Tokyo is a superb place for holiday photos, but it is not always easy to look natural in front of a camera. This private session with photographer Tavo Fujise turns a walk through Tokyo into a relaxed portrait shoot, using neighborhood streets, alleys, and city scenes that fit your style. I like the personal direction…
Tokyo’s best food experiences often happen behind an unmarked door, below the train tracks, or in a narrow izakaya where the menu changes with the market. This small-group Ginza tour gives you a practical way into that world, with local guide Ryo leading you through three food stops and several glasses of Japanese drink. I…
Ikebana here is more than a flower-arranging class. Hiromi welcomes you into her home studio near Toritsu-daigaku Station, where a traditional Japanese room, tatami flooring, and garden give the lesson a real sense of place. She teaches in clear English, demonstrates first, then lets you create your own arrangement. I like the calm, personal setting,…
The best part of this Tokyo experience is that tea is treated as a crop, a craft, and a daily pleasure, not just a green drink in a pretty bowl. Chisei, a former Kyoto tea farmer, explains how cultivation and processing change the flavor, then guides you through several teas. I like the five-person limit…
Shinjuku after sunset is best understood one small bar at a time, and this three-hour walk gives you a friendly local to lead the way. Guides such as Yoshi, Momoko, Ken, Shota, and Toshi take groups beyond the main tourist routes, with stops that can include yakitori, seafood, sake tasting, and karaoke. I like the…
Making Japanese paper by hand is a fine way to slow down in Asakusa. In this one-hour workshop, you learn about Tosa Washi, a Japanese paper with more than 1,000 years of history, then make a postcard-sized sheet of your own. I like the small group, limited to eight people, and the cheerful hands-on teaching….
Nikko gives you Japan in several moods on one long day: mountain scenery at Lake Chūzenji, the roar of Kegon Falls, and the ornate treasures of Nikko Toshogu Shrine. A private vehicle lets you cover these scattered sights without wrestling with several train and bus connections. I like the flexible, small-group setup, which costs $512…
Tokyo can be wonderfully easy to enjoy in a wheelchair once someone else handles the route. This private, full-day outing links Asakusa, Shibuya, Harajuku, and Omotesando by train, with a guide who knows how to request station ramps and choose routes with fewer steps. You can also arrange pickup within Tokyo’s 23 wards. I especially…
Ueno is one of Tokyo’s best districts for a first night of Japanese food. This three-hour walk takes you from station sushi to chicken ramen, with gyoza, yakitori, and drinks in between. Guides such as Kana, Tatsuya, Lina, Suzu, and Nobu have made this feel less like a formal outing and more like dinner with…
The remarkable part of this Tokyo tour is the setting: you sit close to a real practice ring while wrestlers train as they do every morning. There is no staged bout, cheering crowd, or polished theater show. You hear the slap of bodies and feet on the floor, then watch young rikishi push through hard…
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.