I must confess that visiting Japan has never been a dream of mine – I’ve always wanted to visit South Korea (Seoul, specifically). I don’t know the reasons. I guess when it comes to travel, everyone has their own bucket list, right? But my husband always wanted to visit it and, when we decided to travel to Seoul, we noticed there is a wide offer of direct flights from NYC to Tokyo than NYC to Seoul. So, since it’s a long – and expensive – trip, we decided to fly to Tokyo and then buy a separate ticket to Seoul, so we could visit both cities.
Since I got back, people have been asking me what it was like, and I must say it was a unique experience. It’s a blend of modernity and tradition. In this post, I’ll dive into our 4-day journey through Tokyo, sharing my perspective on what makes the city so unique, along with practical tips for navigating it. While I won’t focus on a rigid itinerary, I’ll walk through everything we did each day with some insights and advice for anyone planning their own trip to the Japanese capital. For the record, yes, we only stayed in Tokyo – the second part of our trip was in Seoul, South Korea. We arrived there on a Saturday afternoon and we left on a Thursday morning. So we had 4 full days in the city.
- You can see scenes and videos from this trip on my IG highlights.
- You can also check my post about Seoul!
Getting to Tokyo from NYC
As I mentioned, there are a couple of options for direct flights from NYC to Tokyo – United Airlines, American Airlines, and Japan Airlines are some of the airlines that offer the route. Flights have a 14-hour duration, on average. Another great option is Air Canada, with a quick stop in Toronto and then a direct flight to Tokyo, with a 16h30 journey, which is not so bad. Honestly, I think anything more than that is too long, considering that, besides the time flying, you have the commute to the airport and the waiting time at the airport, plus the arrival bureaucracy and the commute to the hotel. So, I think it’s reasonable to think about that when planning a long trip like this to consider your flight options.
We took a flight from United Airlines, that departs 11am from Newark airport and arrives in Tokyo around 2:25pm (next day). I highly recommend this flight not only because is a non-stop flight, but also because of the time it lands in Tokyo, making it easier to adjust to the time-zone – I will talk more about this.
We were able to issue a ticket with our American Express card points and we ended up paying for only one ticket – and it costed us around $1500 – which was not bad at all. We booked Economy seats and included two meals and one snack.
- Book your flight to Tokyo!
- And since you’re here, I highly suggest checking this post: 10 best tips for surviving a long-haul flight – tested and approved!
How to deal with jet leg when traveling to Japan
Right after booking this trip, my immediate concern was around the flight duration, and then it was around jet lag. I mean, Tokyo and Seoul are 13 hours ahead of NYC time, and I wanted to enjoy the best of my time while traveling. But how to deal with jet lag? A friend of mine mentioned this app called Timeshifter, and she told me she loved it, so I decided to try it. And let me tell you: it was a game-changer. We followed 85% of the plan, and we barely felt jet lag effects.
So, how does this app work?
Timeshifter combines the only elements shown to reset the circadian clock (light-dark exposure and melatonin supplements), and alleviate the symptoms (light, melatonin, caffeine, naps), and not surprisingly, the sum of their effects is greater than the individual parts. There are many scientific studies attesting to the benefits of the app’s approach, and their algorithm has been used for many years by NASA, F1 drivers, and elite athletes, and more recently by astronauts and mission controllers at Axiom Space.
All you have to do is include your flight info. Two days before the trip, the plan starts. The app sends you notifications for when you should get some light when to avoid light, when to have and avoid caffeine, and when to take melatonin (that’s not a request, but it really helps!). The plan includes your time on the flight, which goes about two or three days after your arrival. We had no issues waking up in the morning; we didn’t feel crashes in the middle of the day. Yes, the first two nights, we woke up two or three times, but we were able to get back to sleep quicker. On my second day in Tokyo, I remember getting a comment from a follower who was in Japan for 4 days, and she mentioned the jet lag was killing her. That’s when I realized: ok, I think this app works cause we are feeling great.
And that’s why I think our flight departure and arrival was perfect to fight jet leg – since we arrived in Tokyo around 2:30pm, it was 5:30pm ish when we got to our hotel. So we took a shower, went for a walk, had dinner, watched a little bit of TV and we went sleep around 9pm. It’s easier to keep yourself awake for a couple of hours than keep yourself awake for the entire day (that would be the case if we had arrived in the morning).
Requirements to enter Japan
As of recent regulations, besides a valid passport (it should be valid for the duration of your stay in Japan), here’s what you’ll need to enter Japan:
- Visa: Japan has visa exemptions with many countries (e.g., U.S., Canada, Brazil, and many European nations) for short-term tourism. If you’re eligible, you won’t need a visa for stays under 90 days. For other nationalities, a tourist visa application will be required. Check more details here.
- Customs and Immigration Declaration: you can use either the form that is distributed by the airline during the flight or you can do it online and use the generated QR code (much easier). You can click here to do it – you will have to include your personal info, your hotel and flight info – highly recommend doing this in advance!
Then, we finally reached Takeshita Street – only to realize it was right next to the area we were the day before. In Takeshita, we explored a bit, grabbed a crepe and it was time to take the subway to go to our next adventure: teamLab Planets. This is a super famous attraction in the city – it is an immersive art museum that combines art, technology, and nature to create a fully interactive, sensory experience. There’s another teamLab in Tokyo, but after some research, I decided to choose teamLab Planets.
I will be honest: I was super skeptical about this place – I decided to include it in our itinerary because it was highly recommended in a lot of videos and blog posts. The reason why I was skeptical is because I guess I got tired of immersive and Instaworthy experiences – over the last years, NYC hosted tons of these things, and only a few were really worth it. Pictures are cool, but I also wanna have a great experience, and I think most of these immersive places lack experiences per se. But not at teamLab. I really felt everything was made with a lot of care to offer a great experience. It was definitely worth it. Please buy your tickets in advance. I bought ours one week before and A LOT of days and times were sold out. Also, make sure to plan ahead how you will get there. From Takeshita Street area, it took us almost an hour and two transfers to get there!
Content creator and journalist in New York City. Here, I share lifestyle, beauty, NYC tips, thoughts, and the struggles about living in the most amazing city in the world! I’m not gonna pretend to be another person: I’m a Brazilian immigrant and I think this is my soul, it is part of who I am. I hope you enjoy my content! Follow me on Instagram!
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- Laura Peruchi | NYC
November 4, 2024 at 12:07 pm[…] Check my post about Tokyo – our 4-day travel itinerary. […]