This is what I like to call the Shibuya Loop.

This a fun way to see the busiest intersection in the world just out side of the Shibuya stn and to walk through the Shibuya Senta Gai (series of narrow walking streets filled with bars, shops, stores and anything else you can imagine.  Not too many foreigners in this area.  Then it you’ll head to Harajuku and see all of that craziness.  You’ll wander around the back streets of Harajuku for a while, then you can work your way back to Omotesando Subway station (purple line station that you transferred to from the green Chiyoda line that will take you back to Akasaka).  Super easy.

This is the ultimate, fastest and most epic way to make use of your vacation time in Tokyo.  The truth is that when most people are visiting Tokyo they don’t realize that they have to plan and stick to that plan because there is so much time and money tied to traveling via subway and train.

SHIBUYA – ( http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2976604 )

• From the Akasaka subway station (which is the forrest green Chiyoda Line) take that a few stops up to the Omotesando station.
• Transfer to the Hanzomon line (purple) and get off at Shibuya station.  Look at the yellow signs above and on the walls to find the “Hachiko Exit”.  Shibuya station is MASSIVE with a zillion different train lines and levels and stuff.  Don’t let that throw you off.  Hachiko is a VERY well known exit.  You’ll find it easily by just saying “Hachiko?” and people can point you in the right direction if you miss all of the signs.
• Once you exit the station, you’ll be facing a massive intersection (busiest in the world) with a huge 2 story Starbucks staring at you from across the street.
• Go that direction and continue past the Starbucks on the left side down the walking streets.
• Just hang out down there and take random turns down alleys and stuff.  Really cool.
• THEN,

• Go back to Shibuya station and get on the Green JR Yamanote line.  This is the above ground line that forms an oval around Tokyo.  
• Take this to the next station called Harajuku.  If you are good with maps and walking you can easily walk there, but if you aren’t so hot with maps, then just jump on the train and you’ll be at Harajuku station within 3 minutes
• When you exit, you have two options:  1)  go see Meiji Shrine  or 2) skip shrine and continue through Harajuku.  I strongly suggest you go to the Meiji Shrine first.  Really major shrine in Tokyo and beautiful.   
• For Meiji Jingu, take a right out of the station and walk just a short way and you’ll see all of the trees surrounding the shrine and you’ll see a lot of kids loitering in front of it.  That’s a main hangout spot for gothic kids.
• After you’re done with Meiji Shrine, walk back towards the JR train station you left from and pass it.  You’ll come to a big walking street on the right with a McDonalds.  Take that right.  (you’ll see on the map it’s like a 3 min walk from the entrance of the Meiji Shrine)
• Walk that way and cruise down this very famous area.  You’re going to see all sorts of young fashion and funny stuff
• Once that ends at the main street, cross to the opposite side of street
• Once you’ve spent enough time rolling back there, go back to the boulevard with the trees.  Go LEFT
• After about 1/2 mile or 1 mile, you’ll see the Omotesando station (purple line) and you’ll be able to jump right back on the forest green Chiyoda Line back to Akasaka

Gropers in Tokyo get a monkey wrench thrown in their plans after the JR train line launches “women only” train cars.  Japan has many things that make it endearing and unique.  However, one of the sleazier sides of the country are the perverts that grope and talk dirty to innocent women on the crowded trains in Tokyo and other major cities.

The sad truth is that Tokyo and it’s surrounding bedroom communities are overcrowded.  This becomes painfully clear each morning and evening when business people are commuting.  Like a bacteria in a stagnant pond, this is where the perverts thrive.

Finally, Japan Railways (JR) is beginning to do something about it.  This has been serious problem for so many years that they finally created a “females only” car on one of the busiest train lines (Chuo Line) for commuters to Tokyo that passes through the busiest train station in the world called Shinjuku Station.  Fortunate women who can get a space on the special “female only” car are able to be crammed like sardines like the rest of the commuters, but without mystery hands grabbing for their unmentionables.

Though perverts, “chikan”, prey primarily on Japanese women, ex-patriot females have been known to fall victim to the groping hands.  Women are told bits of advice here and there.  Sometimes conductors will announce over the loud speaker to be careful of gropers.

One way to ensure a groper thinks twice before whispering low perverted phrases or grabbing a woman at a future date is to get aggressive.  You can grab his wrist,  jerk his hand in the air and then scream “chikan!”  This employs the embarrassment tactic that is a highly effective angle in Japan.

So, you’re a badass because you’ve partied in Manhattan, San Francisco and may have even been to London.  Whoopty Doo.  What are you going to do when you get to Tokyo on a layover and realize that the airport is actually in Narita?  Curl up in the corner and cry about how you can’t read Japanese?  Get yourself together!

Does this sound familiar?:  ”We’ve got a limited amount of time (or layover) in Tokyo and we’re super excited.  But, we have no idea what to do or how to plan.”  That phrase is so common, that I decided to devote an entire article to it.  But, let’s get something straight from jump street.  You’ll be starting from Narita, not Tokyo.

The airport is in the Narita rice paddies; a city over 100 km from Tokyo. This means that if you take a cab from Narita to Tokyo you are either so flush with cash that you don’t care about spending $300 USD on a one-way cab ride or you’re dumber than most of the characters on MTV’s The Real World.  Don’t ever take a cab from the airport to Tokyo. Actually, you’ll not want to take a cab to Narita City either. Jump on the train.

You have 3 solid train options if you are skipping Narita and heading to Tokyo.

1. Narita Express: high-class looking red & white train with tinted windows on the right side of the platform. Expensive, but extremely fast.  Good to get these tickets before you go, but don’t stress if you don’t.
2. JR Keikyu: Silver and blue train in middle platform. This one is MUCH cheaper than Narita Express and still quite fast.  You can purchase a JR Rail Pass in advance if you want.  BUT, go here for JR Rail Pass to determine if it’s actually a good deal or not.
3. Keisei Skyliner: Is an express line that goes the same direction, but it’s a secondary private train line that doesn’t always take you where you want to go. Also, the JR Rail Pass doesn’t work on this.

TIP: Use the restroom at Narita Airport before you depart for Tokyo, since the restrooms at other train stations are quite sour smelling (but they are NOT dangerous).

The trains and ticket machines are located on the bottom floor of the airport.  You’ll see plenty of signs in English directing you to them after you get your bags. Don’t forget to look for the “English” button on the ticket machines.  It’s important to note that if you are opting for the Keisei or Narita Express lines listed above, you’ll need to purchase a ticket at the counter on the right side of the entrance to the escalator that goes down to the platform.  For those of you going to Narita City because you don’t have enough time to get to Tokyo and back in time for you flight departure, use the green JR ticket machine and choose “Narita”.

Cultural note: When on the trains, take off your backpack and place it between your legs (when standing or sitting).  The trains get quite crowded in Japan.

NARITA CITY

The best thing to do if you’ve got 4 or more hours of layover is to get the keikyu train from Narita Airport.  One the coolest things to experience when visiting Tokyo is sitting right there in Narita City.  Lucky you!  The Narita-san Temple Complex is a beautiful and massive temple complex flush with zen gardens, tea ceremony gazebos, calligraphy museum, huge temples, chanting monks, tree-lined walking trails and if you’re lucky…goats.

When you exit the train at Narita Station after departing from the airport, you’ll walk upstairs and walk through the ticket turn-style. Once through, take the exit on the right. Now you’ll be facing the big area where the buses and cabs wait for fares.   Don’t get a taxi, unless you have a bad leg or something.  This is where you can put your bag in a locker if you don’t want to lug it around with you.  If you need a locker, you’ll see them on the left once you’ve walked outside.  Don’t be that jackass that goes to the convenient store next door to ask them to give you change.  Buy something, and they’ll give you some coins.

After you’ve dropped your bag in a locker.  Walk 100 meters to the street light signal and turn left.  This is when you’ll want to soak up the cultural stuff.  You’ll be walking past all sorts of unique shops, restaurants, etc. If you want to grab a pint of beer or a cocktail, you’ll pass a British style pub a few hundred meters down on the right side called The Barge Inn.

To get to the Narita-san Temple Complex, keep walking down the road.  You’ll notice that the road will begin to descend.  Go down the hill and you’ll begin to see the huge complex on the left. You’ll enter through the rough stone gates at the bottom of the decline.  Give yourself at least 1-2 hours to walk around the temple complex once you enter.  Have your camera ready!  You are going to get so many amazing photos that you’ll want to go pro.

Keep in mind that the video above only shows about 20% of the entire temple complex.  The video above is just the tip of the iceberg, people.  Trust me!  Once you’ve finished taking your 1000 photos and begin going back to the station the same way you came, don’t forget to purchase a train ticket again.

You fall into 1 of those 5 categories.  Don’t lie to yourself.  You’ll hate yourself for it.  If you are planning on traveling back and forth to small towns across bigger cities to get to other cities over the span of a week or more, then the JR Rail Pass might be worth it.  But if you are going to Tokyo, then the JR Rail Pass is a waste of money.

The best way to travel around Tokyo is via subway and the above ground Yamanote Line (this is covered by the JR Pass).  Subways are NOT covered by the JR Rail Pass.  The cost to ride the Yamanote Line around Tokyo would never be justified by the cost of a JR Rail Pass.  Having said that, you may consider purchasing a pass if you are staying with friends that live 1 hour train ride outside of the city and you want to take an express train or a super express train numerous times to Tokyo.  Going back and forth from outlying areas into the city center can start to add up.

On another note, if you plan on making a short trip down to Kyoto and then return back to Tokyo, the JR Pass will be worth it for sure.  Just keep in mind that you can’t use the JR Rail Pass for the super express bullet train called the Nozomi.  But you can use the pass for the other bullet trains.

Overall, there are few instances when the JR Rail Pass make sense for the normal traveler.  Here are a few that were put together by my good pals at TTA, Inc.  (I’ve actually never met them, but I’m sure they love to party.)

Though this sounds like something right out of anime or theme for a manga series, Tokyo is very serious about their giant robotic underground parking for bicycles.  I couldn’t be more excited about the idea of getting bikes off the sidewalks and out from in front of train stations in Japan.  Like many other foreigners in Japan, I’ve taken many-a-photo of all of the bikes clustered throughout Tokyo.  It’s amazing how many bikes can be crammed into a single tiny area.  Here’s what it can look like:

In true Japanese form, they have created a solution that is so obvious most are forced to smack their forehead and say, “of course!”  Taking a page from their robotic car parking garage systems, they’ve created what seems to be a bike door.  All a person has to do is swipe their membership card ($19 per month) and  roll their bike up to the door.  The machine takes the bike and then drops underground and finds the appropriate slot for it.  It truly is that simple.

Want to see the video that is going to make you drop your teeth?  Feast your eyes on this: