All prices and exchange rates below are personal records from June 2023 and do not represent current prices or travel advice.
A 19-Square-Meter Hotel
Arrived in Tokyo and stayed near Ginza. The hotel room was 19 square meters and cost 1,700 yuan a night — really expensive.
The first night after dinner I strolled along the Ginza streets; afterward, every day I looked out the hotel window at the same city nightscape. At the time I converted the prices into RMB and wrote them down: drinks from vending machines 7.5 to 8.5 yuan; an ordinary meal in Kamakura about 40 yuan; Tokyo ramen with a side dish about 80 yuan; yakiniku about 300 yuan per person.
After staying in 19 square meters, I could understand a bit of why “area” gets priced separately. The density here turns every inch of space into a price.
Three Subway Trains
At eight thirty in the morning I went from Shimbashi to Shibuya and waited through three subway trains before I could squeeze on. In the rain Shibuya has little slopes going up and down, much like Chongqing; some say it is more like San Francisco, and there are slopes there too, but San Francisco is far more grid-like.
Tokyo’s buildings, subway entrances, and passages are all very dense. The distances shown on the map are not long, but in reality you have to go up and down floors, cross footbridges, and find the exit. Later I basically formed a habit: figure out in advance which exit to leave from, otherwise finding it on the spot slows you down a lot. Shinagawa Station is too big and winding; it is easy to get lost the first time.
At night the JR Chuo Line ran into a “personal injury accident,” so I had to change routes temporarily. Tokyo is not free of crowding and breakdowns; it is just that the stations keep telling you where to go and what state each line is in — even on a first visit you can slowly find your way out with the map, transit card, and signs.
Malls Don’t Open Until 11
Yokohama’s Chinatown has a bit of everything, and the Red Brick Warehouse is a different way to wander. Walking along, I found that many malls do not open until 11 in the morning, unlike the habit back home; hoping to shop in the morning is basically hopeless.
When looking for a place to eat I still check map ratings, but the rating distribution of Japanese shops differs from back home, so you cannot judge by a single score alone.
One bus ride from Ginza to Shibuya is about 9 yuan, and an ordinary stretch of public transit usually costs 10 to 20 yuan. Over six days I mainly took public transit, totaling about 200 yuan. A taxi of about three kilometers is around 90 yuan — do not take one unless you have to.
Kamakura’s Sea
From Kawasaki to Kita-Kamakura, I visited Meigetsu-in, Kencho-ji, and Tsurugaoka Hachimangu. Later I went to Kamakura’s seaside, and then to Kamakurakoko-mae and Enoshima. I walked a lot that day; the wind by the sea was strong, a different Tokyo from Ginza and Shibuya.
The density around Tokyo is also high, but once you leave the center the streets slow down. Housing and space are still expensive: at the time I heard that renting alone in the suburbs costs about 1,500 to 2,000 RMB, while a one-bedroom in the city center might be 5,000 to 7,000. The numbers may not be complete, but set next to the 19-square-meter hotel, “area” in Tokyo really is openly priced.
After coming back from Kamakura I looked over my daily expenses again. Transit was the steadiest item: 10 to 20 yuan a ride is not noticeable, but ride for several days in a row and it accumulates. Eating is the same — convenience stores, vending machines, ramen, and yakiniku differ a lot; not every meal is expensive, but it rarely lets you forget you are spending money.
Reaching the Sea
Six days is too short to sum up Tokyo. My deepest memories from that trip were the rain, work, and busyness: running back and forth across the city by day, and walking a lot again at night. On the Kamakura day I also walked a long time, finally climbing Enoshima and facing south to see the Pacific.
In that moment there was no great truth — just the feeling that I had finally made it to the sea. The 19-square-meter room in Ginza, the three trains at Shimbashi, Shibuya in the rain, the detours through Shinagawa Station, and the sea at Kamakura that day — these are what I remember in the end from this trip to Tokyo.