Tokyo in Weird Weather: A Digital Nomad's Accidental Adventure Through Shibuya
okay so i literally landed here three hours ago and my brain is already melting but not in the bad way? if that makes sense. the sky is doing this thing where it's not quite grey, not quite blue, just this weird in-between that makes everything look like a filter someone left on in photoshop. temp's around 16 degrees which is honestly perfect walking weather but the humidity is at 67% so my hair is already committing crimes against humanity.
let me back up. i didn't even plan to be here this week. my flight was supposed to go somewhere else but thanks to a booking mistake and a very unhelpful customer service rep, i ended up with a direct to narita and honestly? best accident i've made in months.
Quick Answers
Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: dude YES but only if you actually want to get lost. the tourist stuff is fine but the real magic is in the 3am convenience stores and the random alleyways that smell like yakitori.
Q: Is it expensive?
A: you can do it cheap if you try. 7-eleven onigiri for dinner, capsule hotel for sleeping, walk everywhere. but if you want the fancy stuff your wallet will cry.
Q: Who would hate it here?
A: people who need everything planned out. people who hate crowds. people who think public transit is scary. honestly if you need structure this might break you.
Q: Best time to visit?
A: honestly? right now? this weird shoulder season when it's not million degrees but also not freezing your nostrils shut. late april into may is chef's kiss but crowded as hell.
i'm writing this from a coffee shop in shibuya that has maybe eight seats and the barista looks like he judges everyone who orders anything other than black coffee. the wifi password is written in marker on a napkin and i had to ask three times because my japanese is, and i quote, 'embarrassing at best' according to the guy at the convenience store this morning.
*pro tips from someone who's been here approximately never:
- the 7-elven on the corner of X street has the best onigiri situation, i'm not joking
- don't even try to understand the train system on day one, just get a pasmo card and let go
- that ramen place everyone insta-grams? it's fine. the tiny one with no English menu? better.
- bring cash. so much cash. why is everywhere cash only still in 2024???
- the capsule hotels are cleaner than my apartment at home, i'm not even joking
okay so here's the thing nobody tells you about tokyo: it feels like the future but also like 1995 at the same time. you get these skyscrapers with crazy architecture and then right next door is a building that looks like it's been there since the Showa era and nobody's touched it since. the contrast is actually insane. i walked past a robot restaurant advertising thing and then two seconds later there was an old man selling cucumbers from a cart.
the weather today is giving 'i can't decide if i want to rain or not' energy. it's 15.7 degrees but feels like 15.1 because of the humidity thing. the pressure is at 1013 which according to my very limited weather knowledge is pretty standard? someone correct me if i'm wrong. i asked a local and they just shrugged so i think that's a normal response to weather questions here.
"foreigners always ask about the weather. we don't really care. it's either hot or cold or in between."
i met this guy at the train station who told me that. he was wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase but also had headphones that were definitely not for business calls. tokyo in a nutshell honestly.
i've only been here half a day but here's my take: this city works if you let it. if you try to force your expectations onto it you're going to have a bad time. the trains are confusing but they work. the language barrier is real but people are helpful if you at least try. the prices vary so wildly that you can either spend $200 on dinner or $5 and both are valid experiences.
i heard this from a girl at my hostel who said she lived here for six months and honestly she looked like she knew what she was talking about. she also told me to never eat at the restaurant directly outside a major station because those are 'for foreigners' which like... i don't know if that's true but i haven't tested it yet so.
the humidity right now is making my laptop keyboard feel weird and my notebook pages are doing that wavy thing where they curl up at the edges. i keep having to fan them flat. it's fine. everything is fine. this is fine.
nearby cities i want to hit this week: yokohama is like 30 minutes away and i heard they've got this crazy chinatown situation. also kamakura is supposed to be cute but i don't know if i can handle 'cute' right now, i need 'chaotic' honestly. someone told me chiba has an old town part that's weirdly empty most of the time but the temple is 'worth it for the photos' in their exact words.
this was advice from the hostel guy who was maybe 25 and had a nose ring which felt very 'we don't judge here' energy. he also said to avoid the golden gai bars unless i wanted to feel like a zoo animal, which, noted.
the feels-like temperature being lower than actual temperature is doing something to my brain because i keep thinking it's colder than it is and then stepping outside and being like 'oh no it's fine actually.' my body doesn't know what's happening. my jacket is currently tied around my waist because i was too warm walking and now i'm sitting and it's fine but i don't want to put it back on because what if i start walking again? these are the decisions that define a digital nomad lifestyle.
local insight #3: convenience store food here is better than most restaurants in other countries. this is not an exaggeration. the onigiri alone could sustain human life indefinitely.
i've had three today. it's 2pm. don't judge me.
the pressure at sea level is 1013 which i looked up and apparently is basically 'nothing special' but the ground level is at 992 which i guess makes sense because we're like... somewhere elevated? my geography is not great. i dropped out of school to travel which is a fun story until you realize i actually just couldn't do the math thing. anyway.
local insight #4: everyone here is going somewhere. nobody is just standing around. if you stop moving you're gonna get run into.
this was from watching people for like two hours at shibuya crossing which is literally as chaotic as everyone says but also you get used to it? like the first five minutes i was genuinely concerned for my safety but then i was just like 'ah yes this is fine this is normal this is fine.'
i'm gonna try to hit up a coworking space tomorrow because my freelance deadlines don't care that i'm in a new city being distracted by everything. the wifi here is wild though, like actually faster than my apartment back home which is embarrassing to admit. i think i saw a sign for a place that does day passes for like $15 so maybe that. or i just stay in coffee shops and buy one coffee every two hours and pretend i'm not working.
local insight #5:* most coffee shops don't care if you stay for hours as long as you keep buying things. the trick is ordering again before your cup is empty.
my current coffee is almost empty which is my signal to either order again or start walking. i think i'm gonna walk. there's a park someone mentioned that has cherry blossoms apparently still going? it's late for that but maybe? i don't know. i don't know anything. that's kind of the point.
anyway if you're thinking about coming here just come. don't overplan. don't read too many guides. just show up and figure it out. that's what i'm doing and so far i haven't died yet.
more updates to come probably. or not. depends on how much chaos i can handle.
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links for when you inevitably need more info than my chaotic brain provided:
Tokyo subreddit - actually helpful, ignore the gatekeepers
TripAdvisor Tokyo - for the things i didn't mention
Yelp Tokyo - use with caution, ratings are weird here
Japan Guide - the boring but useful one
Japan Travel subreddit - for planning the stuff i didn't do
Time Out Tokyo - for the fancy recommendations