Tuesday 20 January 2026 – Tokyo

After 2 nights in a row of getting back to our Tokyo apartment at 10pm we let the kids sleep in, while Anto and I started the dreaded packing up. Other than our day in Hakone, where it was under 6 degrees all day, it had been pretty mild weather in Tokyo compared with most of our time in Japan. The forecast looked pretty good for the rest of our stay so we packed most of our warm gear. When we eventually wandered outside we figured out the forecast was wrong and coats were definitely needed as it was about 3 degrees with an icy wind. Astrid had to return to the apartment to unpack her coat!

Off to the kitchen district….

Our morning plans were making sure we had no spare space in the luggage. During our 2024 visit Anto was a bit too jet lagged and overwhelmed on our brief Tokyo stopover to choose new kitchen knives from the vast selection in the knife district. But he had been itching to return…. Despite the fact that we were staying 300m from Kappabashi (the kitchenware district) we hadn’t yet done much exploring. Well that was about to change!

We wandered the streets and found plenty of things that were catching our eye, but first on the agenda was kitchen knife shopping.

After some debate and discussions with some English speaking and helpful assistants (and input from the kids) Anto now has 3 new knives. They were all carefully boxed and wrapped in pretty paper as you technically can’t walk around the streets with them. An elaborate wrapping procedure was required for each one.

Amongst the knife shops there are endless shops with every other kitchen item you can imagine and so much beautiful dinnerware. Our ‘quick’ visit turned into us purchasing quite a few items. We all found so many beautiful plates, cups and platters. I could have purchased entire dinner sets. We had the luggage space but it was lucky I was running out of time to make decisions or we might have come home with a lot more things. We did get everyone chopstick rests to go with the kids engraved chopsticks, plenty of cute dipping bowls and another nice sake set.

Ginza and Itoya…

After depositing our goodies back in the apartment, and stopping via a 7-11 for lunch snacks eaten in the freezing cold, we were on the metro to Ginza to visit Itoya, the 8 floor stationary store.

We had been to Loft stores in both Osaka and Tokyo which have amazing stationary. Itoya is a much more upmarket version and luckily we already had collected plenty of cute items at loft or we might have used up all our yen then and there. There were so many beautiful things and most of which we didn’t need but there was more purchasing of washi tape, Japenese pens, papers and fountain pens.

On a pretty tight timeline we had to extract everyone and make a quick walk to a Ginza specialty liquor store to purchase some local gin and whiskey (and sake for our dinner plans that night). Alcohol seemingly isn’t taxed in Japan so it’s quite cheap. We discovered on our last trip that the airport duty free is pretty lacklustre, so if you want something good it’s best to buy it before the airport.

Now totally loaded up with all our shopping we metro’d back to the apartment to deposit the next few bags of goodies and grab our shorts (yes shorts) before a 45 minute trip to Koto City for TeamLabs. Soren and Zinnia enjoyed a ride at the front of one of the metro’s for excellent views!

TeamLabs Planets…..

We’d visited TeamLabs Osaka earlier in the trip, which is a night time display in the Botanical Gardens. It was amazing but freezing being entirely outside and in Winter! It was definitely a magical experience and everyone was looking forward to our next TeamLabs experience. There are both TeamLabs Borderless and TeamLabs Planets in Tokyo, both with different themes and exhibits. Before leaving Australia, we asked the kids which one they’d like to go to, as we didn’t really have the time for both. Everyone agreed Planets looked the most up our alley.

We had booked TeamLabs Planets tickets for 4.30pm and managed to get there only a bit late, but at least before our entry time passed. Planets is mostly indoors, which was a good thing as the temperature and wind hadn’t gotten any better.

Some of the exhibits were similar to the Osaka TeamLabs although in a different setting but most were entirely new. The exhibits are all interactive and the projections and animations change as you touch or approach them, and are constantly affected by the presence of people.

Planets is divided into 3 main immersive sections. We did the forest section first.

There were lots of other cool exhibits in the forest section. The ‘athletics forest’ is a dynamic 3D physical play area. This involved plenty of things to climb, jump and slide on.

It was a very cool experience although with my ongoing ear infection and vertigo I did not enjoy the uneven floors and constantly moving things so left some of the activities to the kids and Anto. They all had a wonderful time.

Many of the exhibits you can just sit and watch them change. Zinnia was really enjoying interacting with them.

In the Future Park in ‘Sketch Uwelt World’, the kids all enjoyed creating their own drawings and having them turned into the simulations on the wall.

The kids enjoyed the squishy balls, climbing mazes and trampoline room. There were many very clever spaces. The coloured balls in this maze change and you have to find your way through. All the people without ear infections enjoyed this one!

In the Catching and Collecting Extinct Forest you use your body to explore and gather knowledge. You can ‘capture’ various extinct animals and study them.

The garden section….

The Moss Garden of Resonating Microcosms is in the garden section. These giant glowing bubbles were in the Osaka outdoor exhibit, and we had enjoyed them there, but they behaved a little differently inside.

They are ovoids that change appearance with the sunrise and sunset.

As the sun sets, the ovoids shine by themselves. When an ovoid is pushed by a person or blown by the wind, it shines brightly and emits a sound tone, as it rights itself. The ovoids around it also respond one after another, emitting the same light color and sound tone that continues to resonate out.

The balls are influenced by wind, rain, and the behavior of the people in the space, making the environment and the people a part of the work. When the wind is quiet and people are still, the ovoids begin to flicker slowly. The ovoids can change into a total of 61 colours.

The floating flower garden room is the other part of the garden section.

This exhibit was full of some people who were very dressed up while taking the perfect instagram shot ….while we looked like wrecks. It was however very fun. The orchids all move up and down and you are surrounded by garden. The floor is mirrored so it’s a weird effect but very pretty.

In the Floating Flower Garden you can wander through a 3D living mass of over 13,000 live orchids. The orchids are suspended in the air and as you walk through sensors detect your presence and the flowers float upwards , opening a pathway to surround you.

The mirrored floor makes for some spectacular photos. I love orchids so was particularly happy to be walking up close to such beautiful flowers. Meanwhile the kids were laying all over the floor, trying to get the orchids to come down and surround them.

We did have fun taking some epically crazy shots! The kids thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by the orchids.

The Water Area

The Water Area also has several areas and experiences. Then it was off to the water exhibit which is where you need to the shorts. They do provide lockers and change rooms and you don’t want bags or shoes for this bit. There were ramps with water to start with and squishy floors to walk on and a whole heap of different sensory surfaces for your feet.

Next it was into the Infinite Crystal Universe. The crystal room was amazing. Strings of crystal lights hang in a maze with mirrored floors and constantly changing lights.

This along with the orchid room were my absolute favourites. I could have taken a million photos here, it was so much fun!

Next was the water room. You walk through shallow, warm water. The water is milk coloured and there are animations of koi fish swimming with you (which you interact with). This was quite the experience!

After drying off feet it was into the giant ball room. This exhibit is a space filled with massive, floating and glowing balloons, you can push through and interact with. They had this exhibit in Osaka but outside, rather than in a mirrored room but it was just as much fun here, and a little warmer as it was inside!

Off to meet our local friends…

After getting changed back into our warm gear and getting our shoes on, we had to whizz through the outdoor section, as we were late to catch up with friends.. There is a digital flame installation and a vegan ramen place. We could see the flame instalation as we were lining up for entrance and I would have been all over the ramen place for dinner, but we had plans.

On our layover day in Fiji, Zinnia had made friends with another 7 year old, Alec. They played all day and Alec, Gene and Mayuko we were on the same flight that night to Tokyo, where they live. We made plans to catch up when we were back in Tokyo. They happen to live not too far from Planets so we had a very cold and windy 15 minute walk to their apartment building.

It was a very scenic but freezing walk to their apartment building.

They have amazing views over Tokyo Bay, of the Olympic venues and the Disneyland fireworks. We enjoyed some sake and snacks while the little kids played and then it was a quick walk to a nearby mall for dinner.

Gene was very upset that Mayuko had failed to mention it was our last dinner in Japan and they were taking us to the mall for dinner rather a restaurant! We didn’t really mind. The bonus of having friends fluent in Japanese is that we found food I could eat and Mayuko translated some food and drinks for the kids so they tried a few different things, which they all thoroughly enjoyed.

It got to after 9pm and the food court seemed to be keen on us leaving, plus Alec had school the next day. We had to drag the 7 year olds away from each other. They were thoroughly enjoying their catch-up and the rest of us had a fabulous evening chatting to our local friends and swapping stories.

Mayuko and Gene deposited us on a bus right outside the mall that dropped us at Ginza station, which was then a quick trip back our apartment, so we made it back before 10pm.

Zinnia was not impressed at leaving her new friend but we’ll hopefully catch up with them again one day in either Japan or Australia.

Our final full day in Japan had been chock full of shopping and fun. We definitely filled up our suitcases a little more and we all enjoyed TeamLabs Planets and our dinner catch up. We had one final day in Japan before a flight out the following evening and the trip back to a much warmer Australia.

Up next….

The final Tokyo adventures with the metro museum, gashapon machines, bag lockers that stole our bags and trains and planes!