At the beginning of May I took a 2 week (much needed) holiday overseas to Tokyo. I made zero plans, spent most of my time in the Arcades and caught up with some friends. I’m already planning my next trip.

I spent maybe 75% of my time there split between GiGO, LeisureLand and Hey in Akihabara playing games ranging from Dodonpachi & IIDX to games like Kancolle Arcade (I have a new addiction).

While some people might see this as a waste of a trip I really enjoyed it. Australia doesn’t have very many good arcades and the good arcades lack a lot of popular games. It was amazing to be able to play without worrying about a queue of people behind you waiting to play since there were so many cabinets.

The Imperial Palace & Greenery

On my first day in Tokyo I decided to wander around the centre of the city and see what’s around. I later learned that I had accidentally lined my trip up with Golden Week, which explained why everywhere was insanely busy. I wasn’t able to get into the Palace, so I mostly took photos of the outside.

Day out with friends

I linked up with a friend who happened to be traveling around Japan at the same time I was in Tokyo. We went out to the Science Museum, Skytree and the Aquarium. While it was crazy busy at all the touristy destinations, it was really fun.

Asakusa

I had a day by myself and didn’t feel like spending another whole day in Akihabara playing games. I caught the train up to Asakusa to see what was around.

Late nights in Kameido & Ikebukuro

My Hotel was in Kameido which was really close to Akihabara, so I’d always come back super late at night. I cant remember which of these photos are from Kameido and which ones are from Ikebukuro since I had loaded this camera with CineStill 800T specifically for taking photos at night, and I was relatively sporadic with when I’d decide to take photos.

I’d never heard about Ikebukuro but some friends I met up with live nearby and said the Game Centres in the area were chill so I spent a bit of time up there.

Kengo Kuma Trek

Before going to Japan I had picked up a random book at a book store about Kengo Kuma, it had pictures and plans of a lot of their works, and it was all super interesting, so I made it a goal of mine to try check out some buildings that were nearby.

Sadly the Gateway station was covered in Scaffolding, so I couldn’t get a good look at the facade, but I could still appreciate the interesting roof from the inside.

I also walked to Sunny Hills bakery and bought some cakes. I was offered a free cake and tea with my purchase and had a great chat with staff about how I knew about their shop and what I thought of the cakes. They were amazing and I highly recommend them!

Harajuku

I didn’t really plan to go to Harajuku or Shibuya on this trip, I don’t speak Japanese, and I was traveling alone, so it didn’t feel like it’d be the best way to experience these areas. However, I did want to visit Meiji Jingu, so I stopped in Harajuku on the way. There was a surprisingly large amount of graffiti in this area which was pretty surprising.

Meiji Jingu

I visited Meiji Jingu on one of my last days in Tokyo, it was raining a bit so the area was very quiet. I ended up sitting on a bench in the shrine for a while just enjoying the view. It was very cozy.