Honto Japan Editorial– Author –

Nintendo's Shibuya flagship needs no reservation — the lottery-entry era is long over; weekend crowds just mean a numbered ticket by the Mario statue. The catches nobody mentions: the store isn't on Parco's tax-free list, consoles are Japan-spec, and Japan now has FOUR official stores (Osaka's moved names, Fukuoka opened 2025). From official sources.

Which Pokemon Center is Japan's largest? Official documents point to Tokyo DX in Nihombashi — 397 tsubo including the reservation-only cafe on the same floor — not Ikebukuro's Mega Tokyo, which happens to be temporarily closed until August 24, 2026. Store-by-store hours, the tax-free desk, and why card hunters can't just line up, from official sources.

No train runs direct from Haneda to Tokyo Station — that's the fact that unlocks the right choice. Keikyu via Shinagawa is cheapest (¥536 by IC), the Monorail is the JR Pass play (covered!), the ¥1,200 bus is the only one-seat ride, and after the 00:10 last train it's taxis only. All fares from the operators' own tables, post-March-2026 revision.

The hard news first: Ueno Zoo has zero giant pandas — the last two left for China in January 2026, per the zoo's own director. What remains is Japan's first public park (1873): a ¥600 zoo, three national museums from ¥500, swan boats on a lotus lake, a ¥700 gilded shrine and the 400-shop chaos of Ameyoko. All hours and prices from official pages.

Tokyo's most romantic train ride costs ¥2,470 to Hakone — and the famous windshield panorama seats cost nothing extra, if you know the one-month rule. Two traps: the Hakone Freepass (now ¥7,100) does NOT include the Romancecar, and the onboard café and Wi-Fi of old reviews are gone. Every fare from Odakyu's own tables.

Every English guide quotes ¥940 for the Tokyo–Kamakura train — that fare died in March 2026 (it's ¥1,040 now, and IC cards are cheaper than paper for the first time). The JR Kamakura-Enoshima Pass blogs still recommend was discontinued in 2020. What actually works: the Yokosuka line, the Odakyu ¥1,640 Freepass, and the Enoden — priced from official tables.

Kamakura's 11.3-meter bronze Buddha costs ¥300 to visit — not the ¥200 in old guides — plus ¥50 to step inside the statue itself. The temple's own history says storms and a 1498 earthquake took its hall (not the tsunami of internet legend), the handwritten goshuin desk closes at 15:00, and one famous 'sight' left for Korea in 2025. From official sources.

Tokyo's favorite island day trip quietly rewrote its price list in October 2025: the famous outdoor escalator now costs ¥500 (and only goes up), the Sea Candle tower is ¥800, and the Samuel Cocking Garden became free by day. Add a three-shrine goddess pilgrimage, a candle-lit cave, and hawks that steal lunches — all priced from official pages.

The Lost in Translation hotel reopened on December 9, 2025 after a 19-month full closure — yet half the internet still says it's shut. Now 171 rooms (down from 177), with Girandole reborn under Alain Ducasse, the New York Bar charging a ¥3,300 cover (waived before 18:30), and the L.I.T. cocktail back on the menu. The reopened icon, from official sources.

Meiji Jingu has no fixed opening hours — its gates track sunrise and sunset, shifting by up to 2.5 hours across the year (August 2026: 5:00–18:00). The famous sake barrels are empty, the wine barrels are a French tribute to an emperor's taste, the great torii is a 13-ton second generation, and the inner garden costs ¥500. The full forest, from the shrine's own pages.

Tokyo's oldest temple closes its main hall at 17:00 — not the 18:30 many guides claim — then lights its pagoda and gates until about 11 p.m. The Kaminarimon lantern weighs about 700kg, the goshuin desk isn't in the main hall, and the famously plentiful 'bad luck' fortunes are, per the temple itself, the ancient deck unchanged. From official sources.

teamLab Borderless left Odaiba years ago — it's now a permanent museum under Azabudai Hills, with dynamic pricing (¥3,600–¥5,600 for adults), same-day tickets that cost ¥200 extra at the door, and closures on specific Tuesdays only. And no, you don't walk through water — that's Planets. Every rule from teamLab's own pages.