Tokyo in 5 days, one neighbourhood at a time

Tokyo's rail geography gives you one honest rule: one arc of the Yamanote loop per day, plus at most one spur off it. Break it and you spend seventy minutes of every day on transfers.

That rule produces this week:

The pairings that do not work, and which the currently-ranking itineraries keep making: Nakameguro, Shimokitazawa and Shinjuku in one day is three separate lines. Shibuya and Asakusa are opposite ends of the loop. And the two teamLab venues are two different museums five kilometres apart — putting them on the same day wastes an afternoon.

The five days

Day 1, west. Meiji Jingū at opening, when the gravel is empty and before the procession starts around ten. Then Harajuku and Takeshita Street, down Omotesandō for the architecture, the Nezu Museum if you want a garden, and Shibuya Crossing. Finish at Shibuya Sky for sunset — book the slot for about an hour before, so you get both the light and the dark.

Day 2, north-east. Sensō-ji before eight, when it is a temple rather than a queue. The Nakamise shops do not open until about nine, so if you want both, come twice. Kappabashi for kitchenware, Ueno for the museums or the market lanes at Ameyoko, then Yanaka at dusk — a low, quiet, unbombed grid of old houses and cats that is the best walk in the city.

If your dates fall in January, May or September, this is the day to swap in sumo at Ryōgoku, one stop away. And a genuinely new option: the Edo-Tokyo Museum reopened on 31 March 2026 after a four-year renovation, and it is next door to the sumo hall.

Day 3, the bay. Tsukiji Outer Market between seven and nine — many stalls shut by early afternoon and most close Sundays and Wednesdays. Walk through Ginza, then teamLab Planets at Toyosu. Tsukiji and Toyosu are four kilometres apart on the same side of the bay, which is why they belong on the same day even though they are different things.

Day 4, central. The Imperial Palace East Gardens, which are free and need no booking, or the guided tour if you applied. Marunouchi and Tokyo Station, then teamLab Borderless at Azabudai Hills and Roppongi.

Day 5, one spur. Either the Ghibli Museum at Mitaka with Inokashira Park and Kichijōji, or a Shinjuku day — Gyoen, then Omoide Yokochō and Golden Gai after dark — or a real day trip. Kamakura is the one that works: an hour each way, temples, a Great Buddha and a beach.

The booking table, which is the useful part

Three more mechanics worth knowing precisely.

The Ghibli Museum releases tickets at 10am Japan time on the 10th of each month, for the following month only, through Lawson Ticket. Weekend slots have gone in under a minute. There are no door sales and resale is prohibited. It closes Tuesdays — the inverse of most Tokyo museums.

And the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka is not Ghibli Park, which is a different company in Aichi prefecture, about three and a half hours away. Tickets are not interchangeable and it is not a Tokyo day trip. People confuse these constantly.

The Toyosu tuna auction has two viewing options. The close-up lower deck is free but balloted — you apply in the first week of the month for the following month, about a hundred places a day, and travel agents cannot apply on your behalf. The upper glazed walkway needs no booking at all: turn up about half past five. Either way there is nothing to see after seven.

The Imperial Palace guided tour is free, runs at 10:00 and 13:30 Tuesday to Saturday, and applications open at 5am Japan time on the first of the previous month. But the East Gardens are free, need no booking, and are what most people actually want.

Timing tricks

Before eight, non-negotiable: Sensō-ji, Meiji Jingū, Tsukiji, and Toyosu if you are going at all.

Fine at midday: Shibuya Crossing, Ginza, Akihabara, Kappabashi, Ueno Park, and any department-store food hall.

After dark: Shibuya Sky, the Skytree, Omoide Yokochō and Golden Gai from about six.

The Monday rule. Most public museums close Mondays, and shift to Tuesday when Monday is a holiday. The Tokyo National Museum and the Nezu both do. The Ghibli Museum closes Tuesdays. The Mori Art Museum in Roppongi opens daily and late, which makes it the reliable Monday fallback.

Eating, without a listicle

There are three tiers and knowing which is which saves the trip.

Never book: ramen, tonkatsu, curry, standing sushi, konbini, food halls, most yokochō stalls. Queuing twenty minutes at a famous ramen shop is normal and is not a planning failure.

Book one to four weeks ahead through TableCheck, Tabelog or Pocket Concierge: izakaya with private rooms, mid-tier sushi, anything a concierge would suggest.

Book one to three months ahead, with a deposit: counter omakase and Michelin kaiseki.

The rule that matters: book two meals for a five-day trip and leave the other thirteen alone. Over-booking dinners is the commonest way to ruin a Tokyo itinerary, because it drags you back across the city at six every evening.

One charge to expect: the otoshi, a small compulsory dish that works as a cover charge at izakaya, ¥300–600 a head. It is not a scam and not optional.

And one line to stop repeating: the ¥100 onigiri no longer exists. Rice prices have pushed convenience-store rice balls to ¥120–250, with premium fillings near ¥300. Konbini food in Japan is still genuinely good; it is just not 2019 any more.

Rough costs, converted at A$1 = ¥114.76:

The two mistakes

Going to Tsukiji at 5am for the tuna auction. Still in circulation seven years after it stopped being true. The auctions moved to Toyosu in October 2018. Tsukiji today is an outer market of retail stalls — tamagoyaki, uni, knives — best between seven and nine, largely shut by early afternoon, and closed Sundays and most Wednesdays.

A Mount Fuji day trip from Tokyo. Three problems. Visibility: better than 70% of December to February mornings show the mountain, but July is around 14% — a summer day trip is a coin flip weighted heavily against you. Time: Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko is about two hours each way, so a "day trip" is four or five hours of transit for perhaps three on the ground. And the viewpoints are on the overtourism list, with the famous convenience-store photo spot now barriered off.

Either commit to an overnight at Kawaguchiko between November and February, when the odds are good and you get a morning window, or send day five to Kamakura, which delivers regardless of weather.

Before you book

Where you sleep matters more in Tokyo than in most cities, and not for the reason people think — the Tokyo where-to-stay guide explains why the station exit matters more than the district name. The Tokyo city guide covers what is in each neighbourhood and the Japan country guide handles the practicalities. Most people pair this with Kyoto — three days there is the standard second leg, and the seven-day and fourteen-day itineraries put the whole trip together. When to go is worth reading first. Ready to compare rooms? Tokyo stays are here.

Prices and booking windows checked September 2026. Shibuya Sky's fourteen-day release and the Ghibli Museum's monthly drop are the two worth verifying before you plan around them — here is how we research and re-check guides.