Japan: Celebrating New Year in Tokyo

I spent the last few days of 2016 (and the first day of 2017) prancing around Tokyo. So, here's a couple of things to do when you're celebrating new year's there!

Before the trip I actually googled for the iconic things that Japanese do to celebrate the coming of a new year and it's a rather big thing there. However, my beliefs are different from theirs so most of the stuff weren't exactly suitable. Still, I went to take a look for myself.

SHRINES

They're really big on that in Japan. There are all sorts of shrines for different purposes and I can't really explain them here because I myself have not much clue on the different types. On New Year's Day, many people will dress up in their Kimonos and pay respects at the shrine. One of the biggest in Tokyo would be the Meiji Shrine, so you can check that out!

Entrance into Meiji Shrine

Many people queuing up to pray

FESTIVALS

Because New Year's is quite a huge holiday in Japan, there are plenty of festivals around the shrine areas. There are games stalls and street food stalls selling Yakitori, Karaage, Squids etc. The food sold are mostly finger food, but my advice would be to skip dinner and just snack away! If you're in for the festive mood, you can also rent kimonos and walk along the streets.

Extremely crowded in the night!

Crab meat stick 

Street Food Stalls

CLOSURE 

The thing to take note of is that some places do close during the new year period. For example, I couldn't enter any of the gardens as they generally close from 29 Dec to 3/4 Jan.

SHOPPING

Some people say that there are huge sales ongoing during this period. I didn't see that many sales, but I managed to get great deals at GAP and Adidas! For a Singaporean, Japan is a whole lot cheaper for sportswear and GAP, which is rather strange since these are not Japanese brands. There are other shops that you should check out too!

• Stationery - Japan has the prettiest stationery ever! Check out Tokyu hands, Itoya (I personally spent hours at Itoya because it had 7 floors!!)
• Random electronics and just about everything - Don Quijote. They sell branded items (and non-branded ones) on huge discounts, ranging from underwear to cameras and watches. I was really amazed at the amount of things they sold there. Update: I just found out that they're opening a branch in Singapore!!! Whoopee!
• Household items - Daiso. They sell a lot more stuff in the Japan branches as compared to the international ones.
• Apple - it's cheaper in Japan. Enough said. I bought my iPad pro and apple pencil :P
• Japanese-brand clothing - Go take a look at random boutique stores! You never know what cool steals you may find!
• Sneakers - if you're into sneakers like I am, some sneaker stores sell Nikes for cheap!
• More sneakers - Onitsukas. Non leather ones go for 8000 yen and Leather ones go for 12000 yen. The japan made and nippon made stuff are a lot more expensive!

There we go! It's not too much but Tokyo is mainly a shopping area and Ueno is not that well known but there are hidden street gems with cheaper shopping so you can try that area!