Tokyo (JP)
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Probably a little overcome by events, but public transportation would be the way to go to hachioji. It's pretty far outside of town and even further from the airports.
Instead, stash your luggage at a locker, hop on a train, and go to Ueno. Lots of great shops for denim and leather, street food, and a great atmosphere. Also 2k540 is near which has some cool artisan shops. Certainly this is enough to kill a few hours. After there it's up to you and where to go. I'd probably say to book entrance to Shibuya sky to see the massive city, stroll through Shinjuku gardens, and then find ramen or whatever before heading back to the airport.
Alternatively, Ueno, 2k540, ramen, the sky tree, the zoo or senso ji, is a similar day and much more compact.
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@pechelman thanks holmes!! These are great suggestions. Is the bus system pretty easy to navigate?
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It's an experience. Though if you've ridden mass transit in any large city it's like that, but bigger, faster, and amazing. Google maps is your friend! Getting around Tokyo is more about trains than buses but it's all pretty straightforward we found except navigating inside Shinjuku station which is kinda poorly signed imo and heavily under construction as of last October.
Also about Ueno, there's at least a couple of shops that sell IH there so all may not be lost.
Fyi you'll need to pickup an IC card (eg pasmo passport card) to get around, pick one up at the airport. I think you have to charge it with a minimum of 1500yen but you can use this for just about everything including buying snacks at the airport.
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@pechelman super helpful, all of this!!
I’m not going to lie, I’m crushed that IH will be closed. But we’ll make a great day of it anyhow. Much appreciated. I did message IH Tokyo on IG to double check. Haha -
You're welcome and good luck! Tokyo is so fun even if you only have a day. Hachioji is a trek for sure even if you're staying on the west side of Tokyo somewhere. If you do end up in Ueno I can point you to an amazing ramen place that specializes in this ultra rich amazing chicken based style that was our favorite of anything we had over 3wks there last year.
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@pechelman I will 100% hit you up on that ramen spot!! Having this little chunk of time to see Japan, even if only for a day, is just the icing on the cake of this whole trip!! Just three weeks until takeoff!!
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https://maps.app.goo.gl/kTnTWCgwfTkeBrbr5
Kinda "hard" to find. Look for the stairs leading down through a very dark passage. At the bottom of the stairs you'll come to a vending machine, pop in cash, order the rich chicken one and whatever drinks, give them the ticket, find a seat, and enjoy. Their tomato ramen is pretty great too, we went back a second time to try it, kinda like if ramen and spaghetti ohs had a delicious baby. Lol.
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@pechelman said in Tokyo (JP):
https://maps.app.goo.gl/kTnTWCgwfTkeBrbr5
Kinda "hard" to find. Look for the stairs leading down through a very dark passage. At the bottom of the stairs you'll come to a vending machine….
This sounds like the entry point into some of the more “obscure” stories I’ve heard about Japan!!
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Yea I’d avoid Uber in Tokyo. You’ll find some amazing shops if iron heart is closed
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I was in Tokyo in October. The amount of Iron Heart in the Ueno shops is very limited. I think they had 2 models of jeans in the Hinoya shop. This actually surprised me because when I visited 15 years ago they had loads of Iron Heart.
Is your layover in Haneda or Narita? Narita is quite a distance from downtown Tokyo.
The Iron Heart shop is about an hour from the west side of Tokyo (Shinjuku).
The two main areas for denim in Tokyo are Ueno and Harajuku.
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@DrPat thanks for the deets! Our layover is in Haneda. I’m def on the hunt for denim and clothing in the realm we all love. Seems like Ueno might be the best bet for one stop access.
Is this like a shopping district with stores that carry the brands we love? Or the brands we love have their individual shops in this area?
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@Mizmazzle You also have the Ochanimizu district if you want to buy a guitar or any music instrument
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@Mizmazzle there are a couple of brand stores, I think Japan blue has one?, but for the most part each store has a mix of brands generally specializing in different items. Lots of leather stores, military style ones, and then just other American casual, etc. It's a pretty packed and lively area. Harajiku is the place to go for the more brand specific store shopping experience if you want, but it's further away and for a short layover may be less efficient to snag a few items.
The IH selection is pretty slim as drpat notes. I was there a couple weeks before him and saw a few different shirt styles from fresh releases and one of two jean cuts. I didn't recall seeing any IH in harajuku fwiw, but I also wasn't looking too hard.
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Not sure if this is the right place to ask and hoping people at the 21st anniversary party can give more advice, but basically, going to Tokyo for two weeks in April, what should we do?
