a map for your first time, if you don't want to over-plan it
if you want more details
most tokyo trips fall apart the same way. you pin twelve things across the whole city, then spend half the trip on trains getting between them. this is the opposite of that. you pick one place to sleep, you wander two areas a day that sit near each other, and you let the rest happen. you'll see less on paper and more in real life.
pick one base for the whole trip. moving hotels mid-trip eats a day you don't get back.
shimokitazawa — if you want quiet. low buildings, secondhand shops, coffee. you're a short ride from the center but you come home to something calm.
shinjuku or shibuya — if you want central. everything connects here, trains run late, you're never far from anything. it's louder, and you'll trade quiet for not thinking about logistics.
nakameguro or daikanyama — if you're here for food and walking. the river, the small restaurants, the kind of streets you end up wandering longer than you meant to.
asakusa — if you want both. busy and calm depending on which street you're on, the temple crowds in one direction, quiet backstreets in the other. most of what you'd want is a walk away.
three days, one base, loose routes. not hour-by-hour. each day is one anchor and two areas nearby you can drift between on foot.
day 1 — the west side
start in shibuya, walk up toward harajuku, then let yourself end up in the backstreets behind it. omotesando if you want quieter. this is your settling-in day. don't pack it.
day 2 — old tokyo