Ikebukuro – Part 1

For the first leg, second part of their first leg, Brandon and his friends stayed in Ikebukuro.

Ikebukuro is located kind of in the north part of Tokyo’s 23 special wards. It doesn’t have the greatest access to and from airports for first-timers with luggage, but it is quite conveniently located for travel to other parts of Tokyo: Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ginza, etc.

Here’s some info about Ikebukuro (based on a template we created in our Recommended Areas to Stay in Tokyo post.

The thumbs up and thumbs down in the access to/from Haneda and Narita is based on whether or not a first-time traveler with luggage would have to change trains. If you are comfortable with the transportation system in Japan, changing trains once or twice might not be too much of a burden, depending on which station you are transferring at, of course.

As for shopping, Seibu Department Store, Lumine Department Store, Tobu Department Store, Parco, Sunshine City are a few major places people go shopping.

For those who want to eat and drink the night away, Ikebukuro has no shortage of places, including a lot of authentic Chinese restaurants near the station’s west gate.

Here is an update version of the “Recommended Areas to Stay in Tokyo” table.

Our next post will be about Sunshine City!