Mt. Fuji is the headline, but the best part of this day is what surrounds it: lava-formed caves, quiet lakes, and a forest with a serious story. You leave Tokyo in a private car and spend the day at places many bus tours skip. I like the freedom of a private vehicle, especially when you…
Sumi-e looks simple until you hold the brush. This one-hour workshop in a Tokyo teahouse shows you why a single stroke can take real control, patience, and nerve. Award-winning artist and calligrapher Rensui teaches the basics of suiboku-ga, the ink-wash style that uses water, tone, and empty space instead of layers of paint. I like…
Tokyo is a city of sharp contrasts, and this seven-hour tour gives you plenty of them in one sweep: a forest shrine, palace moats, neon Akihabara, old Asakusa, and a high-rise view from Tokyo Skytree. The bus saves your legs and time, especially on a first day when Tokyo’s scale can feel enormous. I like…
Asakusa packs old Tokyo, temple gates, food stalls, kitchen shops, river views, and Tokyo Skytree into one busy district. This private six-and-a-half-hour tour gives you a guide to handle the crowds and explain what you are seeing, rather than leaving you to guess your way through the streets. I like the mix of major sights…
Tokyo’s Oji Fox Parade turns New Year’s Eve into a strange, beautiful folk tale. More than 200 people in fox masks and traditional clothing carry lanterns to represent kitsunebi, the foxfires said to guide supernatural foxes to Oji Inari Shrine. I like the reserved viewing area, which matters greatly at a once-a-year event. I also…
Ebisu gives you a different face of Tokyo: small restaurants, standing bars, quiet side streets, and the easygoing feel of a neighborhood where locals like to live. This private food tour takes you around Ebisu with an English-speaking guide, so you can focus on eating instead of decoding menus or finding the right alley. I…
Japanese sweets can look too perfect to touch. In this 90-minute nerikiri class, you get past the polished display and shape three seasonal confections with your own hands, then eat them with freshly prepared matcha. The work is beginner-friendly, and all ingredients and tools are supplied. I like the small maximum of eight people, which…
The best part of this Asakusa workshop is that you do not simply shop for a souvenir. You make one yourself, hammering a strip of metal into a wearable bangle with the traditional Japanese Tankin technique. You choose the material, thickness, and texture, then take the finished piece home the same day. I like the…
The best part of this Bunkyo class is its small, home-based setting. Instead of watching a large demonstration, you sit at one table with Yuko, a bilingual Japanese instructor trained by the Wagashi Association of Japan, and make traditional sweets yourself. I like the one-on-one attention and the chance to learn recipes you can try…
The most unusual thing about this Tokyo-area experience is that you train in the actual Tennen Rishin-ryu Hino Dojo, the school linked to the Shinsengumi, Japan’s famous late-Edo-period swordsmen. Masao Inoue, a descendant of Shinsengumi executive Genzaburo Inoue, leads the program, giving the lesson a direct family connection to the past. I like the tiny…
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.