Back to Tokyo (and Osaka, for the First Time)

Japan is one of the few places I keep going back to — first visited around 2000, and every return since has felt like checking in on an old friend. The city keeps changing while still feeling completely familiar.

This trip was April 2025, which meant cherry blossom season — late enough in the bloom that some petals were already on the ground, but still worth the visit. The first full day went to Shinjuku Gyoen, one of Tokyo's best parks for it, and one of the few that charges an entrance fee. That tells you something: it was immaculate. A formal Japanese garden, a French parterre, English lawns, and in mid-April, a canopy of pale pink over all of it. I found a bench, bought something from a vending machine, and didn't move for an hour.

The next day involved a trip out to Ikebukuro — specifically Sunshine City, the mall that houses what might be the most important stop on any Japan itinerary: the Pokémon Center. Adjacent to it, the Pikachu Sweets by Pokémon Café shop, which is exactly what it sounds like. I visit a Pokémon Center on every trip to Japan. This is not something I'm embarrassed about.

That same evening ended up in Kabukicho — Shinjuku's famous entertainment district, and the real-world inspiration for Kamurocho in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon game series. Walking it at night, you can see exactly why it was chosen: neon from every direction, the density of it slightly overwhelming, a place that feels entirely itself regardless of how many tourists are in it.

The following afternoon went to Meiji Jingu, the Shinto shrine set in seventy hectares of forested grounds in the middle of Harajuku — a sharp contrast to the neighbourhood immediately surrounding it. The approach through the trees, along a wide gravel path, is one of those things Tokyo does quietly and well: a natural pause built into the heart of the city.

From there, a long walk south through Shibuya — which produced three things I hadn't expected in quick succession: a Tower Records, still open and apparently thriving, which I hadn't seen since the 1990s; the approach to Japan's most famous pedestrian crossing, which lives up to it; and a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure merchandise shop that required a longer stop than planned.

After four nights in Tokyo, the Shinkansen south from Shinagawa — two and a half hours to Osaka, arriving in the early afternoon. First stop: Osaka Castle. The main keep is a 1931 reconstruction, but the stone walls and moat are original, and at that scale they're the thing that registers first anyway. I arrived late enough in the day that the light was starting to go golden, which helped.

The full day in Osaka went to Shinsaibashi and the surrounding streets — the covered shopping arcade, then south towards the food market area near Kuromon, then eventually Dotonbori in the evening. Dotonbori is impossible to understate: the canal, the density of the signage, the mechanical crab rotating above a restaurant entrance. It's a place that's become a cliché of itself and somehow remains entirely worthwhile.

The night ended at Kinryu Ramen on Dotonbori — recognisable by the giant golden dragon mounted above the entrance, open 24 hours, and precisely the kind of place where you join a queue at 3am without giving it much thought. Tonkotsu broth, thin noodles, free kimchi and garlic on the table. The ramen itself is good without being remarkable; the experience of being there at that hour, with the city still going around you, is the point.

The Shinkansen back to Tokyo the next day, a final night in the city, and another bowl of ramen to close it out — this time somewhere in the backstreets of Shinjuku, found by walking rather than searching. The kind of meal that doesn't need a name.