You are in Tokyo.   Perhaps you’ve already been to Tsukiji Fish Market, the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, the Imperial Palace, Mount Fuji, Hakone and all the very well-known sites that every first-time tourist must see.

Maybe you just want to meander around Tokyo, the world’s most populated metropolitan city, and do some things that are off the beaten path.   Here are a few you are sure to enjoy that will set you apart from other visitors.  

Underground Food Markets are known as “depachika.” Do not miss this!   “Depachika” is a compound word or combination of the word depato which is the name for department stores and chika which means basement.

I have to admit that just writing this post and looking at my photos makes me long for another visit to one of these food halls.  There really is nothing like it here at home. You can easily spend an hour or two at a depachika.

In general, the food halls are divided into several sections ranging from sweets, cakes, cakes, prepared foods, alcohol, and a regular market-type store.

Even though I’ve been to Japan several times, I think visiting a depachika at the beginning of your visit to Japan will broaden your understanding of how diverse and complex the Japanese food scene is. If you are a “foodie” or even if you are not, this is an experience not to be missed. (Yes, I’m saying that again!) The offerings at these food halls are mind-boggling.

Most major Japanese cities have food halls in their bigger department stores which are often located right next to train stations.  If you are taking a train to another destination, you might consider buying some food to enjoy on the train.

The depachikas in Tokyo are surreal. I wouldn’t go to a depachika ravenously hungry because you will go mad unless you are the type who knows exactly what you want, purchase it and leave.   You can find beautiful food of every type in an immaculate food hall which sprawls over thousands of feet. In these expansive depachikas you will find everything from decadent designer chocolates, fabulous candies, cookies, cakes and other sweets to meats, fish, poultry, vegetables, fruits,  prepared foods (they are to die for), salads, noodle dishes,  wonderful sushi, bento boxes, noodles of all types, Kit Kat candy bars in flavors you would not have dreamed of, (we tried several of the berry flavored ones and even a wasabi Kit Kat bar but matcha remains our favorite). You can find sake and other alcohols and nearly any food product you desire made with matcha green tea as well. 

The price of these beautiful depachika offerings run from average in price to very expensive.  There are thousands of products here that one can happily buy and enjoy on any budget.  Grab a bento box, gourmet salads, noodle dishes for a quick meal at a reasonable price.  At the other end of the price spectrum, you are likely to find the best caviar, different types of Iberian ham, Italian prosciutto and other delicacies and upscale liquors from around the world.

At the end of the day you might be able to grab some discounted bento boxes or other food products.

Some of the depachikas have a place you can sit and enjoy your purchases.  On one of our visits we probably bought way too much food to eat for lunch but because it was a very nice day in December we decided to find a park and eat our wonderful findings outside.   Some of the department stores that have places where you can eat your food on site include: Shinjuku Isetan: rooftop garden; Ginza Mitsukosi: rooftop garden;  Takashimaya Shinjuku offers the White Garden an outdoor garden and terrace overlooking Shinjuku.

If your mouth is watering from thinking about all the wonderful foods you will explore and the hard decisions you will have to make, here is a list of depachika (websites) to help you on your way.

Shibuya Takashimaya, Ikebukuro Tobu, Shinjuku Isetan, Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi,

 Ginza Mitsukoshi, Shibuya Tokyo Food Show.

Dawn Avatar Robot Caffe. This is a fascinating robot run cafe that focuses on the inclusion of people who would not typically be able to find work. What is amazing and wonderful is that this cafe’s wait staff are robots that are 100% controlled remotely via the internet by physically challenged people. There are several people on site who also help with servicing patrons.

Ory Laboratories, the company that designed the robot, mission is “to eliminate the loneliness of mankind.”   After being bedridden for nearly three years, Ory co-founder Kentaro Yoshifuji focused on designing a remote-controlled robot avatar.

Many of the people who pilot the robots are individuals that can't leave their homes for long periods of time due to their disabilities.  

Even people who are totally immobile can work remotely at this cafe because the robots can be controlled through eye movement on a special digital panel that sends information to their robot in the cafe.

The robots are called OriHime and OriHime-D.  Most are just under 4 feet tall.  Each has a camera, microphone and speaker. OriHime and OriHime-D are attractive with large almond-shaped eyes and don a neat scarf tied around its neck.  An aproned robot barista can take your coffee order and prepare your drink as you watch.

Many of the remote pilots live hundreds of miles away. The robot waiter work gives people who often are extremely isolated the opportunity to interact with others by engaging in everyday conversation via the robot’s camera, mic and speaker. Many of the conversations are just not “What will your order be?” but also focus on usual everyday interests.

Can I sit anywhere and interact with one of the robots? No, customer service and menu depends on the seat you choose. 

If you just want a drink and want to see the robots in action, you can take one of the “cafe” seats. 

Reservations are required if you want to interact with Orihime at the counter and watch the robot barista prepare your favorite coffee drink in front of you.   

Reservations are necessary if you want to be served by the alter-ego robot Orihime and enjoy a meal and/or dessert.  You must order one meal or a sweet per person.  The seat is available for 80 minutes and your time to interact with Orihime begins 30 minutes from the time of your reservation. 

Check the website to make your reservation and see business hours.

The Hat Coffee.  This is such a fun place to have some coffee and watch the talented baristas design some latte art.   We arrived here at about 10:30 am only to find that the shop hadn’t opened yet.  Already, there were a few people in line.  Since we had a busy day planned we decided to come back later in the day which we did at about 4 p.m. the same afternoon.  The cafe was busy but not packed so it seemed like a good time to be there.  It is a very pleasant place with several seating areas to enjoy your latte creation, take a few photos and finally drink your coffee.

Japanese people are very into their cats and so are we. We have two sibling kitties that were born in our backyard.  When taking your order the barista asks you what kind of art you would like.  Do you want a two-dimensional picture or a three-dimensional design?  You can have a latte design of just about anything you want or leave it to the barista to create the design.  In our case, my daughter opted for a two-dimensional latte design of our cat, Davey and I just went with a three-dimensional creation of a cute kitty.  We were told we would be called when it was our turn to watch the barista make our masterpieces.   Shortly, we were called to the counter.  My daughter showed the barista a photo of our cat and the barista went to work.   As you can see here, it is amazing how much the latte looks like our boy, Davey. 

In about a total of five or six minutes or amazing latte art was created.

Not only were they fun to look at, they tasted very good as well. It was really hard to drink them though since they looked so good!

Fake Food Stores.   If you are in Asakusa, don’t miss Kappabashi Street. This street is well known for having every cooking and baking supply you need. In fact, there are over 150 shops that sell their cooking wares here.  On the same street, you will find many stores that specialize in “fake foods” or ‘Samburu’ in Japanese. The really good “fake foods” are usually hand-crafted and have long been part of Japanese culture. At first sight, it is difficult to discern if these “foods” are real or not. You can purchase synthetic replicas of nearly any food you can think of fruits, vegetables, loaves of bread, fish, bacon, eggs, ice cream, sushi, of course! and almost anything other food you might like.

If you want to try your hand at creating Samburu, you can! In the class, you will be making your “edible” from wax rather than from plastic.  You can view the process and what the class is like here.  There are several places offering classes in making food replicas, so I would Google “Fake Food Classes,” “Sampuru classes” or “Replica Food Making Classes in Tokyo” to see how long each class is if the class is taught in English, and price. Will your Samburu creation look “good enough to eat!”?

Machida Squirrel Park.  I’ve always been a little tentative when it comes to squirrels, though depending on the situation I have on rare occasions had them come right up to me and then practically eat out of my hand.  If squirrels are your thing, Machida Squirrel Park is a must.   The park, located on the southwest outskirts of Tokyo, which is on the takes a little bit of an effort to get to but is easily accessible.  It takes about an hour to get there from Shinjuku or Shibuya.  

The squirrels, mostly Pallas's squirrel which is found throughout most of southeast Asia, live in a large enclosure where there are lots of nooks and crannies in structures for them to hide in.. The park was originally created in 1988 as a result of parents who wanted to find a supportive environment for their children with disabilities to work. These workers are responsible for keeping the enclosure clean, preparing the tickets, selling the squirrel food and making sure that the squirrels don’t escape the structure as visitors enter and leave.

Depending on the time of day, the squirrels may be more or less interested in eating out of your hand but there are lots of squirrels here so there are always enough to come right up to you.  You have to be wearing a mit and put the sunflowers on top of it for the squirrels to come to be fed.  You can purchase sunflower seeds and will receive a mitt to wear for feeding these small critters. 

In addition to the squirrels, you will also find other small animals in other enclosures.  Some of them are guinea pigs, parrots, rabbits, and chinchillas.

Stay or visit a Henn Na Robot Hotel. This is a totally unique experience.  The Henn Na Hotels have introduced the robot hosts in the Tokyo area, other Japanese cities, and even one in New York City. (Some of the robots are different in other locations.) 

The receptionists can speak Japanese, Korean, English and Chinese.  The Henn Na Hotels have the first working hotel robots dedicated to customer service.  Many of receptionists in Tokyo are “human-like” but they also have dinosaurs that will welcome you and check you in. If you click on the highlighted blue “Stay of Visit” at the beginning of this portion of the post you can see what the humanlike robots look like. The dinosaur hosts are friendly but also a little scary.

The robots are also used in other areas of the hotel to help with guest comfort. You don’t have to stay at the hotel to see the robots working in the reception area, just walk in and take a look. This is really a fun and hard-to-believe experience.  Certainly a glimpse of things to come.