Our tour starts in the afternoon or early evening depending on your arrival time or when your business for the day has concluded. We’ll start by making our way to Harajuku, and the famous Takeshita dori. Whether you are a goth, punk or anything in between, there is a shop in Harajuku that caters for you. Following that, we’ll stroll Omotesando-dori, a broad tree lined avenue surrounded by a maze of wonderful small alleyways and smart stores and cafes. From there we’ll migrate to Shibuya, Tokyo’s main center for youth fashion and culture and entertainment trends. It is also home to the famous 5 way “scramble crossing”. In the evening we’ll experience salaryman culuture in a cultured way, enjoying a stand-up sake bar and tasting along with a festive meal. Based on your mood we’ll continue on into Shinjuku and Kabukicho for a tour of its fascinating nightlife and districts of all colors, including red and rainbow.

We’ll get a relatively early start today to see the incredible Tsujiki fish market. Then we sample the produce as locals do at a local sushi restaurant for brunch. We’ll explore hidden gardens amid striking architecture, stopping occasionally for refreshment and reflection. We’ll take a riverboat cruise on the fabled Sumida River, the lifeblood of Edo on our way to Asakusa, Tokyo’s old town. There we will visit Sensoji, Tokyo’s oldest temple on our way to “kitchen street” which supplies specialty cooking wares to restaurants across Japan – a true treat for foodies. We’ll make the short journey to Ryogoku, the center of Japan’s sumo world. If you’re travelling with us in January, May, or September we will have reserved seats for you at the Kokugikan Sumo Stadium where you will watch a match of the Grand Sumo Basho Tournament and enjoy festive Yakitori skewers and perhaps a cold beer. If the tournament is not in session, we’ll experience an up close and personal look at Sumo, by visiting one of the local Sumo Beyas to sit in on a practice session. Afterwards, we’ll go to one of our favorite Chanko-nabe restaurants, run by an ex-sumo wrestler to eat and drink like as the wrestlers do.

If you are active or simply want to run off the previous night’s exuberance, we highly recommend an early morning jog around the Imperial Palace. This is one of our all-time favorite jogs and will take you, from the hotel, roughly a total of 4.5 miles (the circumference of the palace itself is a 5km track / 3.5 miles) It gives a unique and Japan only perspective on the city and reminds us a little bit of Central Park in New York or Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The rest of the morning is yours to shop or do any last minute sightseeing based on our recommendations before we take you to a final culinary treat – a Tempura experience as can only be found in Japan. From there you’ll transit back to the airport or just back to work. If the tour is too short for you, add on a day or two or join us on one of our other tours of Japan to experience more of this fantastic and fascinating country.