First Time in Tokyo: The Ultimate 2-Week Itinerary for Anime Fans & Gamers
Updated: 59 minutes ago
Japan is always the absolute dream destination for all the gamers, weebs, anime lovers, aspiring Pokemon trainers and gacha waifu enthusiasts. If you're anything like me and enjoy all the above, spending years watching anime, collecting figures, or sinking way too many hours into games, then visiting Tokyo is probably first on your bucket list.
Planning your first trip to Tokyo can be extremely overwhelming. There are so many areas, Pokémon Centers, anime stores, arcades, shrines, cafés and shopping streets, it's hard to know what's actually worth your time.
Hence me writing this guide. There are so many guides out there but nothing directly covering everything in one place and it took a lot of time on my first trip to figure it all out!
After spending two weeks exploring Tokyo, I've packed everything I learned into one place. From the best Pokémon Centers and where to find Genshin Impact merch, to the anime figure stores actually worth visiting, retro gaming shops, hidden arcades, accommodation tips, transport, budget hacks, and all the little things I wish I'd known before boarding the plane, no stress! I've got it covered.
We intentionally spent our entire two-week holiday in Tokyo. Instead of trying to squeeze Osaka, Kyoto and half of Japan into one trip, we wanted enough time to properly explore the city without rushing from place to place and give the option to re-visit some of our fav areas.
This isn't a budget-friendly guide - we didn't set ourselves a budget, just saved as much as possible so we didn't need to stress about money when there was something we reaaaallly wanted (needed) or an experience we'd probably never get again. That said, I've included plenty of budget tips, money-saving hacks, and cheaper alternatives throughout this guide, so whether you're travelling on a backpacker's budget or planning your dream anime shopping spree, you'll find advice that fits your trip.
So grab a coffee (or a Strawberry Matcha if you're already in Japan), and let's plan your first Tokyo adventure!
Want to see what two weeks in Tokyo actually looked like?
I filmed the whole trip — from anime shopping and Pokémon Centers to Genshin merch, late night 7/11 snack runs, arcades and way too much spending. Check out the vlog below!
TLDR;
Category | Recommendation |
Ideal Trip Length | 10-14 Days |
Best Time | May/Autumn |
Best Area for Anime & Gaming | Akihabara |
Anime Shopping | Ikebukuro |
Best Food | Convenience Stores 10000% & shoutout to Disneyland Curry |
Best Experience | Ikebukuro Sunshine City 60 Observatory & DisneySea |
Figure Shopping | AmiAmi |
Gacha Gaming Merch | Animate |
Before You Go To Tokyo
Aside from the obvious things to take when you're travelling (passport, headphones, chargers, travel insurance blah blah), its important to remember the below:
International Sim Card
We used an e-sim that we set up before we left and activating when arriving in Tokyo.
You can also pre-pay for physical sims and pick them up at the airport.
We used Ubigi - just downloaded the app and signed up for the 10GB for 30 days (~$15AUD), but I did a small top-up for $8 for a little more because I forgot to turn my hotel wifi on while watching tiktoks (oop).
Cash vs Card
We found that we barely used any cash in our whole two-week trip. Majority of places accept card and we only really used cash to transfer coins to play gachapon
Transport
Suica cards are all we used in Tokyo.
Once you're in Japan, you can go to your phones wallet and add the Suica card directly to your wallet. No need to purchase a card or download the app.
Useful Apps in Tokyo | |
Google Maps |
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Google Translate |
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Ubigi (or other eSim app) |
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Budget Breakdown for Tokyo Trip
This is very subjective to the amount of money you're willing to spend on experiences, food, shopping and just how much money you can save up before your trip. We made sure to save as much money as possible so we didn't have any restrictions when we wanted to buy something.
Also, choosing the length your in Tokyo will change your budget requirements. Staying two weeks is quite a lot of money on food, accommodation etc, so just stay how long your budget will let you!
I've listed a few tips below on how we gave ourselves more money to spend on fun stuff and less on the boring stuff.
Flights
Looking out for sales on flights (Jetstar do a return for free from Australia, which is what we did and saved us a lot of money!)
Not buying extra luggage on the way there, but adding what you need on the way back.
Just getting economy flights is also a major way to save money. Why would you spend money on a nicer flight, when you can buy more cool stuff to bring home?
Accommodation
Choosing accommodation not in the major hotspots (Shibuya, Shinjuku etc).
Staying just outside the main areas, but close enough to a train station really does not affect your experience at all. You will want to visit so many different areas that all require train travel so save yourself some money by choosing a cheaper hotel/apartment a little outside the main areas.
Travel
If you're just staying in Tokyo, you don't need to buy any JR passes or any passes whatsoever. You can get around purely with Suica, just top up via your phone wallet a small amount and you can just add more when you need it.
Food
I can't say I had a budget for food, because I spent an ungodly amount at the 7/11 each day. Don't restrict yourself here, food isn't very expensive in Japan and there's a million different places you can eat at. (Disneyland/DisneySea food was actually 10/10 fyi)
Shopping
My main tip here would be to check all the second-hand stores for figures, merch, plushies and consoles. You can find a heap of these in Ikebukuro and Akihabara that are refurbished or just extras from claw machines that are soooo much cheaper than the main stores.
Again, this is super subjective to your own personal finances and what you want to spend your money on.
I knew I would want to buy a lot of things so I saved a lot of money for this specifically.
General Tips
Make sure you check that you aren't booking your holiday in the middle of a Japanese holiday period.
Our trip was booked during Golden Week (May) and the cost of most things was significantly higher, places were PACKED and if we were to book again, would probably choose against this.
Where to Stay in the Tokyo Precinct
Tokyo is extremely large!! The city is split into different precincts and trust me, you will want to go to all of them. Picking a hotel that is closer to one area doesn't mean you will be close to everything you want to see and choosing your tolerance for train travel is how you should decide on your hotel location.
We chose an apartment in Itabashi City, which was about a 35min max train ride to almost every destination we wanted to visit. It was a cozy neighbourhood, right near a 7/11 that we spent ALOT of money at and about a 5-10 min walk to the train station.
Hotels are also quite small in Tokyo, choosing an apartment with a Kitchen, that had enough space for out suitcases and food was a major part in our decision for accommodation and were willing to spend a little more for this.
Our Accommodation - 67hotel 板橋本町
Our 2 Week Itinerary in Tokyo - Gaming and Anime Hunting
Day 0: Travel Day
Travel day is the most exciting and the most exhausting, especially if you're someone who can't sleep on planes (my wife). A trip to 7/11 for snacks if you're flight gets in late like ours is 100% recommended because nothing cures exhaustion like maple pancakes.
⛅hazy tip - use google maps to find the best route to your hotel via train, taxis are expensive and the train was actually so easy to navigate (we only went to the wrong platform once 😉)
Day 1: Shinjuku
Shinjuku is a major entertainment district in Tokyo, with neon lights and the iconic Godzilla statue. Unfortunately, the rain and wind killed a lot of our plans this day but we did visit the Cinnamoroll cafe and bought a lot of clothes at the massive Uniqlo nearby the station.
📍Animate Shinjuku - literally floors and floors of anime and gacha gaming merch, manga and everything anime related.
📍Lashinbang Shinjuku Marui Annex Store - second hand manga and anime merch for good prices!
📍Chiikawa Land Shinjuku - it's Chiikawa Land, it needs no explanation.
📍Don Quijote Shinjuku Higashiguchi Main Store - everyone knows the Don Quijote song, not everyone knows they sell a lot of anime and gacha merch
⛅hazy tip - buy an umbrella day 1!
If you want a full detailed guide on Shinjuku - click here for my post!
Day 2: Shibuya
shibuya tokyo buildings mario kart go karting shibuya splatoon statue nintendo store
Shibuya was like a fever dream. You see so many videos and photos of the Shibuya crossing and honestly there were so many people here but for some reason it felt a little underwhelming because I guess it's just a road crossing? Was still cool to be able to say I've been there.
First thing to do after crossing the street from Shibuya station is walk yourself over to the Starbucks, get yourself a matcha frapp and try get the best seat to watch all the people outside. You might even get to see the Mario go-karts like we did!
📍Magnet by Shibuya 109 - floors 4-5 have pop-up events. We were SO lucky, they had a Genshin Impact event on and I don't think we ever recovered. Honestly just go through every floor, because there is something on every level.
📍Nintendo Tokyo Shibuya - this store was insane, Golden Week made this 100x more packed and we were honestly overwhelmed. Got to meet Link and Mario though.
📍Pokémon Center Shibuya - famous Mewtwo statue that you need to take a photo with. So so so many plushies and as my wife says to me after I ask who would want a plushie of Tangela - 'every Pokémon is someone's favourite'.
📍Jump Shop Shibuya - Official licensed store for Weekly Shonen Jump series. Big Luffy statue and lots of cool merch in this store!
📍SEGA Store Shibuya - All your Sonic and SEGA goods
⛅hazy tip - this will be an overwhelming day. Don't stress about not seeing everything, you can come back another day to find more things to buy and see!
If you want a full detailed guide on Shibuya - click here for my post!
Day 3 - Ikebukuro
pikachu dressed as chef pikachu sweets cafe game taito station tokyo ikebukuro city, tokyo clouds, tokyo crossing
Ikebukuro was hands down my favourite place in Tokyo!!! Had all the major players like Mega Tokyo Pokémon Center with it's own Pokémon Go Store and the Pokémon Pikachu Sweets Cafe, but it also had so many little stores with a heap of figures, merch and manga that you could literally spend a week alone here.
📍Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo & Pikachu Sweets - you don't need a reservation for the Pikachu Sweets Cafe, just get there early and line up!
📍Sunshine City Ikebukuro - Pokémon Center is located in here, but there are so many stores in this building that you can waste a whole day in. A massive gachapon and claw machine section that we spent a lot of money trying to get an Itadori figure (I did get it though).
📍Animate Flagship Store - one of the best animates we went to! MASSIVE and have pop-up events all the time.
📍Round 1 - 24/7 Arcade with bowling, karaoke, billiards, darts, table tennis, and a variety of arcade games. It literally runs all night and it's so much fun.
📍AKIBA-HOBBY - so so so so much gacha merch. Genshin Impact, Zenless Zone Zero, Honkai Star-Rail, Wuthering Waves, Love and Deepspace
side note: it's a Pokémon Go dream everywhere in Tokyo.
⛅hazy tip - don't just check out the stores in Sunshine City, there are SO many hidden shops around the streets, just walk around different areas and find what you like!
If you want a full detailed guide on Ikebukuro - click here for my post!
Day 4 - Akihabara
japanese pokemon cards, pokemon slabs akihabara city at night, neon lights tokyo genshin impact anime figures tokyo akihabara
The main spot all the gamers and anime lovers will tell you to visit, and there's a reason for it. The amount of second hand console stores, random anime shops that sell all the plushies and figures out of the gachapon machines, Pokémon cards, tech stores, I could go on.
We would always find ourselves coming back here, finding new stores each time that we didn't see before!
📍HARDOFF Akihabara - Multiple levels of all second-hand tech. Found a heap of consoles like Japanese PSPs, Gameboys and PlayStations, cameras, musical equipment and just any tech you can think of.
📍Akihabara Pokémon Cards, One Piece & Figure Shop - HOBBY SHOP ANKOU - plenty of Japanese Pokémon Cards, all types of figures and manga. So cheap compared to Australia!
📍Kotobukiya Akihabara - Gacha game merch, Vtuber merch, figures ad model kits. This place had everything and I reckon we spent like 2 hours going through the floors.
📍SURUGA-YA Akihabara Main Building - Huge selection of anime merch, visual novels and manga. Decent prices too!!
📍Amiami - we found all the Genshin Impact figures here and trust me, if we had planned our luggage being sent home from Japan, we would have bought all of them.
⛅hazy tip - this is another that will take a lot of out of you, but we came back here 3 different times because we loved it so much so again, no stress if you miss something.
If you want a full detailed guide on Akihabara - click here for my post!
Day 5 - Harajuku
We were pretty exhausted from the first couple of days so opted for a chill day at Harajuku eating food and checking out some spots that Jimin and Jungkook from BTS explored (IYKYK). We found a random line to Popmart so decided to wait and see what was releasing. Bought ALOT of random blind boxes here.
📍I'm donut? - Viral tiktok cafe that serves soft donuts with lots of different fillings. Line up early for this one!
📍Popmart Harajuku - massive store, multi level and whole vibe is so cool!
📍Sailor Moon Store - Everything Sailor Moon!
⛅hazy tip - being so close to Shibuya, I wouldn't waste time looking for anything gaming or anime related here. Maybe start here one day and walk down to Shibuya if you prefer.
If you want a full detailed guide on Harajuku - click here for my post!
Day 6 - Tokyo Station/Akihabara
pikachu tokyo station exclusive plushie pokemon tokyo staton store pikachu tokyo station store
We wanted to see as many Pokémon Centers as possible during our trip, so we had to go to the Tokyo Station Pokémon store to get our Pikachu Train Conductor plushie!
Tokyo Station is f*#king massive. Not going to lie to you, we got lost trying to find this Pokémon Center BUT there's cute little stickers leading you there so you'll be right!
📍Pokémon Center - obvious choice to get the exclusive Train Station merch.
📍Hello Kitty Store - cutest hello kitty trinkets, actually wish we got more from here!
📍Rilakkuma Store - massive soft plushies here, random little merch like stationary and homewares.
⛅hazy tip - mainly character specific stores in here. I'd only really get the Pikachu plushie and then use the trains to go to another location, unless you want to get lost in the station for hours.
If you want a full detailed guide on Tokyo Station - click here for my post!
Day 7 - 9 - Mix your days between Akihabara, Shibuya & Ikebukuro
We had a day each again at these locations. Walking through stores we hadn't noticed before, eating a lot more food and buying too many things to fit in our suitcases. FYI we bought another suitcase each because there was no shot we were fitting our purchases in our original 2 x suitcases :(
Day 10 - Ueno/Akihabara
Ueno is full of beautiful parks, cafes, the Zoo and famous Ameyoko market. This is also the location for a Pokémon manhole cover! After finding the manhole covering and taking an obligatory selfie, we walked down to the market, played some gacha and looked the markets until we ended up back in Akihabara (we couldn't help ourselves).
📍Egg Baby Cafe - viral tiktok cafe with every egg dish you can imagine. This place had some cool vibes and is on the walk down to Akihabara.
📍Ameyoko Market - lots of discount clothing, merch, food, souvenirs - honestly just feels like a full vibe walking here and we won a big plushie from a claw machine here
📍BOOKOFF Plus - manga, second-hand items - all in great condition, great prices.
⛅hazy tip - get to Ueno early to see all the market stalls opening, have a coffee and walk through the market before thousands of people get there.
If you want a full detailed guide on Ueno - click here for my post!
Day 11 - Pick your favourite place to revisit
We chose to go back to Akihabara again because there were Genshin figures that kept calling name and I thought with the new suitcases they might fit but alas they did not :(
Day 12 - Disneyland
disneyland castle tokyo sunset tokyo disneyland curry food tokyo disneyland entrance
I feel like if you're going to Tokyo, you have to go to Disneyland. I'm not the biggest Disney boylie, but I walked out of there after the insane fireworks show, 20k steps later, with my Stitch ears and the sorest legs of all time.
side note: Disneyland food actually slapped so hard, make sure you get it all.
⛅hazy tip - if you can afford it, get the fast passes. Its worth it.
If you want a full detailed guide on Disneyland - click here for my post!
Day 13 - Disneysea
tokyo disneysea canyon tokyo disneysea rapunzel lanterns tokyo disneysea underwater castle area little mermaid
If you thought I was hype after Disneyland, you should have seen me after DisneySea. I actually enjoyed DisneySea even more than Disneyland.
After all the walking and standing from the day before, we were so exhausted and slept through our alarms. We didn't arrive until 1pm and this was probably one of the biggest mistakes of the trip.
This place is insane and feels like you're in a whole other world! YOU NEED TO GO HERE.
⛅hazy tip - do not book your Disneyland and DisneySea the day after each other. I can't say that enough.
If you want a full detailed guide on DisneySea - click here for my post!
Day 14 - Last full day - your fav place
Last full day we went back to Ikebukuro. It's the final day you can have your favourite food, get your last items, your souvenirs from Don Quijote and cry over having to leave.
⛅hazy tip - get that extra luggage, you'll need it.
Day 15 - Travel Day
Unlike Australia, the Narita Airport is stacked full of stores you can still stuff into your suitcase. There is another Pokémon Store here with two exclusive Pilot Pikachus, Nintendo pop ups and lots of stationary themed shops.
⛅hazy tip - get to the airport early, it's HUGE and you'll want to walk around. Stash your luggage in a luggage storage area within the airport so you don't have to walk through the stores with your suitcases.
Want to see all of this in action?
Anime Shopping Guide
Store / Area | Best For | Why Visit? |
AmiAmi (Akihabara) | New & Second-Hand Figures | Legendary for massive walls of anime figures. Always check their pre-owned section for mint-condition items at a discount. |
Animate (Ikebukuro & Shinjuku) | Gacha Merch, Manga, & Waifu Collectibles | Multi-story paradise. Ikebukuro's flagship store is a goldmine for modern gacha game merchandise and media. |
Surugaya (Multiple Locations) | Retro Games, Consoles & Rare Collectibles | Incredible for vintage Nintendo/Sega cartridges, retro consoles, and niche otaku goods. Prices are usually very fair. |
Mandarake (Akihabara) | Rare Collectibles & Vintage Merch | If you are looking for rare collector items, vintage toys, or classic manga, Mandarake is the holy grail. |
Lashinbang (Shinjuku & Ikebukuro) | Budget-Friendly Second-Hand Goods | Perfect for finding acrylic stands, plushies, and keychains for a fraction of retail price (often around $10–$25 AUD). |
⛅hazy tips
Don't sleep on second-hand stores: You don't always need to buy brand new. Stores like Lashinbang and Surugaya sell claw-machine extras and pre-owned figures that are practically brand new for $10 to $25 AUD. I found loads of items way cheaper here than at the official brand stores.
Pack light on the way there: Leave plenty of extra room in your luggage—or plan to buy an extra suitcase like we did—because you will buy more merch than you think. Trust me, trying to tetris a giant plushie and twenty anime figures into your bag the night before your flight home is an extreme sport.
Mistakes I Made
There were a few things we would do different from our first trip to Tokyo to just make the experience a little more efficient or more enjoyable.
Pack waaaaay less clothing and random things
I didn't end up using half of it and bought more clothes than I need anyways. Was much harder to pack all the stuff I bought and spent a lot of time the night before leaving figuring out how to tetris it all into my suitcase (and the extra suitcase I bought)
Go to Ikebukuro before Akihabara
Every blog, tiktok and reel I watched told me Akihabara had all the best gaming and anime shopping but we found so much more merch, figures and niche items from Ikebukuro than we were expecting!
Spending money on gachapon when second hand stores had plushies for like $10
Don't get me wrong, I love a gachapon and claw machine as much as the next person but we found SO many of the same figures and plushies in the second hand stores that were basically new for $10-$25
Packing for the way home
We both got an extra suitcase for the way home, which just fit everything but next time we will 100% be looking into suitcase forwarding or packaging everything to send home so we don't have to carry it all through Tokyo to get back to the airport.
Things I Wish I Knew
Being my first time in Tokyo and in a country that didn't primarily speak English, I was a little anxious on what to expect.
Don't bother taking cash out until you need it - plenty of ATM machines if something comes up but we 99% used card (honestly only used cash for claw machines and gachapon)
Get an umbrella early, as soon as you get there - buy a UV umbrella and use it on a bright sunny day or rainy day. It's socially acceptable to use it in the sun and so many people do. Will save you getting scorched but also protects your skin! Rain in Tokyo is something else, take your umbrella with you everywhere.
Do not book Disneyland and DisneySea the day after each other. This was the worst thing we did, we could barely walk and were so exhausted. Will not be doing this again.
Shopping for clothes - take easy to remove shoes because you have to take them off before going into changerooms and trust me, no laces are much more convenient.
FAQs
Is two weeks in Tokyo too long?
Not at all! Two weeks was perfect because if you don't get to all the places you wanted to see, you can go back another day. Not setting a strict itinerary is key because it gives you a chance to visit so many different shops, cafes and streets you may not see on a short holiday.
What is the best gaming district in Tokyo?
Akihabara is the most famous gaming district, with retro game stores, arcades, figure shops, and merchandise on nearly every street. However, my favourite was Ikebukuro - Gacha waifu gamer heaven with so much Genshin Impact, Zenless Zone Zero & Wuthering Waves merch (literally every gacha game I swear), Pokemon Store, Pokemon Cafe, Nintendo Store, Shonen, literally everything you could imagine.
Where should I buy anime figures in Tokyo?
Akihabara offers the largest selection of new anime figures, while Nakano Broadway is better for rare, second-hand, and collectible items. Stores such as Animate, Mandarake, and Surugaya are excellent places to compare prices before making a purchase. Walking between multiple stores can often save you money on the same figure.
How much should I budget for anime & gaming shopping in Tokyo?
It depends on what you're collecting. There are a lot of retro consoles, figures and collectables that are expensive but comparative to Australia, these are actually much more affordable. For instance, a Genshin Impact figure that sells for ~$700AUD was being sold for ~$400AUD in an Animate store in Akihabara. Set a budget based on what you can afford, but we spent ~$5000AUD on shopping as a couple.
Are anime cafes worth it?
We visited the Pikachu Sweets Café which was 100% worth it. A lot of pop up anime cafes and events need to be booked in advance. If you look up what is on during your holiday via https://collabo-cafe.com/ - it will let you know how to book and different events that are on!
Is Skytree worth it?
Skytree has to be booked so far in advance and is so stressful trying to get a booking. Also is really weather dependant. We chose to go to Ikebukuro Sunshine 60 Observatory which was absolutely insane and is a must see in my opinion.
Hazy Verdict ⛅
★★★★★ Overall
💰 Value 9/10
🎌 Anime 10/10
🍜 Food 6/10
🚆 Transport 10/10
📸 Photography 10/10
😌 Would I Return? Absolutely.
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