Tokyo on a budget Tokyo’s reputation as an expensive city has been grossly exaggerated. Sure, there are muskmelons that cost ¥20,000 and kaiseki meals that set you back twice as much. But even without a corporate expense account, Tokyo can still be rewarding – you don’t have to break the bank to have an enjoyable time in the city. Inside Remember, one of Tokyo’s greatest cultural attractions are its elegant temples – from the iconic Sensoji Temple to the graceful Meiji Shrine – and they don’t cost a thing. Beyond that, we have compiled a list of 30 of January – March 2020 the best free things to do in the metropolis that are well worth your time, including concerts, tours, observation decks, museums and galleries. After seeing the sights, you can take the money you’ve saved and spend it on some of the best food in the city with a price tag of ¥1,000 or less. Live life to the full in one of the world’s greatest cities at a pinch. Yes, it’s possible – and in this issue we’ll show you how. â Do Tokyo for free and on the cheap with our tips on p20 Dusk till dawn What to do in Tokyo when you miss the last train PAGE 40 â YELO The big feast The best all-you-can-eat and -drink deals in Tokyo PAGE 50 â Just for you Icon of Japan Bespoke gifts, souvenirs Where to get the best and fashion views of Mt Fuji PAGE 52 PAGE 68 â â FUJIYOSHIDA TOURISM ASSOCIATION TOURISM FUJIYOSHIDA â FEATURES AND REGULARS 06 Tokyo Update 10 Courtesy Calls 14 To Do 20 Tokyo on a Budget 40 Up All Night 44 Temples for Good Luck 48 Eating & Drinking 52 Shopping & Style 54 Things to Do 58 Art & Culture 62 Music 64 Nightlife 66 LGBT 67 Film 68 Travel & Hotels 72 Getting Around 74 You Know You’re in Tokyo When… Cover Editor-in-Chief Mari Hiratsuka Editorial Assistant Staff Photographers Aya Ito Advisor ORIGINAL Inc. Art direction: Steve Nakamura Lim Chee Wah Shiori Kotaki Youka Nagase Keisuke Tanigawa Phillip Huey Masashi Takahashi 101, 5-9-9 Hiroo, Shibuya, Tokyo, 150-0012 Contributing Editor Tabea Greuner Designers Kisa Toyoshima Paul Clark Executive Vice President +81 (0)3 5792 5721 www.timeout.com/tokyo Marcus Webb Jessica Thompson Yuki Masuko Administration Ili Saarinen Akiko Toya Advertising and general enquiries: [email protected] Editor Emma Steen Chikako Fukui Momo Ando Leo Kaku President/Publisher Kaila Imada Kasey Furutani Yuko Odanaka Creative Solutions Aidan McFarlane Hiroyuki Fushitani Time Out Digital Time Out Group CEO Staff Writers 77 Wicklow Street, Julio Bruno Hisato Hayashi Zineb Bektachi Mao Kawakami Reina Iwabuchi London, WC1X 9JY Kunihiro Miki Founder Saiko Miyasato Naoki Shimao Hinata Matsumura www.timeout.com Tony Elliott KISA TOYOSHIMA +44 (0)207 813 3000 5 January-March, 2020 Time Out Tokyo Tokyo Update COUNTDOWN MOST GOOGLED Tokyo Why do so many Japanese people wear masks? TO TOKYO Update 2020 FIVE THINGS © TOKYO 2020 The 2020 Games are just around the corner and Olympic Tokyoites 2 fever is in full swing. Can’t wait a moment longer? Don’t worry, you don’t have to wait until July to enjoy the festivities. Tokyo 2020 organisers have announced the The new National Stadium is ready for Tokyo 2020 KOJIMAAYAKO Designed by starchitect Kengo Kuma and his team, this elegant schedule for the Torch Relay, which will begin on March stadium in Meiji Jingu Gaien is the main venue for the Olympic and 12 with the lighting of the flame in Olympia, Greece and JUMP ON ANY TRAIN, walk down any street of visual presentation, perfectly healthy are talking end on July 24 during the opening ceremony, when the or enter any workplace in urban Japan and Japanese women may choose to wear masks Paralympic Games, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, Olympic Cauldron is lit with the aforementioned flame. you’ll find many people hiding the lower half if they forgot or did not have the time to wear athletics and football events. We love the plant-covered facade and The torch will be transported to Japan by judo competitor of their faces. With so many people wearing makeup. Some people also put it on just to the fact that the eaves of the roof are made from wood collected from Tadahiro Nomura and wrestler Saori Yoshida, both gold surgical masks, it can make first-time visitors help maintain the skin’s moisture level, about Japan’s 47 prefectures. medal-winning Olympians, via a special airplane named to the country feel like Japan is one big especially in winter when the air is dry. Tokyo 2020 Go. hospital ward, or a nation of hypochondriacs, Somewhat inevitably, given its increased Starting March 26, the torch will tour the areas determined to keep germs at bay. Yet plenty usage, the surgical mask has become a 3 affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and of perfectly well everyday folk adorn their fashion item in its own right. A well-chosen tsunami. It will then continue its journey through all 47 faces with these medical masks daily. mask can represent alluring mystery, prefectures. Tokyo will be the last prefecture on the tour, So what’s going on? Sure, some of the allowing others to imagine the beautiful Snoopy is back in Tokyo culminating in a grand 15-day finale, which starts in mask-wearers are actually ill and want to face that hides behind it. When combined After a long wait, the new Snoopy Museum is finally open Setagaya City and passes through the 23 central wards in avoid spreading their germs. It’s a matter of with meticulously set hair and eye makeup, addition to the outer edges of the prefecture such as the common courtesy in Japan that people who the mask becomes part of an individual’s in Machida. Here you can look at the original comics of the Ogasawara Islands and western Tokyo cities like Hachioji. cough, sneeze, sniffle or just have general personal style. If you want to make a beloved beagle and his friends by Charles M Schulz and sign Anyone is welcome to watch the Torch Relay – which lurgies should cover up to avoid spreading statement, you’re going to eschew a standard up for fun workshops for some Snoopy-themed DIY. There’s a sees local residents act as torchbearers in every town it their nasties to those around them. Others bland white mask. Instead, you can find Peanuts Cafe here, too. passes – and enjoy the celebratory atmosphere of the may choose to wear a mask to avoid hay fever colourful face-coverings such as character upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics. nKasey Furutani or pollen allergies, which are rife in Japan. masks, which are sold in speciality shops But common courtesy in this country and sometimes seen wrapped around the goes beyond just avoiding contagion. In a mouths and noses of hip young millennials. 4 5 à For torch relay schedules, check tokyo2020.org society that emphasises the importance nXiaochen Su KUREMO/DREAMSTIME THE VIEW FROM YOU 1 ARTITWPD/DREAMSTIME Goodbye to Harajuku Station Shimokitazawa: number two hipster haunt ‘Tis the season for shabu-shabu On the Due to fire and safety concerns, A panel of more than 27,000 global citizens (through the Cold nights equal hot pots. We Tokyoites are Tokyo’s oldest wooden station, latest Time Out Index survey) and Time Out city experts keeping warm in winter with this local delicacy streets of built in 1924, will sadly make way have reached the conclusion that Shimokitazawa is the and you can too – with our list of the best for a modern and bigger structure second coolest neighbourhood in the world (after Arroios shabu-shabu in the city through the link below. Shibuya Crossing Nihonbashi Shinjuku in Lisbon). The district is celebrated for its creative vibes, àtinyurl.com/TOTshabu Tokyo By @l.shutter By @bootsmanphotos By @stylepool_deniz after the Tokyo 2020 Games. walkability and diverse mix of indie businesses. àtinyurl.com/TOTshimokitazawa NATIONAL STADIUM: COURTESY OF JSC. AS OF 1ST NOV 2019 Send us your best Instagram photos of the city with #TimeOutTokyo Time Out Tokyo January-March, 2020 6 7 January-March, 2020 Time Out Tokyo Tokyo Update Tokyo Update ONE DAY IN… EAT WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH... UDON OYOBE Inspired by their father, who travelled across Japan to master the craft of making udon, the Oyobe brothers’ Sangenjaya eatery offers a diverse and creative Sangenjaya selection of noodles. The calming, softly lit timber interior has counter seats overlooking the open kitchen as well as a smattering of tables. The udon machine sits in one corner, chugging away to produce fresh strands of snow-white noodles. SHOKUPAN Sangenjaya was a place for We love the kara tantan, which sees chewy, springy noodles served in a rich and eating and drinking back in spicy broth, topped with thinly sliced beef, cabbage, scallions and a boiled egg. the Edo period (1603-1868), à2-23-5 Taishido, Setagaya (Sangenjaya Station). 03 3421 6556. oyobe.jp. 11.30am-2pm (until It looks like a boring white loaf to me... 2.30pm on Sat, Sun & hols), 6-11pm, closed Mon & 4th Tue of the month. YUKI NAKAMURA Sourdough and wholewheat-loving bread snobs often and these days it remains sneer at white bread but shokupan is the king of the true to the cause. The area LOS TACOS AZULES loaves here in Japan. Also known as milk bread, it’s a is packed with restaurants, Born in Mexico, owner and head chef Marco Garcia weaves seasonal Japanese rectangular block of white bread revered for its soft, ingredients through traditional Mexican dishes at this stylish taqueria.