Quick Stop
in Tokyo

The reason for the very specific title was that when I googled it, no good ideas came up. Either people stayed outside Tokyo or I got results for the other airport, which is much closer to the city than Narita. So here is what I did — at a pretty low stress level. Maybe this will help someone else.

Checklist for Short Layover at Narita

1. I went to "Visit Japan" to get my visa in advance — all the visa really is is letting them know you are coming into the country. The concept is that a QR code pops up in your account (there is no app) which lets you in quick. My QR code never worked — so I filled out the regular paper documents and didn't lose much time.
2. The plane pulled into the gate at 8am — I was on the train by 8:30am into Tokyo. I had checked everything but my work backpack.
3. I took the Keisei Skyliner — also shown as blue KS inside a blue circle. Bought a ticket for about $20 USD from the ticket office. This is the fastest way into Tokyo.
4. From Narita, it was 45 minutes into Keisei Ueno Train Station — still a bit far from the places I was planning to visit. The train station had a direct underground connection to the Tokyo Metro. Bought the return ticket at this time — all seats/times reserved.
5. Bought an all-day ticket on the Tokyo Metro for $7 from a machine on a credit card — hopped on the Ginza line at stop G16 (Ueno) to go to Shibuya (G1) — 25-minute ride.
6. Tokyo has multiple operators of the subway — I thought I knew the difference — generally anything "JR" is a different ticket from the regular subway.
7. Got to Shibuya — home of the famous "Scramble Crossing." Lot of alleys and "character" — similar to Itaewon. Struggled to choose between the "Samurai Mac" from McDonald's and skewers of unknown origin from a local vendor — I went with the latter with 4 "beefish" skewers and 4 "chicken" skewers.
8. Tokyo is remarkably clean — however there are no trash cans. So I had to haul around my skewer remains and trash in a plastic bag for the rest of the day until I got back on the train.
9. Hopped back on subway — went to G9 Ginza. Ginza is like Gangnam, Park Avenue, Mayfair, Rodeo Drive, etc. The plan at that point was to walk from there to the Imperial Palace and then get back on the Ginza line to Asakusa (G19) where there were temples and more street food for lunch.
10. First — I got distracted and wandered through another park where I was able to be a turtle-spotter for locals. Second — at the Imperial Palace, a section in the gardens was open that is usually closed, so I spent much more time there than planned. So when I left and had popped out at a different subway line — no big deal — hop on the subway for one stop to get back to the Ginza line.
11. My ticket didn't work — so I tried to buy a one-way and they only accepted cash. So I bought another all-day ticket for $7.
12. Took the line one stop to the Ginza Line and transferred over.
13. Hopped on the Ginza Line for 4 stops back to Keisei Ueno Train Station — when I got off, the gates would not let me out. Apparently the one stop I took was on a 3rd Tokyo subway operator (TOEI) — so since I didn't log in with the original, I was "illegal."
14. So my penalty was $1.80. Happy to pay — but they took cash only and no ATMs in the subway. I showed him that I had 2 all-day passes so he waived me through — but he pretty much hated me.
15. Got on my train 2.5 hours before my flight — made it to security about 1 hour 45 minutes before my flight.

Shibuya — The Scramble Crossing

Ginza & the Imperial Palace Gardens

Ginza is like Gangnam, Park Avenue, Mayfair, Rodeo Drive — all at once. I got distracted on the way to the Imperial Palace and wandered through a park where I was able to be a turtle-spotter for locals. At the Imperial Palace, a section of the gardens was open that is usually closed, so I spent much more time there than planned. The inner gardens were worth every extra minute and every yen of the $1.80 penalty that followed.

The Verdict