Lost & found in Tokyo: a first-timer's adventure

I’ve wanted to visit Japan since the 1990s but I used to think it would be too overwhelming. I worried it'd be hard to navigate, difficult to find fun stuff to do, and not easy to enjoy a new country where I had a significant language barrier to contend with. This post is over six thousand words long and will take quite a while to read about everything I did and experienced during my week in Tokyo. Feel free to skim it, check out the photos, and bounce around wherever you like. But about ten years ago, friends would visit and say Google Maps and a swappable SIM card made getting around Japan incredibly easy. From my own experience, translation apps are getting really good at deciphering menus and maps in real time and I know Japan is greatly expanding tourism, so for the first time a Japan trip felt possible for me. For the last year, I've looked for any reason to take my first trip.Months ago, I asked Andy to join me on a trip but he was already planning to visit Tokyo in September…