How many days should you spend in Tokyo?
Give Tokyo more than a polite arrival night. It is food, trains, neighbourhoods, shopping streets, parks and late-night choices spread across a huge city, so three days feels like an introduction rather than a full answer.
Answer
Tokyo is not one centre with a handful of sights. It is a set of moods: early temple calm in Asakusa, department-store food halls, station alleys, design shops, tiny bars, parks, ramen counters and districts that change completely after dark. That scale is the appeal and the catch. If you only allow one or two nights, Tokyo becomes transport between icons. For a first trip, four or five days lets the city start making sense, especially if you want a day trip to Kamakura, Nikko, Hakone or Fuji country. The better Tokyo trip is not busier; it is better grouped.