Depachika food halls
The basement food floors of department stores in Shinjuku, Ginza or Shibuya. Wander, try samples, buy something pretty, and eat it in a rest area upstairs.
You made a plan, and then the forecast turned. Tokyo has a lot of rain, especially in June and during typhoon season, but it's also one of the best cities in the world for indoor plans. Here are seven that work well with a friend, or someone you've just met.
The basement food floors of department stores in Shinjuku, Ginza or Shibuya. Wander, try samples, buy something pretty, and eat it in a rest area upstairs.
Kinokuniya in Shinjuku or Daikanyama T-Site. Browse the English section, show each other manga and magazines, and stop at the café inside.
The National Museum of Nature and Science and the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno, or the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi. Pauses in conversation feel natural, and "which one was your favourite?" keeps it going after.
Rainy days are perfect for a slow café with comfortable seats. Weekday afternoons and places a few minutes from the station are quieter.
Crane games and rhythm games need no shared language, and purikura photo booths leave you with stickers to remember the day.
Tokyo Station and Shinjuku have huge underground networks where you can wander for hours without an umbrella: ramen streets, character shops, snacks.
On a cold, wet day, a public bath is wonderful. Explain the etiquette first. A plan for friends of the same gender.
Buy Me a Matcha shows you people in Tokyo who speak English and also want new friends. You match, pick a café, and meet one-on-one over a matcha, rain or shine. Free, and not a dating app.
Depachika food halls, big bookstores, museums, cafés, arcades and purikura, underground shopping streets around big stations, and public baths (sentō) are all great rainy-day options.
Tsuyu, the rainy season, usually runs from early June to mid or late July. Typhoons can also bring heavy rain from late summer into autumn.
The underground malls around Tokyo Station and Shinjuku, plus connected department stores and station buildings, let you walk a long way indoors.
Yes. You always have something to talk about, silences feel natural, and you can grab a coffee afterwards to talk about your favourite part.
Usually no. Switch to an indoor plan near a station instead. Keeping the time and changing the place is much easier than rescheduling.