What should I avoid in Tokyo?

The Roppongi bar scam is Tokyo's one real danger for tourists, and it works the same way every time. A friendly English-speaking person approaches you near Roppongi Station Exit 3, suggests a 'good bar,' and walks you to a second-floor club where the first round arrives without a menu. The bill lands between ¥50,000 and ¥300,000, roughly $320 to $1,940 at the September 2026 rate of 155 yen to the dollar, and bouncers block the stairwell while your credit card gets run. This happens in Kabukicho too, on the streets east of the Toho Cinemas Godzilla building. Tokyo scores 9.5/10 for solo-traveler safety (see the TTDI Solo-Safety Index), and that number holds for the rest of the city. Roppongi and Kabukicho after midnight run on different rules. Walk through, eat at the chain izakayas on Yasukuni-dori, and never follow a stranger to a second location.

Tsukiji Outer Market still pulls first-timers to the stalls along its central lane, where a single piece of tamago sushi costs ¥500 and a small cup of uni goes for ¥2,000. The fish is fine, but the markup runs 3× what you'd pay at a conveyor-belt chain like Sushiro or Hamazushi, where a plate of two pieces costs ¥110 to ¥180. The Toyosu Market replaced Tsukiji's wholesale floor in 2018, and what remains is a pedestrian food court aimed at visitors who think they're seeing the old auction. Worth noting, the ¥1,500 seafood bowls taste of cold rice under a thin layer of sashimi, and you'll eat them standing in a crowd that smells of charcoal smoke and warm brine. For that same money, a lunch set at any neighborhood soba shop in Kanda gives you hot tempura, handmade noodles, and a seat.

The 7-day Japan Rail Pass costs ¥50,000 (around $323) and covers unlimited rides on JR lines, but if you're staying in central Tokyo the whole trip, you will not break even. The Tokyo Metro and Toei subway networks connect Shinjuku, Shibuya, Asakusa, and Ginza, and none of those rides count toward the JR Pass. A Suica IC card loaded with ¥3,000 covers most visitors for three full days of subway travel. From Narita Airport, the Keisei Skyliner runs ¥2,520 to Ueno Station in 41 minutes. From Haneda, the Tokyo Monorail reaches Hamamatsucho in 13 minutes for ¥500. Taxis from Narita to Shinjuku or Shibuya run ¥20,000 to ¥30,000, and that is never the right call. Mind you, Google Maps handles Tokyo transit routing well, so activating an eSIM before you land means you can navigate from the arrivals hall without stopping for a pocket Wi-Fi rental.

September and October bring typhoon season to the Kanto plain. A direct hit on central Tokyo is rare, maybe once every 3 to 5 years, but the outer bands drop 100mm of rain in a few hours and shut down JR and Metro lines for half a day. The rainy season, called tsuyu, runs from early June through mid-July with warm drizzle that turns the Yamanote Line platforms into humid greenhouses. July and August feel like breathing through a hot wet towel, with temperatures at 35°C and humidity above 80%. Cherry blossom season in late March and early April packs Ueno Park (founded 1873) and the Meguro River walkway shoulder to shoulder. That said, mid-November through early December tends to be the sweet spot, dry and mild around 15°C, and the ginkgo trees along Meiji Jingu Gaien's avenue turn a sharp gold without the spring crowds. Today's reading is 20.3°C with light drizzle, typical mid-September.

Skip the Robot Restaurant show, where the ticket runs around ¥8,500 for 60 minutes of neon lights and tinny speakers with no food included. Skip Tokyo Disneyland on Saturdays, when wait times for Space Mountain reach 180 minutes by noon. The park opened in 1983 and weekend crowds have not eased. Akihabara's tax-free electronics shops along Chuo-dori charge 10 to 20% more than Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku for identical items, counting on visitors who confuse 'duty-free' with 'cheapest.' The animal cafes in Harajuku, the owl and hedgehog places mostly, keep stressed animals under fluorescent lights in rooms that smell of cedar shavings and ammonia. The hedgehogs curl into tight balls within 10 seconds of handling. Skip the ¥1,500 entry fee.