Tokyo, April 2026

Load Suica cards at the airport — you'll tap in and out all week on trains, subway, and even convenience stores. The N'EX is a great first transport experience: reserved seats, luggage racks, scenic run into the city. From Tokyo Station, take the Ginza Line one stop to Ginza.

Drop bags, freshen up. Ginza is right outside — walk the main boulevard (closed to cars Sunday afternoons). Browse department store basement food halls (depachika) for safe GF snacks to keep in the room all week.

Easy first night — hotel restaurant, something close to the Hyatt in Ginza, or a convenience store bento if you're wiped out from travel. No need to go far.

Most stalls close by 1pm so 9am is still plenty early. Graze your way through: fresh sushi, tamagoyaki egg rolls, grilled scallops, uni on rice, oysters, tuna skewers. Most fresh seafood is naturally GF. Easy walk (~15 min) or one stop on the Hibiya Line from Ginza.

Done! Owner Nana is celiac herself — comfort Japanese food made fully safely.

Relax, explore Ginza, or revisit something from the not-yet-placed list before heading to Akihabara at 4pm.

Head straight to Super Potato: three floors of retro games and consoles, plus a working retro arcade on the 5th floor with original 80s/90s cabinets. GiGO Akihabara's RETRO:G on the 6th floor for more arcade action. Yellow Submarine RPG Shop on the 6th floor of a nearby building — tabletop RPGs, D&D sourcebooks, Call of Cthulhu, board games, dice sets. Break for T's Kitchen around 6pm then come back for more.

One stop from Akihabara on the Ginza Line to Ueno Hirokoji. T's Kitchen is inside the APA Hotel. Chicken katsu, gyoza, takoyaki, orange chicken, spring rolls — all GF. Head back to Akihabara after if you want more time.

2-hour class at the Wagashi Promotion Association in Meguro. Done!

Not hungry after mochi so went straight to Shibuya. Quick McDonald's, then an hour in Tokyu Hands — stationery, gadgets, crafts, and things you didn't know you needed.

Late lunch / early dinner at an Indian restaurant in Roppongi. Hit the spot. Then a late-night bowl of udon at a neighbourhood shop to finish the day.

The zoo inside Inokashira Park was the highlight — especially the fennec foxes and the squirrel trail where squirrels run freely around you. Then a quick loop around the outside of the Ghibli Museum before heading into Kichijoji.

100% GF café and bakery decorated entirely in cat imagery, with a single hidden dog to find somewhere in the decor.

1-hour session at the beloved Kichijoji cat café. Then straight back to Ginza — no Takeshita detour.

Early dinner with friends at the classic Ginza yakitori spot, just around the corner from the hotel. Salt-grilled skewers and kamameshi rice before TeamLab.

Yurikamome monorail from Shimbashi over Tokyo Bay to Toyosu — driverless, elevated, Rainbow Bridge at night. Wore clothes you could get wet. Socks off. Genuinely unlike anything else.

The tiny two-car Setagaya Line tram through residential Tokyo to the lucky cat temple. Hundreds of white Maneki-neko ceramics left by visitors whose wishes were fulfilled. Peaceful and genuinely unlike anywhere else in Tokyo.

From Rizlabo pancakes, walked through Omotesando to Shibuya via: McDonald's, I'm Donut? (visited two locations), Freeman Café, a hedgehog café (wait too long, skipped), Café Kitsuné, and the Shibuya mall rooftop. Then home to rest before dinner.

100% dedicated GF tempura on the 7th floor above Kaminarimon Gate. Omakase courses, seafood and wagyu, all fried in GF batter. Bar-style seating watching the chefs work.

Started with a fabulous hotel breakfast — including croffles! — then early to the Uniqlo Ginza flagship for Phoebe's birthday shopping spree. 12 floors of the good stuff.

Buckwheat galettes from a husband and wife team who lived in France — buckwheat ground fresh daily. 100% GF. Tiny, intimate, genuinely exceptional birthday lunch.

Hit Asakusa in reverse order: crepes first, then birthday cake at Shochikuen, then browsed Kappabashi Kitchen Street for knives, ceramics, and plastic food samples.

Giants fans wave towels; Swallows fans wave umbrellas. Giants won 3-2. Synchronized chants, beer keg ladies, mid-game fireworks — exactly as wild as promised.

The former inner grounds of Edo Castle — 400-year-old stone walls, ancient guard towers, and the famous Double Bridge view. Free entry via Ōte-mon gate.

Back to Ginza, collected luggage, checked out.

100% GF (and no refined sugar) dessert café in Minami-Aoyama. Stunning cakes, Paris-Brest, and sweets.

Quick stop in Harajuku for rainbow cotton candy, then met friends for a final hour in Shinjuku.

A fitting end — farewell dinner at Oh Nana, the 100% GF Japanese café where the owner is celiac herself. Comfort Japanese food, completely safe, and a warm last meal in Tokyo.

Back to hotel to collect luggage, then taxi to Haneda. さようなら、東京！