Land HND late afternoon. Limousine Bus to Shinjuku (~45 min, more comfortable than the train with luggage). Check in to Park Hyatt Shinjuku. Soft landing dinner at Hibiki on the 52nd floor — Lost in Translation views without the queue at the New York Bar.
Early start: 7am Tsukiji Outer Market for tamago and ootoro. Cross to Asakusa to walk Nakamise-dori before the tour buses arrive. Senso-ji temple, then ferry up the Sumida to Hama-rikyu garden for matcha. Evening: Tokyo Skytree at sunset for the city panorama.
Booked: Tsukiji guided food walking tour (3 hrs, $84/person) — small group, hits the stalls only locals know.
Mori Art Museum opens 10am — current exhibition + permanent collection in one ticket. Lunch at Ginza-style sukiyaki in Roppongi (Asakusa Imahan). Afternoon: Meiji-jingu shrine into Harajuku for Takeshita-dori's chaos. Sundown over Shibuya Sky deck — better than the Crossing for the photo.
Shinkansen from Shinagawa (Hyperdia: 7:50am ¥4,420). Hakone Free Pass for the loop: pirate ship across Lake Ashi, ropeway over Owakudani's sulfur vents (eat a black egg — adds 7 years to your life, locals swear), Hakone Open-Air Museum on the way back. Onsen night at Tenseien before catching the last train home, or stay over — your call.
Booked: Hakone Free Pass + reserved Shinkansen seats both directions ($112/person).
Morning at teamLab Borderless / Planets (book ahead — they sell out 2 weeks in advance for weekends). Long late lunch at Sushi Saito — the omakase that's worth the year-long wait if you can land it, otherwise our backup is Sushi Sho Saito in Roppongi. Evening in Golden Gai bar-hopping — start at La Jetée, work outward.
Slow morning in Yanaka — the only Tokyo neighborhood that survived the firebombing, looks like 1955. Walk through Yanaka cemetery, coffee at Kayaba. Train down to Akihabara for an hour of arcade nonsense and tax-free electronics window shopping. Evening: cocktails at the Mandarin Oriental's Tapas Molecular Bar, then a kaiseki at Ginza Kojyu (8 courses, ~$280pp — book 4 weeks ahead).
Coffee at Glitch, last shopping run through Isetan Shinjuku (the food hall basement — the best $30 you'll spend on the trip). Park Hyatt checkout at noon, Limousine Bus back to HND. Skywards lounge to decompress, board ANA NH9 to JFK.
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