KidTripster Teen: From cosplay to shopping, top 5 things for teens to do in Tokyo
Tokyo can be a very exciting place to explore, especially for teens. From manga pop culture to extreme shopping to adventurous eating, go with an open mind!
1. Get to know your train station
The best way to experience Tokyo, especially as a teenager, is to ride the awesomely-convenient train system. If you can get to know the train station nearest to your hotel or rental, you can access any place in the one of biggest city in the world quickly and cheaply. For the most part, the ticket machines and displays in trains showing the next stop cycle between English and Japanese, so you won’t have to worry about navigating in a foreign language.
2. Go shopping in Harajuku
By far, my favorite memory in Tokyo was spending a day in the teen culture and fashion district: Harajuku. Harajuku is incredible! Every street is crammed with eclectic clothing stores and delicious crêperies. Harajuku is known for its street fashion and cosplay events, where people dress up in crazy outfits as their favorite characters! This place is bursting with energy and pop culture. Your teens will love it!
3. Visit Akihabara
Akihabara is another must-visit district in Tokyo, well-known for its abundance of up-and-coming electronics and vibrant anime and manga culture. Akihabara and Harajuku are only a 30-minute train ride apart, so make a day of it!
4. Seek out stationary stores
I’m a sucker for everything office supply-related: cool pens, highlighters, notebooks, pencils, stamps, flags, washi tape – you name it! If you have the same likes, Tokyo will be a paradise to you! Any mall or shopping center that you go to likely has a stationery store, stocked with crazy-cute and often ingeniously-designed office supplies that make fantastic gifts or school supplies for yourself. My favorite stationery store in Tokyo is Itoya, nestled in the Ginza District. It has a huge range of supplies and offers some customization services for pens, stamps, and notebooks that made my visit there super fun!
5. Try new restaurants
When you’re exploring around Tokyo, I highly encourage you to try as many new and interesting restaurants as you can. Many places have English menus, so don’t worry about not being able to read Japanese. Some of my favorite memories involve discovering cute restaurants and trying them out with friends. And don’t be afraid to explore new foods; they may become your new favorites!
Want to see Tessa’s favorite Japanese Eats? Click here.
Tessa Plumb is a high school senior in Portland, Oregon, studying Japanese. She’s visited Japan twice – once with her family and once as an exchange student. Her other interests include writing, video editing, and graphic design.
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