Travel / Boise to Tokyo · 2026
We flew from Boise to Haneda, and it felt so much nicer to land there instead of Narita. A typhoon shuffled the day and turned our layover into about seven hours. With Capital One and Chase Sapphire we somehow hit a record four lounges. Some were better than others, but they all beat sitting at the gate.
Our Airbnb was near Haneda on purpose. Under about $100 a day for three bedrooms and three baths, in a real neighborhood, close to a great grocery store, and spacious enough that jet lag did not feel cramped. It was quick to get there from the airport, which mattered when we were wiped.
What we actually did in those first days: a foot spa at the tech center while watching planes, a walk to Costco (the sample lines were wild, including a straight line a dozen deep for two grapes), and dinner at a local izakaya. From the outside you would never guess there was a stream running through it. There was horse sashimi on the menu. The kids loved the karaoke and the free soft serve.
Food was half the fun. Ordering ramen at a kiosk, sitting alone with a bib while locals flew through their bowls. Grocery store sashimi once the late day discount stickers went on. Trying every snack and dessert we could find at 7-Eleven and Family Mart.
Money, roughly: lodging around $100 a day, groceries around $20 a day for the four of us, and eating out added about another $20 when we did it. Those restaurant meals were so, so good.
What we would skip next time: lingering too long out here once we got restless. The train into central Tokyo is a haul when you are ready to be in the middle of things.
One sentence I’d tell a friend: stay outside Tokyo for a few days to land and reset, then move into the center.
Mostly trains after that. No Tesla math for this leg.