this goes without saying but japan is one of my favorite places to visit. honestly it’s a lot of people’s favorite places to visit. it’s easy to get around, it’s insanely clean, the food is delicious and pretty affordable, there’s a ton of cute gifts and trinkets, places generally open late, and it feels safe. my only gripes about japan are that the “rule-following” culture and “be quiet anywhere in public” culture can feel a little suffocating sometimes and people don’t speak english super well.
honestly i don’t even think you need “recs” for japan, especially tokyo, given that you can find top quality food basically anywhere (even at 7-11 LOL). it’s super dense so there’s amazing restaurants and cafes anywhere you walk, but of course it’s always helpful to have some recommendations! let’s go →
japan is a very cash-heavy country so make sure to carry a good amount of cash around. they do take credit cards sometimes, but it’s rare and oftentimes it’s only japanese credit cards. i was able to get cash through the ATM machines at 7-11’s. if you can, try to get a card that avoids international atm fees like the charles schwab debit card!
every city/country has different rating cultures and it can take a bit to calibrate how to properly gauge ratings on google maps. japan has an abundance of top quality food, so usually anything above 3.8 stars on google maps should be pretty good.
recently with the influx of tourism i think google maps is heavily dominated by tourists. i.e. if the place is rated highly, it’s likely frequented and reviewed by tourists. if you want more authentic places that are frequented more by locals, i would recommend using the app “tabelog”!. you can make reservations through tabelog as well.