The best view is the one you don’t have to pay for.
For someone that came to Tokyo with no credit cards and less than $200 (a story for another post!), I had to get a little creative when it came to finding ways to explore and take in Japan’s capital. It was in my search for free things to do in Tokyo that I discovered that Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building has a free observation deck.
By all accounts, Tokyo is likely the last place I would recommend for a quick pop-in or layover. The city is absolutely huge and to say that we barely even scratched the surface in our visit would be an understatement. Even just thinking about the city’s metro map sends a shiver down my spine.
I feel it is only natural that as travelers our hope is to see as much as we can, so it can be extremely frustrating to be in a place with simply so much to see, while operating within the confines of only a couple days. It’s for that reason that I think the draw to find some kind of perch and purvey the land was so strong.
After a day of exploring the city and somehow finding our way around without service and with only one phone between the two of us, Canda and I were miraculously able to make it to the observation deck. I remember being stressed out that we wouldn’t be able to locate the entrance, or worse, that we would finally get there and they’d be closed.
Last moments of light 
Canda and Tokyo <3 
Seeing the city from up above