion ?
        Thanks !

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Durian View Post
          Hi all, same question here, 12hrs layover on my way to LAX, no sure what to do... I'll be flying Suites but I think I read the ANA First lounge is as crappy as the Business one. So I'll go into town, but where ? Been several on biz trips so I've seen all the touristy things... any off-the beaten track suggestion ?
          Thanks !

          Take a ride one of the Hayabusa shinkansen services - Should be able to get up as far as Morioka, if not shin-Aomori. And do it "gran class"

          Makes for an interesting day

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by SQflyergirl View Post
            Take a ride one of the Hayabusa shinkansen services - Should be able to get up as far as Morioka, if not shin-Aomori. And do it "gran class"

            Makes for an interesting day
            Thanks, what's in Morioka ? I need to do my homework... ideally any day trip I would take should start from Narita JR to avoid going to downtown Tokyo. 12 hours is very long in a lounge but quite short if I want to leave the airport (in particular if there's a long immigration line at NRT)

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            • #7
              Yokohama is also great as a side trip. Haven't done it, but have been given extremely detailed instructions on what to do/see there and many have raved about it...

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              • #8
                If you don't want to go into town, you could visit Narita City:

                http://www.sqtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3186

                Comment


                • #9
                  Obama just had a sushi meal at Jiro's. This place is legendary - 3 Michelin stars - 10 seats, one seating. Booked up way in advance. If one has some spare change, forget Tsukiji, eat here.

                  http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asi...-jiro-20140423

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Kyo View Post
                    Yes, it's a bit late for the action at Tsukiji, but there's still places to eat around there. I love walking around Asakusa, taking a boat ride around the harbour. Enjoy!

                    Originally posted by CarbonMan View Post
                    yflyer, you don't need to visit Tsukiji early morning. The sushi shops around the market are open during the day. While there are some that seem to have perpetual queues in the market itself, the rest of them around there are just as good IMO.
                    Thanks, Kyo and CarbonMan!

                    Looks like Tsukiji may be feasible after all. I should probably seize the opportunity to visit, since they plan to move the market in 2015 to a new location.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by SQflyergirl View Post
                      Take a ride one of the Hayabusa shinkansen services - Should be able to get up as far as Morioka, if not shin-Aomori. And do it "gran class"

                      Makes for an interesting day
                      Nice suggestion! How is the food onboard the shinkansen? I heard train stations in Japan have quite interesting food too...

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by jhm View Post
                        If you don't want to go into town, you could visit Narita City:

                        http://www.sqtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3186
                        Thanks, jhm, I've actually been to Narita city...it was many years back. Was in transit to the US on NW and caught a train to Narita city (with Mrs flyer too) for a short outing before heading back to Narita airport for our connection to the US. Nice place. Remember eating ramen, and my first taste of Haagan Daaz green tea ice cream there.

                        That said, this time my transit is in Haneda, so no reason for me to head to Narita city this time round.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by CarbonMan View Post
                          Obama just had a sushi meal at Jiro's. This place is legendary - 3 Michelin stars - 10 seats, one seating. Booked up way in advance. If one has some spare change, forget Tsukiji, eat here.

                          http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asi...-jiro-20140423
                          I would love to eat at Jiro's if I had the opportunity! I enjoyed the movie, and a couple of friends who ate there said they found the sushi quite amazing, although they also said it was a very intimidating experience eating in the presence of the master himself!

                          That said, the place is already hard to reserve in advance, my trip is coming up quite soon (early May) so I doubt there will be room. Not to mention the $$$$! Might stick to Tsukiji after all...

                          But now that Obama has eaten there, it will become even harder to reserve, just like how the Park Hyatt Tokyo is now perpetually full and not available for Hyatt Gold Passport redemptions, after the movie "Lost in Translation" came out...

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Durian View Post
                            Hi all, same question here, 12hrs layover on my way to LAX, no sure what to do... I'll be flying Suites but I think I read the ANA First lounge is as crappy as the Business one. So I'll go into town, but where ? Been several on biz trips so I've seen all the touristy things... any off-the beaten track suggestion ?
                            Thanks !
                            Durian, enjoy Suites! I guess you will be transiting NRT and not HND. Why such a long transit? For me the transit was necessary because I was travelling during "Golden Week" where flights are chock full and availability was limited...not to mention the fact that JAL's 787 only flies to SFO via HND...

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by yflyer View Post
                              That said, this time my transit is in Haneda, so no reason for me to head to Narita city this time round.
                              Oops! I was getting you confused with Durian!

                              If you arrive HND at 10am and depart at midnight and you've seen the most of the sights in Tokyo already, you could hop on a plane somewhere else in Japan for the day. It's a fixed price regardless of the distance - JPY 20,000 (about S$250) for the return - and there are some conditions you need to comply with:

                              http://www.sqtalk.com/forum/showthre...light=domestic

                              With this, you could go anywhere (even making it in time for lunch) but suggestions include Sapporo in Hokkaido; Fukuoka in Kyushu; or Kanazawa (via Komatsu) on Honshu's north coast. If you go to the latter, try going to Komatsu Yasuke where the sushi master is 82-years old:

                              http://www.smh.com.au/travel/activit...1209-6ul3.html

                              Elsewhere in Kanazawa, Tetsuya somehow manages to secure a lunchtime booking at Sushi Yasuke Komatsu, which is among the most renowned artisan sushi bars in a country where sushi can be treated like haute cuisine.

                              Inside the small counter restaurant, located off the lobby of a prosaic business hotel, we're treated to a masterly display. The 77-year-old owner chef, Kazuo Manta, is still wielding his knife with all the skill and flair of an orchestra conductor, slicing his way, complete with flourishes, through multiple grades of tuna ranging in hues from dark pink to blood red. On each occasion that he passes sushi to us from across the counter, Manta issues instructions on how to eat it. These include no soy sauce on the sushi, since he's already squeezed citrus on the fish. Tetsuya, admiring the glisteningly fresh seafood on display behind the counter, is impressed by the typical Japanese "respect for the produce". As if at the end of a symphonic performance, we applaud the best sushi meal of my life. As an encore to the maestro, Tetsuya can't resist ordering a few more pieces.
                              Unlike Jiro who's has a known dislike for foreigners (e.g. here) and bangs out the sushi so that you have to eat and leave within about 30 minutes (e.g. here), Komatsu Yasuke was great when I visited last year. The sushi chef with his limited English was kind, the sushi was great, it wasn't hard to get a booking and it was a lot cheaper than Jiro.

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