Travel has trends too. And the latest bandwagon travelers seem to be jumping on skip tourist traps altogether and dive head first into local hang outs. With so many eateries and hidden gems, Tokyo is a great place for travelers to experience life as a local. Here are five ways to experience Tokyo like a Tokyoite.
Related: 4 Weeks in Tokyo with Victoria Hong, Retired Sales Rep
- Watch a baseball game at the Tokyo dome. Japan has over 80 years of professional baseball history. Not only will you get the opportunity to watch a baseball game inside the Tokyo Dome amidst the roaring indigenous crowd, but the dome comes replete with an amusement park, shopping center, and an onsen all in one place.
- Attend festivals during the summer. If you happen to visit Tokyo during the summer, the themed-festivals that celebrate everything from flowers to windbells, are an amazing production locals look forward to all year. This is a great way to meet people if you’re traveling solo, and also a wonderful event if you’re traveling with kids, who will light up at the sight of fireworks and carnival games. Festival times and locations can be found at Tokyo Time Out.
- See snow monkeys. Right outside Tokyo in the countryside is the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park, where you can see snow monkeys bathing in onsens or hot springs. Folklore has it that back in the 60’s, the Japanese people who bathed in the onsens started enticing the local snow monkeys to go inside the water with food. The snow monkeys have since gotten used to hanging out in the outdoor onsens. But they’re wild animals so be careful. Don’t look them in the eye or show your teeth, which signals aggression to them. The Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park is two train rides away from Tokyo, one to Nagano, then another to Yamanouchi. To get to the onsens from the main road is a 45-minute hike. It’s a beautiful nature walk, but not the most conducive for strollers. If you plan on making the trek with a young child, be sure to bring a baby carrier.
Photo courtesy of Victoria Hong - Go fly fishing. Less than an hour from Tokyo are the Tanzawa, Kanagawa mountains, where there is a fishing park called the Riverspot Hayato. It’s a man-made fish farm adjacent to the river. To go fly fishing, all you need to do is purchase a permit for $5 USD. Each person or group, depending on how you want to fish, get assigned a pond freshly stocked with live fish throughout the day. The water is shallow and very clear so you can see hundreds of fish of different species floundering about. It’s fun for activity for grownups and kids alike. The best part about fly fishing is is that you get to eat your catch. An onsite restaurant called Liverpool Restaurant will cook the fish you catch made-to-order for a paltry sum of about $3USD per fish.
Photo courtesy of Victoria Hong - Forest bathe. Forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, has long been a Japanese tradition and has been part of the national health program since 1982. Being in the company of trees is not only calming, but studies show that forest bathing has been proven to lower heart rate and blood pressure, reduce stress hormone production, boost the immune system and improve overall feelings of wellbeing. Essential oils that wood, plants and some fruit and vegetables emit actually work to improve our immune system functions. Tokyo proper is actually a great place to forest bathe. Amid the high-rises and crowds, well-groomed parks and gardens, such as Hamarikyu and Shinjuku Gyoen, provide Tokyoites the chance for some calm. One of the ways the Japanese forest bathe is by picknicking en masse under the cherry blossoms or at a park so you can ditch your yoga pants and mats.
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