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RTW Trip Day #3: Tokyo: Ginza, Zojo-ji Temple and the Tokyo Tower
- andrewsco3
- Oct 3
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 8
1 October 2025
Steps: 20,501
We slept a bit better last night, but decided to let the kids have a slow start with another 7-11 breakfast. Since it was raining and the forecast didn’t look much better for the rest of the day, we changed our plans.... so instead of heading to Ueno, we chose to explore Ginza, where most of the shopping malls are indoors.
Ginza
We got off the train and headed toward the Uniqlo flagship store, only to find that nothing was open yet. With some time to spare, we ended up grabbing a coffee at Starbucks of all places. Susie was pretty happy to get her first chai latte in a while though!
Ginza Six Mall
The Ginza Six Mall opened at 10:30, before Uniqlo did, so we headed inside as we wanted to check out the rooftop garden, which gives a nice view over Ginza’s main shopping street and the Uniqlo store.
On the top floor we found a fantastic bookshop called Tsutaya Books - our friend Brie would be in heaven there!
I browsed through plenty of Japanese cookbooks and, even though I couldn’t understand the words, the pages were beautiful.
Uniqlo Flagship Store
We love Uniqlo and were excited to finally visit the Tokyo Uniqlo flagship store - all twelve floors of it! Pretty crazy.
The store carries much of the same clothing we get in Calgary, but also plenty of other things you don’t usually see, including fresh flowers of all things.
We ended up getting Evelyn a cardigan that we hadn’t come across in Canada. It was beautiful, though maybe not the most practical purchase to carry around for the rest of our trip!
Yurakucho & Yakitori Alley
We had lunch at a small spot in Yakitori Alley, where the girls tried their first sashimi of the trip. I love the look of all those narrow streets, they’re so beautiful.
Jess gave tuna a try and almost threw up, bless her. She really doesn’t like it, but at least she was brave enough to try it again in Japan!
We also shared chicken and pork belly skewers, accidentally ordered a chicken skin skewer that turned out to be delicious, plus some chicken karaage and even “avocado sashimi.”
Ginza Itoya Stationary Store
One of the best stores we visited was Ginza Itoya, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful stationery shop. It was filled with everything from writing paper and postcards to notepads and more.
They had some gorgeous goshuincho, which if we didn't already have a book, we would definitely have got one. Jess picked out a calligraphy pen so she could write a few Japanese words for her friends back home to try and translate with Google Translate.
Character Street in Tokyo Station
Beneath the station is a whole underground shopping area, and one section is called Character Street. It’s filled with shops selling all kinds of character-themed goods, including Mofusand, which Evelyn absolutely loves.
Many of the shops also have themed stamps, and this is where we found our very first Eki stamp. From there the girls made it their mission to stop at every shop to collect as many stamps in their books as possible!
Zojo-ji Temple & Tokyo Tower
On the way back we stopped at Zojo-ji, which is a Buddhist temple close to Tokyo Tower with great views of the tower in the background. The girls added another goshuin to their book too. We gave the girls a special treat of Subway dinner after a long day which I think they appreciated - although they ended up eating some sushi later on with us anyway!
Our First Sushi in Japan
For dinner we went to a really small sushi place just around the corner from our hotel. It had a pretty small menu, so we ended up just trying one of the platters. I don't think they usually do it, but they made the girls some cucumber and tuna maki, which they destroyed! The platter was great, but note to self, the salted herring roe was pretty nasty!
Previous Day #2: Takanawa & TeamLab Planets
Next Day #4: Shibuya, Meiji Jingu and Shinjuku
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