Eat within ten minutes of the door

• Kameido Gyoza Honten, 1 min. No menu: plates of five gyoza keep coming until you stop them, about $2 (¥300) a plate. $8 to $13 (¥1,200 to ¥2,000) for two. Cash or QR only, closed Tuesdays, closes early if they run out.
• Niboshi Chuka Soba Tsukihi, 178 m. Highest-rated ramen in Kameido, dried-sardine broth. $13 to $19 (¥2,000 to ¥3,000).
• Tsukemen Ichigo, 70 m. The closest bowl to the gates, dipping noodles, under $6 (¥1,000) a head. $10 to $13 (¥1,600 to ¥2,000).
• Taishu Sakaba 555, 68 m. Charcoal yakitori izakaya, loud and cheap. The best first-night dinner for the two of you. $25 to $38 (¥4,000 to ¥6,000) with drinks.
• Mori Ichi Kameido Ekimae, 74 m. Conveyor-belt sushi at the station. Joey orders off a tablet without speaking. $13 to $25 (¥2,000 to ¥4,000).
• Komeda Coffee, in the station building. Any drink before 11:00 AM comes with free thick toast. $8 to $11 (¥1,200 to ¥1,700). The breakfast answer.
• Asia Curry House, Kinshicho. Open 7:30 PM to 4:00 AM. The late-night answer after a Shinjuku night.
• Kameido Clock basement supermarket. Half-price stickers go on the bento and sashimi in the last hour. Cheapest dinner in this guide.

Bars, one stop away in Kinshicho 20+

Kinshicho is the cheapest real nightlife in Tokyo and it is 2 minutes and $0.99 (¥155) from your door. A beer at a standing bar is $2 to $3 (¥300 to ¥500), and a full night across three bars lands at $19 to $32 (¥3,000 to ¥5,000) a head, against $32 to $51 (¥5,000 to ¥8,000) for the same night in Golden Gai.

• Tachinomi Sui, 1 min from the station. The standing bar. Snacks from $0.7 (¥110), hoppy sets around $2 (¥290). No cover, no otoshi.
• Vector Beer, 4 min. Ten craft taps, rotisserie chicken, English online booking. $2 (¥300) cover.
• Koganeyu, 6 min. The tattoo answer. A 1932 bathhouse rebuilt with a craft beer bar and a DJ booth, and it explicitly welcomes tattoos. Joseph bathes for $3 (¥470) and drinks at the same address. Joey can come, bathe and have a soda.
• Jozoka Oryzae, sake bar. Malo, French galettes and cider, for a room that does not smell of charcoal.

Kinshicho's south side has a tout strip. Everything above is on the north side. Most izakaya add a compulsory $2 to $3 (¥300 to ¥500) otoshi snack, which is a seat charge, not a scam.

Worth the train

• Sunamachi Ginza, 10 min by bus from the Kameido south exit. A 670 m street of about 180 family shops: yakitori, oden, croquettes, tempura, most snacks around $0.64 (¥100). Two people graze for $9 to $13 (¥1,400 to ¥2,000) total. On the 10th of each month it runs a 20 to 30 percent discount market, and Nov 10 is a travel day, so go in the morning before the train.
• Tsukiji Outer Market for a market breakfast, and the Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai food hall, both good options for the open Saturday.
• Laura's list: Shibuya Wagyu Yakiniku Ushihachi Goku, Tonkatsu Marushichi Ginza, Ramen Tatsunoya Shinjuku, Bongen Coffee Ginza, The Apollo Ginza.

Check out, beyond the day plan

• Kameido Tenjin Shrine, free, 15 min walk. Drum bridges, turtle pond, Skytree behind the torii, and the chrysanthemum festival runs across both Tokyo legs.
• Kameido Umeyashiki, 7 min. Edo Kiriko cut-crystal gallery, the one genuinely local thing to buy.
• Ryogoku, 5 min by train: sumo museum, Edo-Tokyo Museum, chanko restaurants.
• Nakano Broadway for the deep collectibles dive, and Ikebukuro Otome Road.
• Shimokitazawa and Koenji for vintage and thrift, Koenji is 6 min from Shinjuku on the same line you already ride.
• Funabashiya by the shrine, kuzumochi since 1805, about $4 to $6 (¥600 to ¥900) a head.

Eat within ten minutes of the new apartment

• Jinsei Yumeji Tokumen, same block, 1 minute. Seafood-broth chuka soba from a ticket machine, about $17 (¥2,600) for two with the chicken-mayo rice. Lunch only, closed Sundays and holidays.
• Ramen Tsuji, 8 minutes. Eight counter seats, on Tabelog's Osaka top-100 ramen list. $13 to $17 (¥2,000 to ¥2,700). Cash or PayPay.
• Jackson, 5 minutes. Old-style kissaten breakfast, $6 to $7 (¥900 to ¥1,100). Cash only, closed Sundays, smoking allowed.
• Komeda Coffee Tanimachi 4-chome, 4 minutes, opens 7 AM every day. The Sunday breakfast.
• Okonomiyaki Shin-chan, 8 to 9 minutes. $25 to $35 (¥4,000 to ¥5,500). Cash, closed Sundays.
• Kushimon Sakaba Hibikiya, 7 minutes. Kushikatsu izakaya, $32 to $45 (¥5,000 to ¥7,000) with one drinker. Takes cards.
• KOHYO supermarket, 87 m, 7 AM to 11 PM. 7-Eleven and FamilyMart nearby, open 24 hours.

Checked Oct 17, 2026 (research/23). Late after Universal: Sukiya or the konbini; Tsuji closes at 9:15 PM.

Worth the subway: Namba, Shinsekai, Kuromon

• Wagyu Idaten, Namba. Laura's find and the best value in this guide: A5 wagyu rice bowls and steak-ju at $13 to $19 (¥2,000 to ¥3,000) a head, about $32 (¥5,000) for two. The signature bowl is wagyu tataki with uni and ikura. 4.7 from 1,344 reviews. Closed Mondays. Numbered tickets go out 30 minutes before opening, 11:00 AM for lunch and 4:30 PM for dinner, and stop once full, so turn up at 11:00 AM and make it lunch.
• Kushikatsu Daruma, Shinsekai Sohonten. The 1929 original, on the block where kushikatsu was invented. The nine-skewer Daruma Set is about $9 (¥1,400). $19 to $30 (¥3,000 to ¥4,700) with drinks. Never double-dip the sauce.
• Yaekatsu or Tengu in Janjan Yokocho. The locals' counters one alley over from the tourist queue. Skewers $0.76 to $2 (¥120 to ¥350). $17 to $27 (¥2,700 to ¥4,300).
• Hormone Munenori. Standing only, beef skewers $1 (¥180), beer $3 (¥480). Best value in the file at about $19 (¥3,000) for two.
• Jiyuken Namba. Osaka's first Western restaurant, 1910. The famous curry with a raw egg stirred in, $5 (¥750). $10 to $13 (¥1,600 to ¥2,000).
• Okonomiyaki Fukutaro, dinner only from 5:00 PM. Pork negiyaki $7 (¥1,080) is the one to order. $17 to $27 (¥2,700 to ¥4,300). English menu.
• Marufuku Coffee Sennichimae, Showa-era kissaten, 117 seats, photo menu. Coffee $4 (¥680) with free butter toast before 11:00 AM.
• Kinryu Ramen, Dotonbori. $5 (¥800) a bowl, free kimchi and rice at the counter, open to 5:00 AM, cash only. The late-night answer.
• Kuromon Ichiba: Sushi Kuromon Suehiro does a fixed $11 (¥1,800) nigiri set, so $23 (¥3,600) for two with no menu anxiety. Ishibashi Shokuhin does oden under $6 (¥1,000) a head. Wanaka does eight takoyaki for $4 (¥600).

You have a kitchen. KOHYO supermarket is 87 m from the door (7 AM to 11 PM), and Kuromon discounts its sashimi and A5 slices from 4:00 PM. Two dinners cooked at home save $25 to $34 (¥4,000 to ¥5,300).

Bars and nights out 20+

• Janjan Yokocho standing row. Covered alley, draft beer $1 to $3 (¥200 to ¥400), a whole night with snacks rarely tops $19 (¥3,000) a head. Cash.
• Stand Another 98. Eight seats, menu changes daily, no tourists. Closed weekends.
• Misono Building, Ura-Namba. A 1950s tower with 40-plus themed micro-bars, retro video-game rooms, quiz nights. Osaka's Golden Gai.
• Hozenji Yokocho. Lantern alley two minutes from the Glico sign. Bar Hibikiya and Yotuba are the local picks. Otoshi $2 to $3 (¥300 to ¥500) is standard here.
• Bar Freedom, Dotonbori. Ten seats, Japanese whisky only, about $4 (¥600) seat charge.

Where Joey goes instead: Round1 Stadium Sennichimae is open 24 hours, and Spo-Cha is $14 (¥2,190) for 90 minutes of batting cages, bowling, basketball and archery. Taito Station and Athena in Den Den Town run to midnight at $0.64 (¥100) a play. Den Den Town shops shut at 8:00 PM. Home is about 25 minutes away by subway, or a $10 to $13 Uber.

Check out

• Super Potato Retro-kan on Ota Road. Loose Famicom carts from a few hundred yen.
• Mandarake Grand Chaos. The deepest used manga, doujinshi and figure inventory in western Japan, open every day of the year.
• Jungle. Used figures, garage kits, sofubi. Where collectors go after Mandarake.
• Pokemon Center Osaka DX is at Daimaru Shinsaibashi 9F. Pokemon Center Osaka and Nintendo Osaka moved to LUCUA SOUTH at Osaka Station in April 2026.
• Doguyasuji, for knives. Amerikamura, for streetwear and vintage.
• Suehiroyu sento by Kuromon, about $3 (¥520), tattoo friendly. Use this, not Spa World.

Sumo show booked

The Sumo Hall Hirakuza, Namba Parks 8th floor, 15 minutes' walk from the apartment. Fri Nov 13, 5 PM, premium seats: a bento box and a drink each, and a chance to get pulled into the ring against a wrestler. Rebooked for two, about $213 (¥33,400).

The Klook QR may not scan at the door. Hirakuza emails the real ticket separately, so find that email before you go. Extra food and drinks can be ordered from a tablet at the seat.

There is no sumo tournament in Tokyo on these dates. Every stable is in Fukuoka for the November tournament.

Eat

• Monsen (門扇祇園), Gion, three stops away. Laura's pick. Chicken-paitan ramen with no pork broth at all; the tantanmen is the one. $6 to $13 (¥1,000 to ¥2,000) a head. Opens 7 PM, runs to about 5 AM, closed Sundays, so it's Monday night in the plan. Cards OK. All ages.
• Nishiki Market for a grazing lunch, and Aritsugu in the market for the knife, engraved while you wait.
• Yoshikawa tempura: the same room does a $19 (¥3,000) lunch and an $51 (¥8,000) dinner. Go at lunch.
• One proper dinner: obanzai or a Pontocho table at $32 to $57 (¥5,000 to ¥9,000) a head rather than $96 (¥15,000).

Drink 20+, and where Joey fits

• L'Escamoteur, off Kiyamachi. Laura's pick. Steampunk room, bartenders do magic tricks with the drinks, 4.7 from over 1,600 reviews. $13 to $45 (¥2,000 to ¥7,000) a head. Walk-in only, cash only, and tiny, so arrive at opening or queue on the stairs.
• Bar Rocking Chair, 24 seats, fireplace, actual rocking chairs. Smoking allowed, which matters either way.
• Bar K6 for a serious whisky list with English spoken.
• HUB Kyoto on Kiyamachi is a British pub with no cover and soft drinks, which makes it the one bar room the two of them can sit in together.

Check out, cheap or free

• Tofukuji Temple, 10 minutes on foot from the house. The most famous maple valley in Kyoto. Mid-November is early for peak colour this year, but it is on your doorstep.
• Fushimi Inari, one stop and three minutes. Free, never closes. It's midday Sunday in the plan. If that's too crowded, go at first light on the 17th instead.
• Kamo River, three minutes away, for a walk at either end of the day.
• Kyoto International Manga Museum for Joey, and the Teramachi and Shinkyogoku arcades.
• Illuminations actually running Nov 15 to 17: Kodai-ji ($5, ¥800), Toji (¥1,000, and the pagoda's first level is open) and Nijo Castle NAKED. Eikan-do and Kiyomizu-dera night viewing both start after you leave.

Booked in Kyoto

• Kendo and Samurai Experience, Studio NIN, 16 Shugakuin Daidocho, Sakyo Ward. Mon Nov 16, 2 PM, 2 hours, full armor, in a 100-year-old townhouse. Be there by 1:50 PM. Late means no-show, no refund. Booked for 2, GetYourGuide GYGFWVY3L2LV.
• K36 Rooftop, Hotel Seiryu, sunset Sun Nov 15. Not bookable online for non-guests, so call 075-541-3636. Joey can go in (13+).
• Kimono is out of the plan. Okamoto Kiyomizu is the shop if they want it, about $51 to $57 (¥8,000 to ¥8,900) for two.