Book before you fly. Shibuya Sky sells 14 days ahead, released at midnight Japan time, and the slots from 4 p.m. to sunset go in minutes. Online it is ¥2,700 before 3 p.m. and ¥3,400 after; the same-day counter charges ¥300 more and often has nothing left. teamLab Planets in Toyosu and teamLab Borderless at Azabudai Hills both sell dated tickets in 30-minute entry windows, about ¥3,800 on weekdays and ¥4,200 on weekends, and both run out for the week ahead in busy months. Planets has water up to your knees, so wear pants you can roll.
The Ghibli Museum. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. JST on the 10th of each month for the whole of the following month, through Lawson Ticket (an English site exists) or as part of a JTB Sunrise Tours bus package. Adults pay ¥1,000. No tickets are sold at the museum. It closes most Tuesdays and opens 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; from Mitaka station it is a 15-minute walk or the ¥230 community bus.
Skytree and the gardens. Tokyo Skytree rarely sells out: online tickets start at ¥1,800 for the Tembo Deck and ¥3,000 for the deck and galleria together, with a ¥500 surcharge at the counter, and it runs 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Imperial Palace East Gardens are free and close every Monday and Friday, plus the New Year week; the gates shut at 4 p.m. from November to February and 6 p.m. in high summer. Enter at Ote-mon.
How a shokudo or ramen counter works. Look for a ticket machine by the door: pay first, take the ticket, hand it over as you sit. One order per seat, no sharing a bowl, and the water is self-service. Eat, pay if you have not already, and go; the line outside is the reason nobody lingers.
No reservation, or an app. Most ramen stores, soba counters and chain izakaya are walk-in only, and the line is the system. Places that take bookings use Tabelog or TableCheck; Omakase handles the sushi counters that fill months out.
Trash, smoke and tips. There are almost no public trash cans; carry a small bag and empty it at a convenience store or the slot beside a vending machine. Smoking on the street is banned in most central wards, with fines in Chiyoda, so use the marked smoking rooms. Nobody tips, anywhere.
Ramen at 11:30 a.m. Keep every QR code in Waystop’s Documents; Shibuya Sky and teamLab scan from the phone screen. Put the East Gardens on a Tuesday to Thursday and a ramen lunch at 11:30 a.m., before the line forms.