8 Unique Things To Do In Tokyo

One of my favorite places to travel to in the world is Japan. With such an intriguing culture and many cool things to see and experience, Japan has so much to offer! In particular, Tokyo itself has plenty for the adventurer, business traveler, otaku, weeb, or whatnot. While many guides and other content creators offer the usual touristy things to experience in Tokyo, I’d like to offer a set of unique things to do in Tokyo that I’ve actually experienced for myself and recommend to you! Check it out, below!

Unko Museum Tokyo

Location	Address: Japan, 〒135-0064 Tokyo, Koto City, Aomi, 1 Chome−1−10 ダイバーシティ東京プラザ 2階 Nearest train/stop: Daiba Station (Yurikanome Line) Is Inside Of: DiverCity Tokyo Plaza Mall, Floor 2
Hours	Weekdays: 11:00AM-8:00PM Weekends: 10:00AM-9:00PM
Cost	$

The Unko Museum was one of the wackiest experiences I’ve ever had in Japan! And it was definitely one of the most unique things to do in Tokyo! “Unko” translates to poop or feces. And even though it says it is a museum, I consider it more of an experience versus a hall of exhibits for educational purposes. Perhaps you could argue it is edu-poop-ment.

To start, the Unko Museum has you watch an overview video in Japanese. It kind of explains the contents of the museum. The second part is probably the most embarrassing–I poo you not, the staff has you sit on a toilet and ask you to “push” until the music stops! Until lo and behold, you have your own unko to accompany you through the museum! They’ll even put it on a stick for you! 

So I went in the middle of the day in the middle of the week. I was the only one who “went in” at the time that I did so I did all this beginning part solo. The staff had WAYYYY too much fun. Once I got inside, I noticed a lot of families with young kids, and then some schoolkids who were on lunch/afternoon break.

Inside, there are multiple rooms and areas to explore and have fun with your unko. Many of them are photo ops with themed rooms. 

Some rooms and areas are interactive games you can play that have to do with unko. One room particularly stood out to me because it was under constant use wherein kids were yelling “UNKO!!!!” at the top of their lungs because that’s the game. 

There was even an unko race track.

I personally got distracted by the unko arcade area. A few simple unko-themed arcade games were available, and I won some, mostly lost some. And my absolute favorite was the unko drop game. The game has you focus on the screen and drops a squishy toy unko once the screen indicates to do so and the goal is to catch it. After a few tries, I caught it!

I also played a “throw the unko as fast/hard as you can” game.

Then I also decorated a toilet digitally. 

Once I had my fill of poopy fun, I spent some time in the giftshop afterwards buying a squishy unko for stress relief and buying a toilet-shaped container of unko gummies for my coworkers.

The cost to get in was pretty cheap at around $12 USD for one adult. You can also book the Yokohoma (southwest Tokyo) location with GetYourGuide for a similar price. For this visit to the Unko Museum, I was on a week-long vacation in Tokyo staying at the Hilton Tokyo Odaiba hotel close by–it’s walking distance!

Game Boy Mod Workshop

Location	Address: 6 Chome-5-11 Sotokanda, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 101-0021, Japan (3rd floor, follow signs) Nearest train/stop: Suehirocho Station (Ginza Line)
Hours	See GetYourGuide or Klook
Cost	$$$

I am an avid video gamer, and when I found out that there are workshops in Akihabara that let you mod Game Boys, I immediately had to book this unique thing to do Tokyo! 

The basic premise of the workshop is you take apart a used Game Boy and reassemble it with a new case and new buttons of your own choosing (subject to availability). All of this under the guidance of the workshop leaders and their helpers so even the least handy of gamers can successfully take apart and put back together a beloved console. 

The workshop host I chose has a pretty cool venue. It’s Pixel Lab Tokyo, and they recently upgraded their space. They are located at the edge of Akihabara. While waiting for others to show up to the workshop and for them to get set up and ready, I played in one of their gaming corners with another workshop participant from Egypt. It was refreshing to play Super Smash Bros. Melee on GameCube again and to get into the Nintendo mood!

Using GetYourGuide, I had selected the mod workshop for the original Game Boy. The Game Boy SP and Advance were also options, but I really wanted an original Game Boy again (because I traded it in many years ago) so I selected that one.

Regarding the workshop itself, it was pretty straightforward and easy. The instructors were great at explaining each step of disassembly and assembly. The absolute most difficult part was selecting the colors for the new case and buttons, haha. The other bonus was we updated the Game Boy with an upgraded IPS screen so that it is effectively a customizable Game Boy Color screen. Pretty cool!

At the end of the workshop, we got to pick a Game Boy game to test it out. It actually took me several carts since some carts had issues themselves, but I finally got to see my modded Game Boy work and actually play a game! Pixel Lab Tokyo also lets participants buy their games, which I did end up buying a Japanese version of Pokemon Yellow to take home. (ya know, a game where I don’t need to know a lot of Japanese). 

Before we left, Pixel Lab Tokyo also gave us a protective plastic case and a gift bag to protect and take our newly modded Game Boy home.

This was a really awesome experience, and I really recommend it to anyone who is a gamer! Yes, it is pricey but I think the premium cost is a good value for a modded Game Boy that I got to put together with an upgraded screen, and has the guarantee that it works. It is possible to find original Game Boys around Akihabara for like $150 USD, but…they’re not modded and don’t come with the sense of pride in modding a Game Boy yourself!

I attended this workshop during a weekend in-between business trips in Tokyo and Hong Kong and was staying at the DoubleTree by Hilton Tokyo Ariake, several train lines and stops away from Akihabara.

Sumo Show Shinjuku

Location	Address: Japan, 〒169-0072 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, Okubo, 2 Chome−5−22 SEKISAKU BLDG. 2F Nearest train/stop: Higashi-Shinjuku Station (Fukutoshin Line)
Hours	See GetYourGuide or Klook
Cost	$$

Attending a sumo match has been on my Japan bucket list for a long time, and attending this sumo show didn’t quite fulfill that bucket list item. But it was close. And still very cool.

Sumo tournaments are big ordeals in Japan that can be expensive and difficult to get tickets due to tournament timings. And that’s too much friction for me, who tends to plan things last-minute. So the easiest way was for me to attend a sumo show to get a feel for the real thing! 

I used GetYourGuide to book a sumo show at the Shinjuku Sumo Club. It was pretty cool because they walk through the history of sumo wrestling as well as how a sumo wrestler practices including the various rituals involved. Definitely edutainment! 

When you check in for the show, you get one free drink. I ordered a highball (whiskey+soda water), which was delivered to me soon after I sat down in my seat. Once inside the venue, there’s a menu wherein you can order snacks and more drinks. I debated getting more stuff, but I just stuck with my highball for the entire show.

The two sumo wrestlers were fantastic at showcasing sumo as well as providing some comic relief as well. The hostess spoke English really well (grew up in Canada) so it was no problem to understand what was going on. She even taught us some vocab words typically used in a sumo setting. I definitely grew accustomed to yelling, “ganbare!” (“good luck!”).

After going through the history of sumo and a demonstration of various moves/drills, the show ended with various audience members challenging the sumo wrestlers in a match. That was quite the hoot because the audience members were dressed in those inflatable sumo wrestler suits, and it was just entertaining all around! At check in, there’s an opportunity to opt-in to the lottery to be selected for this opportunity, but I did not opt-in, haha.

At the very end, everyone could take a photo with the sumo wrestlers to which I definitely obliged!

I had a lot of fun attending this show, and I felt it was worth the $56 USD I paid to get a good intro to sumo wrestling with real wrestlers. Hopefully I can attend the real thing one day! I attended this sumo show over the weekend in-between business trips to Tokyo and Hong Kong. At the time, I was staying at the DoubleTree by Hilton Tokyo Ariake, which is two train lines and multiple stops away from the Shinjuku Sumo Club.

Tsukiji Fish Market Food Tour

Location	Address: 3 Chome-15-1 Tsukiji, Chuo City, Tokyo 104-8435, Japan Starts right In Front Of: Hongwangji Temple Nearest train/stop: Tsukiji Station (Hibiya Line)
Hours	See GetYourGuide or Klook
Cost	$$

Tsukiji Fish Market is one of Tokyo’s famous fish markets. It has several blocks worth of stalls and stores to buy fresh seafood, as well as many restaurants that specialize in sushi and other seafood-related foods. Had I explored this on my own, I probably would have missed out on good-tasting foods and not learned more about the intricacies of the fish market.

The food tour started at the front of the Hongwangji Buddhist temple.  The temple is unique in that it has Indian-styled architecture and a pipe organ. Our guide briefly explained the significance of the temple and let us go inside briefly to check it out. After that, we headed to the Tsukiji Fish Market.

Since this happened a long while ago, I don’t quite remember the details other than our guide explaining fun facts about various things around the fish market. We also stopped at various places to have a sampling of various foods. She also shared fun facts about the different foods we sampled.

It was all very good! I love tamagoyaki and was glad that it was part of the food tour.

At some point towards the end of the tour, our guide also took us through an inside market with stalls, but I couldn’t take photos/videos while inside. It was really cool to see really fresh seafood in a more authentic, less-touristy setting. And the last place we visited was for lunch– we had sushi don (sushi over rice), and it was quite delicious. Check it out, below! 

The tour ended with a high-rise view of Hamarikyu Gardens. All in all, it was definitely worth the $80 USD or so that I spent to get a walking food tour of the fish market.  I attended this tour on a weekday in-between work trips in Tokyo and Hong Kong. Actually, my coworker and I did this tour before going to the airport! We stored our luggage using a storage service that’s kind of like AirBnB but for luggage. This was a great decision so that we didn’t have to drag our rollaboard carry-on luggage and backpacks around the fish market.

I’ll also mention that Tsukiji Fish Market is pretty close to Ginza (popular for high-end shopping at flagship stores), and one of my favorite Hilton properties, the Conrad Tokyo, is close by as well.

Small Worlds

Location	Address: Japan, 〒135-0063 Tokyo, Koto City, Ariake, 1 Chome−3−33 有明物流センター Nearest stop/station: Ariake-tennis-no-mori Station (Yurikamome Line)
Hours	9:00AM-7:00PM Daily
Cost	$$

Now I’ve never been to a miniature museum before, and I’m glad this was my first one! Japan has a long-standing tradition of miniature art, and this museum showcases that artistry in cool, interactive exhibits. Let me preface in saying that what makes Small Worlds really cool is taking the time and soaking in the little details.

Within the museum are various themed areas that tell their own visual stories. The first one was space-themed, the second was fantasy/steampunk, the third was city/mini-Tokyo, and the fourth was a miniature airport which I loved! And lastly, there was a whole Evangelion exhibit as well.

At each of the themed areas, you can press a button to make something happen in the display. Usually something lights up and moves whether as small as seeing characters dance around or a spaceship lifting off! At the time I went, there was a little boy who was enthralled at pushing all the buttons so I got to see lots of stuff happening at once, haha.

Some of the themed areas also have photo op opportunities wherein there’s a stand you can put your phone or tripod and a place for you to stand with a cool background or foreground.

The themed area I loved the most was the miniature airport. It had a terminal, but the vast majority were runways and taxiways with actual aircraft moving throughout. Like clockwork, aircraft would land or takeoff, and pull up next to the terminal. As an aviation geek and airline employee, this was really cool to sit and watch for a while! 

Because I haven’t watched the anime, I breezed through the Evangelion displays, but it still looked cool and high-tech. I guess I began to appreciate how huge the mechs are compared to human beings haha. 

At the end of the museum is the opportunity to do a 3D scan of yourself and/or another to have a miniature made whether to keep for yourself or have yourself be a character in one of the displays. This opportunity costs extra and apparently takes weeks. I didn’t participate, but the idea seems really cool.

There’s also a cafe at the end to enjoy some drinks and snacks as well, but since it was dinnertime at the time that I went, I opted to not stay. And of course, at the very end, there’s the gift shop to buy miniature toys and such.

I paid about $25 USD for one single adult ticket to get in, and I paid at the door. I think you can save money by buying directly from them online or using GetYourGuide or Klook. 

At the time I went, I was staying the weekend in-between work trips in Tokyo and Hong Kong. And I was staying at the DoubleTree by Hilton Tokyo Ariake, which is somewhat near Small Worlds. I just walked!

Samurai Ninja Museum Asakusa Tokyo

Location	Address: 1 Chome-8-13 Nishiasakusa, Taito City, Tokyo 111-0035, Japan Nearest stop/train: Tawaramachi Station (Ginza Line)
Hours	8:00AM-7:00PM Daily
Cost	$$

This place is totally meant for tourists, but I had fun going through this samurai and ninja museum in Asakusa! 

They have various “show” start times throughout the day, and they typically gather up a group that goes together to go through the museum. A guide walks the group through various rooms that explain the history and stories of samurai in Japan. Lots of cool samurai-related things to look at and read about as well.

The last portion is a brief history and explanation of ninjas. And immediately after that is a ninja star throwing experience. That was pretty cool, and I admittedly had a lot of fun being terrible at it (they had a competition at the very end). 

At the very end, there was an opportunity to dress up and take photos with props and backgrounds. And I definitely made great use of that – so much fun! Haha.

I hung around looking at the waiting room displays too since I didn’t get a chance to look at that prior to the experience. It was cool to see real samurai swords for sale as well as read about other samurai history. I was particularly interested that the displays had mentioned about Christian/Catholic samurai, which resonated with me as I’ve delved into that history before.

This Samurai and Ninja Museum is decently close to Senso-ji Temple, which is the famous temple in Asakusa. Plenty of photo ops, shopping, and other traditional experiences can be had in the area.

I think I paid about $20 to go to this museum. It was part of my week-long vacation in Tokyo where I was staying at the Hilton Tokyo Odaiba and Conrad Tokyo, both of which are a train line or two and multiple stops away from Asakusa.

Little Texas

Location	Address: Japan, 〒153-0063 Tokyo, Meguro City, Meguro, 1 Chome−5−19 B1 Nearest stop/train: Meguro Station (Meguro Line, Mita Line, Namboku Line, Yamanote Line)
Hours	Monday-Friday 6:00PM-12:00AM Saturday 5:00PM-11:00PMSunday Closed
Cost	$$-$$$

Ok, I know it doesn’t make sense to go all the way to Tokyo just to experience a specifically Texas thing, but hear me out–this is the coolest themed bar that I’ve ever been to in Japan! And I say that with absolute bias as a Texan, haha.

Little Texas is a bar and honkytonk filled with Texas memorabilia. Every wall and space is hardcore decorated with Texas things! I honestly felt very much at home, and after having been in Japan for over a week at the time that I went to Little Texas, I needed a taste of home. I had heard about this place on social media a long while back, and I made a sort of last-minute decision to go (right after going to the Game Boy mod workshop I mentioned above, in fact!), and I’m really glad that I did!

When I went, there was a music performance by The Country Fairground so there was a cover charge (2500 yen) and the food/drink was separate. 

The band was really great singing country hits (in English!) from yesteryear and more current hits. Like legit. Not offtune karaoke whatsoever. 

What made the experience also great was having the Dancing Texas group basically line dance to every song. Imagine a group of older Japanese people (mostly women) dressed in cowboy hats, jeans, and Texas-themed shirts line dancing within the confines of the bar. You can see some of them pictured above with the band! Wild to see, haha. I learned that the foundress of Dancing Texas is the bar owner’s wife, haha.

I sat at the bar just in awe of all the Texas things and seeing the band and line dancers do their thang. 

Of course, I had to order Texas-themed food but since I had had a big lunch earlier in the day, I settled on getting dessert–a Texas-shaped waffle because OF COURSE. Paired well with the Corona beer.

After a while, other Americans sat at the bar with me and I got to talking with them too. Some mix of Tokyo adventures and American politics. But … the best part was singing “Neon Moon” and “Chicken Fried” together after a few beers!

I had so much fun going to this bar! I even gave the owner one of my extra Buc-ee’s magnets, and he loved it! It’s somewhat on display behind the bar! When I left to go back to my hotel (at the time, I was staying at the DoubleTree by Hilton Tokyo Ariake), I told the owner that I needed to get him more Texas A&M Aggie stuff!

As far as costs go…they do charge cover for when there’s a band playing, and they only take cash. I paid around $50 USD total for both the cover charge and the cost of the waffle and beers.

Tokyo Giants Game

Location	Address: 1-3-61 Koraku,Bunkyo-ku,Tokyo (the Tokyo Dome) Nearest stop/train: Korakuen Station (Marounouchi Line)
Hours	See schedule
Cost	Depends on where you’re seated

One of the biggest sports in Japan is…baseball! And attending a baseball game in Japan is quite the experience, even compared to baseball games back home! 

Tokyo Giants is one of Tokyo’s major baseball teams. They are based out of the Tokyo Dome in central Tokyo. I attended a game years ago while visiting Tokyo for several days with a buddy of mine so I don’t remember the small details. I don’t even remember who the Giants played!

As I remember, attending the game felt much like a collegiate baseball game with the little traditions that happen. Like every batter has their own chant that the crowd does. Another thing I observed is that not every player is Japanese! I could tell because of the walk up songs–most were in Japanese but a few were in English or Spanish/reggaeton!

And the memory that sticks out to me the most are the beer girls. Instead of having someone walk up and down the aisles with a basket of cold beer bottles to sell to you, imagine having ladies RUNNING up and down the aisles with kegs on their backs trying to sell DRAFT BEER to you. As impressive as it is, the challenge is waiting for a particular beer girl to show up if you want a specific beer!

I had a lot of fun attending this baseball game, and I wanted to repeat the experience in recent visits to Japan but I learned the hard way that the baseball season typically ends in early October. Ah well, maybe next time!

Where to Stay in Tokyo

Tokyo is a huge city, but luckily there are many options to get around as well as many places to stay. You can find anything from cheap hostels and pod hotels all the way up to 5-five star luxury hotels. My recommendation is to choose a cheaper hotel that is near a subway/train station that can easily connect you to where you need to go. In most of the sections above, I also indicate what hotel I stayed at whenever I visited the unique things to do in Tokyo. Sometimes the hotel I stayed at was near the thing, or at the very least, the hotel was near a train station that I could easily use to go to where I needed to go.

Check out this map of Tokyo below for recommended stays and hotel deals! I’ve also indicated the unique things to do in Tokyo on the map as well as points of interest and hotels I mentioned above. Consider using Google Maps to figure out directions from lodging to points of interest.

Other Recommended Unique Things To Do In Tokyo

Of course, there are way more than 8 unique things to do in Tokyo. Check out some of the other recommended activities and events you can do below:

For you: would you want to do any of these unique things to do in Tokyo? Let me know down in the comments!