Tips for Visiting Tokyo

This week I hosted my first visitor from the states. Having gotten a bit more settled and acclimatized to Tokyo I had forgotten how overwhelming it can be at first. My first impression can be found here, but I wanted to put down a few tips for those of you planning on coming to visit me out here, or just Tokyo at some other point in the future.

In a lot of ways Tokyo is a difficult city to experience as a Tourist. Tokyo is really several massive cities all stitched to together with the most complex train/subway system in the world (see here). Each one of these places has a different character, and different things to do. I've been here two months and I still haven't gotten around to many of the major city centers, including Tokyo Station! Each of these major hubs are teaming with literally thousands of restaurants, bars, and clubs. It's can be overwhelming just trying to pick a place to go eat.

In no particular order here is my list of tips for visiting Tokyo.

1. Visit for at least one weekend. Tokyo is a crazy city with tons of stuff to do, even on the weekdays, but really the most fun cultural stuff happens on the weekends. The nightlife is wild and not to be missed. But even if that's not your scene the best people watching happens on the weekends, with people dressed up in crazy outfits, role playing different anime characters etc. Also in a city this big every weekend there's some festival, concert, or other event going on somewhere. Tokyoites work hard, play hard, if you're coming to visit come for the play bit.
2. Try and book your flight so that you are scheduled to arrive before 9pm. The last buses and trains leave from the airport around 12-12:30 after that you can get stuck and have to take a taxi that can cost well over $100. Really you should be fine landing any time before 10:30, customs is super efficient here, but if your flight is delayed you can get yourself into some trouble. So I would recommend planning in a buffer, if only not to worry about it.
3. Bring lots of cash, and exchange money once. For foreign visitors to Tokyo getting access to your money can be very difficult. No places will accept your debit card, very very few will accept your credit card. You can withdraw cash from Citibank ATMs but the fees are outrageous. Most restaurants, bars, cabs only accept cash. I would advise that you try take out as much cash as you plan on spending in Tokyo out before you get here, plus maybe 20% because it's expensive here, and then exchange it all at the airport.
4. Do research about how to get from point A to point B. Getting to and finding places in Tokyo can be challenging for the uninitiated. There is very little English direction. Most streets don't have names, and sprawl maze like through the buildings in no discernible pattern. The addresses, make sense in a way, but are totally useless for helping you find places. Having an iPhone with google maps helps a ton, but it still doesn't work nearly as well as in the US. Most places websites will have an "access" page which will explain how to get there, study it before you head out.
5. Helpfully in Tokyo there are maps everywhere, but it's important to keep in mind that up is not always north. The maps are oriented to reflect the position from which they are viewed. So if you are facing south looking at a map, up will be south on the map. If you assume that every map is oriented north you will quickly end up lost, confused, and traveling in circles. It took me weeks to figure this out.
6. The trains stop running between 12ish and 5am. Keep this in mind when planning your trips. Cabs are pricy, and explaining where you want to go can be a challenge if you aren't going to a major landmark. If the cab doesn't have GPS knowing the address will be useless.
7. When in Tokyo plan on staying out all night. This logically follows from 1&6, people in Japan love to party, and in true when in Rome style plan on having quite an adventure. Naps before heading out are recommended, as well as an open schedule for sleeping the following day.
8. Nomihodai, see here.
9. Don't freak out when every shop clerk starts saying all this stuff to you in Japanese, it's usually just something like "welcome, good morning/afternoon/evening, it costs this much, you're paying me this much, I'm giving you this much change, thank very much," in polite Japanese all this can be a bit wordy, but you aren't expected to respond. Smile, nod, don't over think it.
10. Don't worry about trying to have "The" Tokyo experience. As far as recommendations for specific things to do or see, I think maybe after two years I'll have seen enough to give a knowledgeable opinion. But there's tons of fun stuff to do and you can't do it all, don't worry about trying to see the right things or eat at the right places, go for convenience, and simplicity and you'll be much happier for it.

Hope that doesn't put people off too much, come visit it's definitely worth it!