Day 1: May 20, 2025

After months of planning, checklist-making, and snack-hoarding, the day had finally arrived! We boarded our Air India flight from Pune to Delhi and then onward to Haneda Airport, Tokyo. This is around 10 hrs journey with hop. They served really good food but as always technical issues with screens ade kids a little unhappy. They were screen deprived for two days before saying “Watch as many cartoons as you can in the flight but don’t watch TV now.” Well, that helped because they had good sleep and were all awake when we reached. We got a glimpse of Mt. Fuji while entering in Japan as in while Landing on the ground.

We touched down at around 9:30 AM, rubbing our eyes but wide awake with excitement. Tokyo greeted us with cool weather and efficient signs.

Our first Mission was to get settled without a tour guide! ‍S️o, here is of what we did;

The Essential Arrival Kit (a.k.a. “Tourist Survival Toolkit”)

Since we weren’t with a tour group, we had a list of must-do-on-landing-or-panic-later items:

  • Suica Card: The magical tap-and-go card that doubles as a wallet for trains, vending machines, and even convenience store snacks (more on that obsession soon).
  • Global Wi-Fi Device: Because Google Translate, Google Maps, and Google Everything are your best friends when kanji stares you down.
  • JR Pass: The golden ticket to hop on and off Japan’s sleek trains like a local… or at least look like one.

(I’ll break down all these travel hacks in a future post, so read it for the deep dive into “How Not to Look Lost in Japan 101.”)

As soon as we got out of plane, we saw Japanese people walking all around us. And brisk walk not a relaxed one. So we geared up and started our walkathon from service centers to airport limousine…with luggage of course!! Work hard… One of must needed thing to develop your nation right?

Our hotel check-in was at 3:00 PM, which left us in a little jet-lagged-but-can’t-nap-yet situation. By now we understood that not stations but hotels are also crowded. Thankfully, DoubleTree by Hilton Ariake was happy to hold our luggage while we wandered around like wide-eyed anime characters discovering their new world.

There is wide range for hotel selection from 5000 to 50000. Now its upto us which one we should opt. Lower range hotels does not include breakfast so we have to search for food options right from the morning. So we chose Hilton chain where we got English breakfast everyday. For kids and grandparents, I found it is easiest option. These were also booked with flight tickets so, we got really good deals.

In the meantime, we wandered around the hotel. There huge buildings. With offices, restaurants and shops. You know what, almost all Japanese structure have this floor configuration. The there are train stations available at around 5-6 minutes vicinity from almost any location. While we were figuring out our next plan we saw 7-11, a convenience store. 7-Eleven in Japan is a great thing. Forget just chips and soda. We stocked up on bananas (yes, that’s our kids’ energy hack). We also tried out bread varieties we didn’t even know existed. Consider 7-Eleven as your GoTo option if hotel rates are expensive. It’s perfect if you are vegetarian or just want a snack. Try 7-Eleven if you are open to tasting different types of noodles or Japanese food. Family mart and Lawson also works well if 7-11 is a bit far, take help from such shops and you are good. You can eat something… Don’t worry!! I am writing this because I had all these issues even before planning. So don’t cry, you will be good 😊

We had lunch at Saus, inside DoubleTree a classy welcome into Japanese fusion flavors. Tried the Japanese-style veggie soup and a burger with teriyaki mushrooms. This umami explosion! Even the kids approved and it was a rare miracle on vacation Day 1.

With our Suica cards loaded and feet halfway functioning, we explored the nearby areas around the hotel taking in the skyline, trying to read signs (some kanji guesses were way off), and soaking in that we were finally in Japan.

When you itenary is based on exploration you are ought to get some shocks. We got it right on day one. There is one activity called team labs in Tokyo. We had both good and ok reviews regarding that so we decided to book that once we reach. And to our surprise even though we were in Tokyo for 3 days, there were no bookings available. So search well in advance and pre-book activities which you want to do.

Next task was to use train and go to places to visit, explore and be back. Or use a taxi. Explore multiple places. You don’t need to spend much time finding stations and reading maps. Or there are sightseeing buses available. We chose this hop on hop off bus. SKY HOP BUS was a good option. Yo can start your journey from any location nearer to you. They have different locality routes and a day or two days pass. We bought two days pass and the day ended a little early with excitement.

Stay Tuned…

Do read Japan Travelogue here…

**All Photos by Author