#141 Pokemon Center Tokyo 2016

A few years back I wrote about my rather disappointing experience at the Pokemon Center in Tokyo. However, I went back at the end of last summer (in the height of the Pokemon Go craze!) to the newest Pokemon Center, located at a major attraction, Tokyo SkyTree.

I have to admit, there was a huge improvement. While it's still basically just a shop full of Pokemon goods, the difference was amazing. On my first visit the location in Minato ku, Tokyo, was little obscure (not so close to other attractions) and there were mostly goods from the newer generations of Pokemon aimed at the Japanese market (things like chopstick holders or little napkins to place your lunch on - not something particularly useful in the West!). I found I wanted to spend money, but had nothing worthwhile to spend it on.

Since I was in the neighbuorhood of Tokyo Skytree I found the brand new Pokemon Center, located the "Solamachi" - the big shopping complex at that houses the base of SkyTree. This time, I found I wanted to buy half the shop! There were absolutely tons of the first generation Pokemon found on stationery, soft toys, apparel etc. While the price isn't cheap, there should be something for everyone regardless of budget.

Pokemon, much like Hello Kitty, is one of the many quintessentially Japanese themed things many people think of. While I do think there are better ways to spend your time in Japan, and I whole heartedly recommend you to also check out places like Daiso (dollar stores) for cheap things with Pokemon and various Japanese characters on them, a visit to Skytree is worth it, and since you're in the area you might as well pop in!

#27 Tokyo Tower

I mentioned Tokyo Tower in another post, but I hadn't gone up at that point. I eventually did it on a Sunday afternoon in late November 2012.

Check it out!

To begin with it's cheap - only 800yen to get to the first floor, and 600yen to get to the top, the "Special Observatory". I'm not sure I would recommend a visit to the top, although it's not very expensive, I had to wait for an hour to get to the top, and the room is TINY. You could easily walk around it in one minute, and honestly if there's a long waiting time it might not be worth it.

Lovely view of Tokyo bay and the Rainbow Bridge

I would definitely recommend a visit, it offers great views of Tokyo and when I visited on a Sunday I only queued for about an hour to get to the first floor. At the first floor I bought a ticket for the top floor, and I was told I'd have to come back in an hours time. I was free to roam around but the hour did feel quite long, and the tiny room at the top wasn't as exciting as I thought!

To compare Tokyo Tower with Skytree: Tokyo Tower is alot cheaper than Skytree, and although it's only about half the height, you can see plenty up there that makes it comparable to Skytree. It's also more likely to be less crowded. You could also go to the Goverment Buildings in Shinjuku, which is free. My favourite was Skytree, followed by Tokyo Tower, and then the Government Buildings. But if you can you should visit all three - even if you don't go up.


A note for those who have been to the Eiffel Tower in France: Tokyo Tower is very slightly taller in height, but it seems to be a lot narrower in width. Also there are only two floors instead of three, and the two are much smaller than the French counterparts. Also, Tokyo Tower is totally indoors, while the Eiffel Tower is primarily outdoors. To conclude the Eiffel Tower is probably better, but if you're in Tokyo you should visit the Asian version nonetheless!

#26 Tokyo SkyTree - The World's Tallest Tower

Visible from pretty much everywhere in Tokyo, Skytree is a new attraction, having opened less than a year ago in May 2012. It stands at 634metres tall and is simply fabulous. I took many of my own pictures of it, but none can show you the sheer height of this building, so I've stolen one from the internet to help. Keep in mind that many of the surrounding buildings are skyscrapers.


It is more expensive than Tokyo Tower, with tickets costing 2000yen to get to the first and second floor, the Tembo Deck, and a further 1000 yen to get to the top floor, the Tembo Galleria. However, as it is Japanese you can guess that it is very efficiently run. You can book in advance or you can arrive on the day and get given a number and time at which to come back, I went on a Friday afternoon in early December and I was told to come back in less than 2 hours. There is a shopping centre with shops and restaurants so there should be enough to keep you entertained. If your wait time is more than 2 hours you could probably have time to walk to Asakusa (famous shrine with giant lantern and tourist shopping street, 15min walk from Skytree).

I came back at my designated time and although there seemed to be a big crowd, I stood in line for just under an hour before I bought my ticket. Similarly, the line for the elevator only took a few minutes. The elevator to the Tembo Deck takes about a minute, which is amazing! Also from there, to buy a ticket and get the elevator to get to the top should only have taken about 10minutes (when I went to Tokyo Tower I had to buy a ticket and wait for an hour to get to the top).

To sum up: Skytree is definitely worth the money and the effort, it was dark by the time I went up and the lights of Tokyo are beautiful, and I imagine on a clear day you could see very far indeed. Japan you've done it again!


Note: The day I went to Skytree, I was unfortunate (or fortunate?) enough to experience a quite substantial earthquake. Just as I got out of the elevator and walked across the room, I thought I felt it was moving somewhat, a little like being on a ship - an invisible movement that can only be barely felt. I thought that maybe the building was designed with a little movement in it with many people on it. . .but after a few moments I really felt it was moving and I looked around at the Japanese tourists around me, many of who also seemed to be looking around in slight confusion. Again within a few seconds it began to noticeably shake and I found it a little difficult to keep my balance, and it was at this point I realised it was an earthquake. I was beside a group of old Japanese women, and I said (in Japanese) that it was scary and asked was it dangerous, and they replied it was fine! After a few seconds it was over and everyone went about their business again. There was absolutely no shred of panic among the Japanese - earthquakes are common and I had experienced them before, but not one that big or on a building that high up! There were very few (or none that I could see) foreign tourists - they all seemed to be Japanese. After the quake the elevators were out of service for about 40mins - and this is my only issue - many announcements were made, but all the announcements were in Japanese. I could understand the words "elevator and escalator...safety..." and an unknown verb that ended in "no". Teamed with the fact that there were big lines for the elevators I could guess that for safety reasons they weren't running. As a foreigner this could have been a very stressful experience, I didn't know when they would be running again or if it was a serious situation. As all the other information is in Japanese and English, I was disappointed that in a time of emergency they neglected the foreign tourists.

From the JMA website, it was a level 5 for most of Tokyo

It was a really exciting experience though.