Lee Shu ShienThe fun, the crazy, the sick, the scary. All in one place – Tokyo. If you’re game for a mind-blowingly awesome time in Tokyo beyond the usual sightseeing spots and activities, this list will serve you well. The challenges only get increasingly bizarre! You can’t say you’ve been there done that until you’ve completed all 20 of these challenges. Here’s a dare: don’t come home until you’ve completed them all.
1. Jumbo gyoza food challenge
Image credits: @ikukotonogi
Image Credits: onlyinjapan.tv
“Jumbo” is an understatement. You’re looking at 2.5kg of gyoza, or an equivalent of 100 regular ones! Finish it in 60 minutes or be ready to fork out a whopping 9600yen.
2. Hold your breath and try natto
Image credits: Hiroshi Yoshinaga
The durian of Japan, natto is well-loved by the locals but shunned away almost unanimously by foreigners. Challenge yourself to a bowl of steamed rice topped with these slimy fermented beans. Remember to hold your breath.
Watch this super hilarious (though slightly draggy) Natto Challenge.
3. Get naked in an Onsen
From all-night singing to getting naked – wow, that escalated quickly!? Well to be fair, we don’t mean naked out there on the busy intersection of the famed Shibuya crossing.
Image credits: macaronmagazine
Get naked and really really comfortable in Japanese public bath houses. It’s a good exposure (ha-ha) to traditional Japanese culture!
4. Go porn-shopping at the 7-storey sex shop
Grab some sex toys as souvenirs for yourself from M’s. Yes, here is where you get to buy the infamous life-size sex doll! You lose if you’re shy! Apparently, if you try on a costume and let the staff take a picture of you in it, you get 20% discount on your purchase. Don’t say we never share good lobang.
Here’s a sneak preview:
5. Make your own food samples
Some of you might have seen this viral video making its rounds on the internet last year. Why not get your hands down to making similar food replicas at Ganso Shokuhin Sample-ya? This is a fun family-friendly challenge that is perfect for kids too!
6. Enter Fuji Q’s haunted hospital, alone
What’s a challenge without some terror! We dare you to walk Fuji Q Highland’s most popular attraction, The Haunted Hospital, alone. FYI, it’s a one-hour long walk in a disused hospital that involves blood-soaked nurses, disfigured men in white, crawling zombies and plenty of screaming.
Here’s a funny teaser to put you at ease:
Well, not so funny if you’re in the position of the announcer!
7. Sing karaoke for the entire night
Image credits: Jimmy Alvarez
Sleep is for the weak! Stay awake and sing until your voice turns hoarse the next morning at 24-hour karaoke bars in Tokyo. They’ve got an endless database of English, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean songs for you to jam to, it won’t be difficult to keep your spirits up throughout the night.
8. Squirm as you eat at The Vibe Bar
Inside this vibrator bar – yes, a vibrator bar – the elaborate decorations you’ll see are, unlike its name, nothing close to subtle. For a sneak-peak into what lies beyond the entrance (which is unmistakably a cervix), here’s a video:
“300 vibrators are waiting for you.”
9. Take lots of neoprints wearing a fancy costume
Image credits: Lee Shu Shien
Don’t forget the “V” sign, a kawaii expression and lots of cute stickers. Put your pride away ‘cause you be doing it the Japanese way! Cheese!
10. Visit Meguro Parasitological Museum
Image credits: Guilhem Vellut
Does the above image of parasites make you feel uncomfortable and sick in the stomach? Well, that’s the point of a challenge. For the record, the second floor houses a display of an 8.8m-long tapeworm extracted from a 40-year old man. Yikes.
11. Ride the world’s steepest roller coaster
Image credits: Wikipedia Commons
Featured in Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s steepest roller coaster, Takabisha is located about an hour away from central Tokyo in Fuji-Q Highland. Enjoy Mount Fuji in full glorious view before an almost-perpendicular free fall (121° to be exact!) that is sure to make your heart skip a beat! Get that thrill by watching this POV:
12. Stay in a themed love hotel
Image credits: Hotel Alpha In
For the fanciers of bondage, Hotel Alpha In is where your sexual fantasies come true. Take your pick from “Medical Style” rooms, “Shame Style” rooms, “Space Style” rooms and more. If you think you’re flexible, try the “All Purpose Style” room.
Also read: 7 Naughtiest, Kinkiest, Durrrtiest Hotels You Can Find in Asia
13. Get naughty in an S&M bar
If you think strip clubs are too tame, visit an S&M bar where the naughtiest actions take place. Merciless spanking, whipping, hot wax dripping, blood play and all kinds of torture – there’s no stopping of pain for pleasure. For the hard-core masochists, Jail S&M and Fetish Bar is where your nightlife will be redefined. It’s Fifty Shades of Grey with you as the protagonist.
14. Eat shirako (fish milt)
Image credits: Tokyo Times
In layman terms, it’s sperm sac. Have you got the balls (ha) to try this? Rule: no squirming while eating. Itadakimasu!
15. Slurp on ice-cream cone ramen
Image credits: Kishyoku
Japanese are definitely nothing short of experimental when it comes to food!
16. Let snails roam freely on your face
Image credits: NLab
Snail facial is all the rage now! But why resort to Tony Moly facial masks when you can have the real thing slithering down your cheeks? It doubles up as a facial massage too.
Also read: Eccentric Beauty Treatments Around the World: Semen, Poop and Snakes
17. Try nyotaimori
Image credits: Edith Soto
Nyotaimori (body sushi) involves eating sushi from a naked woman on the table. This dining experience, however, should not be assumed as a common tradition in Japan. It is hardly found in Tokyo (to the relief of feminists), but some reckon that you may chance upon such a service in Roppongi.
18. Real datsu-shitsu game (リアル脱室ゲーム)
Image credits: Super Escape
Put your nerves and wit to test with a real-life room escape game. The theme of the game ranges from prison to dungeon, but whatever the setting is, solve mysteries and obtain clues to get out as soon as you can!
19. Chew on meat sashimi
Image credits: yasa_
Oh yes, sashimi do not discriminate. Instead of raw fish, marry your soy sauce and wasabi with raw slices of pork, chicken, beef and… Wait for it… Horse meat. You might want to down two pints of beer before taking up this challenge. In case you’re wondering where you can get this acquired delicacy in Tokyo, here’s a place in Ebisu Yokocho called Niku Sushi, literally “meat sushi”.
20. Venture into Japan’s suicide forest
Image credits: Patrik Ragnasson
Image credits: keio
The mention of Aokigahara alone would suffice in sending chills down a local’s spine. Outside the fringes of Tokyo at the foot of Mount Fuji is this suicide forest where dejected Japanese enter, get lost and eventually hang themselves. Scattered around the forest you’ll see skeletons, belongings of the dead and their spirits. For a better idea, watch this short documentary:
Think you’re game for them all? Then why wait?! Think you’d like to sit on these challenges for a while before deciding? Then don’t forget to bookmark this page for your future reference!
