Tokyo has plenty of food tours, but this one gets you past the restaurant counter and into Chef Sato’s small Shinjuku apartment, where you chop, season, cook, and sit down to eat what you made. The menu changes by day, so you might prepare ramen and gyoza, katsu curry, teriyaki chicken, or a traditional seasonal…
Tokyo Dome baseball is less about knowing every rule and more about watching Japan’s sporting culture unfold in front of you. The lower-level infield seat puts you close to the action, while the Yomiuri Giants bring the history and star power of Japan’s best-known baseball club. I like the easy ticket pickup at Gate 20…
The main event is Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park, where Japanese macaques gather around a natural hot spring in the cold months. Add Zenko-ji Temple and the old bathhouse streets of Shibu Onsen, and you get a full day of Nagano sights without wrestling with several train connections. I like the private door-to-door service, especially for…
The best thing about this Mt. Fuji day tour from Tokyo is how much ground you cover without renting a car. In one long day, you see Lake Kawaguchi, ride the Panoramic Ropeway, make matcha, and walk through Oshino Hakkai, a village built around eight clear springs. I like the easy round-trip transport and the…
A bowl of ramen is easy to eat and surprisingly hard to make well. This Asakusa class lets you see the work behind it, from broth and toppings to the final assembly, while you also fold and cook crispy gyoza. Masa and Junko lead the class in clear English, with plenty of humor and practical…
Tokyo’s Ginza food scene is best understood after dark, when polished department stores give way to tiny izakayas, smoky grills, and restaurants tucked beneath railway tracks. This three-hour tour takes you through Ginza, Yurakucho, and Shimbashi, with three local food stops rather than one long meal. I like the small maximum of 10 people, which…
Tokyo is a city of big contrasts, and this private tour lets you cross those contrasts in one long day: Tsukiji seafood, quiet palace gardens, sacred shrines, anime shops, and neon-lit Shibuya. You travel by private, air-conditioned vehicle, so you can cover far more ground than you could on foot. I like the flexible route…
Tokyo sightseeing rarely gets more unusual than this: you drive a go-kart on public roads through central Tokyo, passing Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo Tower, the Imperial Palace, and Tokyo Station in one long outing. It is guided, so you follow the lead vehicle instead of wrestling with a map, and the small convoy keeps the group…
Tokyo is easiest to enjoy when someone helps you connect the dots. This private customized tour gives you an English-speaking local guide for about five hours, with hotel pickup available and an itinerary shaped around your interests. I like the freedom to mix major sights such as Senso-ji, Meiji Jingu, and Shibuya Crossing with local…
Mount Fuji is the star here, but this 10-hour trip from Tokyo gives you four very different stages for the show: a volcanic lake, a steaming valley, a cable car, and the sea around Enoshima. You ride a pirate ship on Lake Ashi, pass over Owakudani, then finish among shrines, snack stalls, and views across…
Insider guides, cultural deep-dives and current-affairs reporting on Tokyo and Japan, written by people who live here and go to the places they write about.