Shibuya Itinerary: One Night in Tokyo

It is only fitting that you listen to this song while reading about our Shibuya itinerary!!!

Afternoon

A capsule hotel is a quintessential Japan experience must! My last capsule hotel experience in Osaka 4 years ago was wonderful, but I was looking for some sort of a “couples” capsule so Ronak and I could be together instead of risking being assigned to separate floors or something. One of the few I found that also ended up being in the perfect location was the double capsule option at The Millennials Shibuya where we were placed next to each other. The whole thing has a hostel feel with communal bathrooms and a common lobby/kitchen area but it was very clean and chic! Pretty roomy for a capsule too!

Evening

We grabbed a free beer at happy hour at The Millennials and then headed just one block over to Shibuya Parco. Shibuya Parco is a massive multi-story shopping mall with an entire floor dedicated to anime and gaming including Nintendo and the Pokémon Center where we scored Bulbasaur and Gengar stickers.

Ronak and I ate at Falafel Brothers in Shibuya Parco. Following this we walked around the main Shibuya area including Shibuya Crossing. Once again, we lost money on claw machines at Taito Station (come here if you missed it in Akihabara).

Night Shibuya Itinerary

We headed to our reservation at Shibuya Sky. All thanks go to my dad for booking it on our second day in Japan because the website was requiring text verification for my credit card – definitely book in advance! It was by far the best city view I have done in Tokyo and I highly recommend it at nighttime. There is an outdoor observatory with a serene 360 view of the city complete with lofi lounge music. There is also an indoor one with small art installations. The view of Shibuya Crossing from the 45th floor is insane!

We continued our walk where we found a beautifully lit street where cherry blossoms were just starting.

Late Night

There is a “Tokyo-style listening bar” called In Between Days in St. Pete and I really did not understand what that means until this night. We found two of them on the 3rd floor of a building a short walk from Shibuya Sky. At Bar Travis, we talked with the “master” Taka, who would periodically change the record on the record player when it finished or oiled it when it became scratchy. Novelty nicknacks lined the walls, several of which were Star Wars related. Taka talked to us about how the bar is named after an actor named Travis from an old 60’s film. He explained to us that the 2000 yen bill is considered rare; we informed him that this is the same case with $2 bills. He also taught us that Ryokuchawari is green tea mixed with shochu.

Across the hall from Bar Travis was another listening bar called Star Star, with a slightly different vibe. A DJ spinning the records rather than putting them on one at a time. Here, I learned that an “American Lemonade” consists of spiked lemonade with red wine poured on top. I highly recommend checking out these two listening bars in particular, they were friendly to foreigners.

Shibuya Itinerary Tip: We were turned away by two bars that were “reservation only” however seemed to have plenty of space. I would not take it personally, but you may encounter this as a foreigner. Additionally, indoor smoking is generally still allowed in bars in Japan so you may or may not encounter that.

Next we hit up TK Nightclub literally just to check it out. Conclusion: Tokyo nightclubs are essentially identical to those in the States! We had to finish the night with nachos and one last marg at Tacofanatico.

Morning

The next morning we did some last minute shopping at another Mega Don Quixote (great for if you miss it in Osaka) and CosiCosi (great for Kyoto things that you may have missed in Kyoto, including the only place outside of Kyoto that I found paper crane earrings on both my last trip and this one!). We had one last (amazing) meal – vegan Karaage with soup and rice at Izakaya Masaka in the Shibuya Parco basement floor food hall. At the airport I did one last gacha with my last 300 yen and got this little sleeping Pika for my office desk back home 🙂

It was time to say “sayonara” to Japan, or rather see you next time. I was so emotional but so thankful for being able to I visit my favorite place again. I would love to see new parts of Japan including Okinawa, Akita, Hokkaido, and climb Mt. Fuji during my next visit!!!

This post was all about our Shibuya itinerary! Check out my Japan Travel Tips, Tokyo Itinerary, Kyoto Itinerary, and Osaka Itinerary!