Snow, Onsen and Crab!

[rbjhan]

So we landed on time at NRT roughly 4.50pm. Walked about 15 mins(?) to immigration, it was a loooong walk!
Walked past the long line of foreigners, then past the shorter line of Japanese....finally saw the automatic gates! There were 4 gates, 2 each for Japanese/Foreign passport holders.
There were two foreigners in front of me, waited for about 5 mins as they seemed to not have pre-filled landing info on JTTP website and then needed to do it on the small screen there.
My turn, took about 2 mins and I was out!
Oooh, success

Even though I got through immigration super fast, the suitcase was already out and taken off the conveyor belt. Talk about Japanese efficiency!
Then I waited maybe 10 mins to go through custom.
Got to the bus ticket counter at 5.30pm. Next bus to Ginza was 5.45pm, oh this is truly a record time for me!

 

[rbjhan]

MUJI Hotel Ginza

I've been wanting to stay here since they opened in 2019. Ah but we all know what happened after 2019.... Then Dormy Inn Ginza opened in 2023 and I forgot about MUJI for a while
Dormy Inn Ginza has been steadily increasing their prices...for 2025 I found it to be in the 20K Yen range now hmm maybe it's time to finally stay in MUJI Hotel!

Type A is their smallest room, very popular and very hard to book, obviously.
I made the reservation 10 month in advance - basically as soon as I booked the tickets.

Hotel entry was at the back, but you can enter from the shop too.
The whole building is MUJI - this is their flagship stroe. Level B1 to 5 is the restaurant/shop. Level 6 is the hotel reception/lounge etc. There's also a library.


Level 7 - 10 are guest rooms.
Mine was on level 10.

Room is pretty small as you can imagine...


The closet also doubles as bathroom door.


Control tablet.
I like the alarm settings, you can have it open all curtains and turn on all lights


A tea capsule! Never seen this before...


Everything inside the room is MUJI. Quite clever marketing if you ask me.

Location is very good, right in the middle of Ginza and all the shops & restaurants!
3 metro/JR stations within a few mins walk: Ginza, Ginza Ichome and Yurakucho. I'm not sure how many lines you can get on from these 3, let's just say A LOT.

However the price has gone up to 25K Yen now....And if you would like a larger room, Type C starts at about 50K Yen!
Hmm I'm not sure whatever happened with Tokyo hotel prices but it has been insane
Well actually I know, everybody is going to Japan!

For my next trip I've reluctantly book a hotel in Akasaka...we shall see...

 

[rbjhan]

Dinner was beef hitsumabushi at Yayoiken Ginza.


Afterwards I walked around Ginza a bit and then called it a day.

The next morning I need to get up early for an exciting tour

 

[elanshin]

For my next trip I've reluctantly book a hotel in Akasaka...we shall see...

I find business hotels in areas like Ningyocho or Kanda to be readoanbly priced. Even areas near Akihabara. Often im seeing Metro line areas to be slightly better priced as it's harder? To navigate the metro.

I think 2 trips ago i stayed in kanda but technically my closest station was iwamotocho. Walkable to Akihabara and it was around 15k a night from memory. This was mid Nov.

 

[rbjhan]

I find business hotels in areas like Ningyocho or Kanda to be readoanbly priced. Even areas near Akihabara. Often im seeing Metro line areas to be slightly better priced as it's harder? To navigate the metro.

I think 2 trips ago i stayed in kanda but technically my closest station was iwamotocho. Walkable to Akihabara and it was around 15k a night from memory. This was mid Nov.

For many years 15K a night is enough for Ginza....Not any more! Sigh....

I have always stayed in Tokyo Station/Ginza (because that's where I spent most of the time), very very reluctant to move to a different area....

Whenever in Tokyo I'm basically visiting the following stores, maybe not all of them depending on how much time I have (In this exact order as listed)
Maruzen Marunouchi/Nihonbashi, Travelers Notebook Tokyo Station, Itoya Ginza, Tsutaya Ginza Six, MUJI Ginza, Uniqlo Ginza Marronnier Gate, Ginza Loft.
And no, it cannot be another MUJI /Unilqo /Maruzen/Loft, because these are the flagship stores with much more product variety.

Edit, added one store!

 

[elanshin]

For many years 15K a night is enough for Ginza....Not any more! Sigh....

I have always stayed in Tokyo Station/Ginza (because that's where I spent most of the time), very very reluctant to move to a different area....

Whenever in Tokyo I'm basically visiting the following stores, maybe not all of them depending on how much time I have:
Maruzen Marunouchi/Nihonbashi, Itoya Ginza, Tsutaya Ginza Six, MUJI Ginza, Uniqlo Ginza Marronnier Gate, Ginza Loft.
And no, it cannot be another MUJI /Unilqo /Maruzen/Loft, because these are the flagship stores with much more product variety.

I actually think the ginza Uniqlo is nowhere near as good or cool as the okachimachi uniqlo despite the "flagship" in the name.

Similarly Loft Shibuya is the main Loft in Tokyo for me. There's just way more things there. Some of the other stuff I do agree on if you like those.

What I've learnt is "flagship" doesn't necessarily mean the biggest or best. Like the Shinjuku UNIQLO is also a "flagship" but both Ginza and Shinjuku aren't as good as Okachimachi which has a custom design corner or collabs that don't exist elsewhere.

It's like the flagship Pokemon centre for example is Nihonbashi, but the Shibuya one is the only one with a print your own t-shirt design.

 

[rbjhan]

I actually think the ginza Uniqlo is nowhere near as good or cool as the okachimachi uniqlo despite the "flagship" in the name.

Similarly Loft Shibuya is the main Loft in Tokyo for me. There's just way more things there. Some of the other stuff I do agree on if you like those.

What I've learnt is "flagship" doesn't necessarily mean the biggest or best. Like the Shinjuku UNIQLO is also a "flagship" but both Ginza and Shinjuku aren't as good as Okachimachi which has a custom design corner or collabs that don't exist elsewhere.

Do you mean the Ginza Uniqlo on the main street or the one I mentioned, Marronnier Gate?
Because there sure is a custom design counter. I hate Shinjuku/Shibuya area so I'm not familiar with the ones you mentioned.

Also the stores I listed are in order of importance, so Uniqlo and Loft are actually the bottom two... meaning I'm not that fuss about them..

But unless you are into fountain pens and paper and stuff, probably no real need to visit Maruzen Nihonbashi!

 

[ShelleyB]

MUJI Hotel Ginza

I've been wanting to stay here since they opened in 2019. Ah but we all know what happened after 2019.... Then Dormy Inn Ginza opened in 2023 and I forgot about MUJI for a while
Dormy Inn Ginza has been steadily increasing their prices...for 2025 I found it to be in the 20K Yen range now hmm maybe it's time to finally stay in MUJI Hotel!

We are staying at the Ginza Dormy Inn in October for 3 nights in a superior triple and it was just under 20K per person per night, just as you say. Does include breakfast and a private bathtub on the balcony though. I think this is excellent value given the current price of Tokyo hotels.

 

[elanshin]

Do you mean the Ginza Uniqlo on the main street or the one I mentioned, Marronnier Gate?
Because there sure is a custom design counter.

Also the stores I listed are in order of importance, so Uniqlo and Loft are actually the bottom two... meaning I'm not that fuss about them..

But unless you are into fountain pens and paper and stuff, probably no real need to visit Maruzen Nihonbashi!

Fair enough. Although i do think the places like ibis styles Ginza (which funnily is bigger and more modern than most business hotels) was only around 18k a night.

 

[rbjhan]

We are staying at the Ginza Dormy Inn in October for 3 nights in a superior triple and it was just under 20K per person per night, just as you say. Does include breakfast and a private bathtub on the balcony though. I think this is excellent value given the current price of Tokyo hotels.

Yes I'm afraid this is the new normal now

 

[ShelleyB]

Yes I'm afraid this is the new normal now

it’s no worse really than any big Australian city. And better than some smaller towns in the UK.

 

[rbjhan]

it’s no worse really than any big Australian city. And better than some smaller towns in the UK.

Ah but chances of these places getting my money is very slim

Forgot to ask, where are you going in Oct?

 

[ShelleyB]

Forgot to ask, where are you going in Oct?

Trip to UK to visit Mr ShelleyB’s family. Coming home via Tokyo (as we have to come home via somewhere after all) but only there for 3 nights. Have a longer trip planned for January 2026, with exact details awaiting confirmation of leave dates for Mr. ShelleyB

 

[rbjhan]

Trip to UK to visit Mr ShelleyB’s family. Coming home via Tokyo (as we have to come home via somewhere after all) but only there for 3 nights. Have a longer trip planned for January 2026, with exact details awaiting confirmation of leave dates for Mr. ShelleyB

OMG are you me??
I'm going to London in Oct and on my way back staying in Tokyo for a week!

 

[rbjhan]

Alright guys, there's a hole in the plan....I forgot that all photos need to be approved by ANA first....
So the next part will happen when they reply.

 

[rbjhan]

14 Feb 2025

Ah during the planning stage I completely forgot this would be Valentine's Day! Somehow managed to book a very romantic hangar tour with ANA

I also forgot that in order to be near Haneda at 9.30am, I'd have to tackle peak hour Tokyo traffic So yeah, first time ever on the Yamanote Line during rush hour, 100% do not recommend!

The booking process of ANA Bluehangar Tour is very similar to JAL Sky Museun Tour.
The popularity is also at about the same level! All places were gone in about 10 mins.

ANA Blue Hangar Tour ANA機体工場見学 | ANAグループ企業情報

【ANA公式サイト・ANA Blue Hangar Tour】ANAグループの機体工場見学 ANA Blue Hangar Tourについてご覧になれます。

www.anahd.co.jp

Took this screen shot after I made my reservation.



I arrived at Monorail Shin Seibijo station just before 9am, since ANA building is a bit further away (about 15 mins walk), they run shuttle buses at 9.05 and 9.15 to ferry you there.

Now we wait for the photos...

 

[jukebox333]

Walked past the long line of foreigners, then past the shorter line of Japanese....finally saw the automatic gates! There were 4 gates, 2 each for Japanese/Foreign passport holders.

A silly question on this: you walked past the line of foreigners? How did you know to do that? Was it simply because you had a pre-filled QR code, or do you have some other status that lets you use the automatic gates?

I'm thinking I would have lined up with all the other gaijin if I didn't know better...

 

[rbjhan]

A silly question on this: you walked past the line of foreigners? How did you know to do that? Was it simply because you had a pre-filled QR code, or do you have some other status that lets you use the automatic gates?

I'm thinking I would have lined up with all the other gaijin if I didn't know better...

Ah I probably should have linked this...

Thread 'The Japan Trusted Traveler Program'

Jun 19, 2024

As I mentioned this previously in my TR, there seems to be some interest.
So I thought I would post a separate thread about my experience applying and getting the JTTP card.

Japan Trusted Traveler Program

So in short, if you have been to Japan at least twice in the past 12 months and fit a few other criteria, you can register for an ID card that will allow you to go through immigration via automatic gates, which can save some decent time queuing!

Also this card becomes your ID in Japan so no need to carry the passport around.

• rbjhan
• Replies: 42
• Forum: Passports, Visas, Immigration & Customs

• 

 

[rbjhan]

Right okay, can't wait for ANA forever!
Let's jump over this part and come back to it when I get the okay...

Well as mentioned before, my days in Tokyo are mainly shopping for stationery and books....which is not exactly exciting unless you are into those things!

How about some food then?

Gyutan, probably my alltime favourite.


Hida beef hitsumabushi


Seafood on rice


And Yakiniku Like, speciliased in one person yakiniku!
Basically the seats are a bit like Ichiran, everybody facing the wall...
As you can see, ordering is all done on the tablet (English version is available!)
The menu is also suitably sized.


I ordered a 3 meat wagyu set. Rice changed to TKG.


Later added a Sendai beef special.




Hmm this is my new favourite Yakiniku place!

 

[rbjhan]

A few more pictures of Tokyo.

I went to a sento.


And a super sento!


Ginza main street becomes pedestrian only on weekends.



The new notes.