The great hook here is simple: you leave Tokyo’s towers behind and reach a snowy mountain valley where wild Japanese macaques sometimes sit in steaming hot springs. The monkeys are close, calm, and wonderfully unconcerned with your camera. I like two things especially. The coach removes a complicated day of connections, and the included sukiyaki…
Making chopsticks by hand turns an everyday Japanese object into a personal keepsake. At Hashiyuki Chopsticks Shop in Tokyo’s Taito district, you use traditional tools to shape, smooth, and finish your own pair under guidance from an artisan. I like the small-group setting, limited to 10 people, and the fact that you take the finished…
Tokyo is easy to cross by train, but departure day is different. Bags are heavier, checkout takes time, and a missed airport connection can ruin a good trip. This private hotel pickup to Haneda removes the station stairs, crowded carriages, and taxi search from your final morning. I like two things here: the driver is…
Shibuya’s famous crossing is only the opening act on this evening food walk. The real prize is a series of places where you can eat Japanese food without spending the night asking what contains fish sauce, egg, or meat. The route includes vegan nigiri sushi, okonomiyaki, drinks, and a bar with a view over the…
The most unusual part of this Mt. Fuji day trip is lunch: you make ramen from scratch, choosing the soup, seasonings, toppings, and noodle firmness before eating what you created. Add a boat ride on Lake Ashi, clear spring ponds, and a famous pagoda view, and you get a lot of Japan in one long…
A fake sword, a kimono, a hakama, and a room lined with armor and weapons: this Tokyo experience turns you into a stage samurai for one fast, lively hour. You learn how to draw, hold, swing, and return a sword, then use those moves in a choreographed fight with the instructors. I like the small…
Sangenjaya is the sort of Tokyo neighborhood you can miss completely if you stick to the big sights. On this four-hour evening tour, Simon leads you through lantern-lit alleys to three small izakayas for sashimi, grilled fish, kushikatsu, sake, Hoppy, and more. I like the local setting and the fact that you cook okonomiyaki and…
The surprising part of this tea ceremony is its setting. You meet near Shibuya Station, then enter a quiet tea room inside an apartment building just minutes from the Hachiko Statue and Shibuya Scramble Crossing. The city is close, but the room feels like a different world. I like the small, peaceful setting, where Tatsuya…
Tokyo has plenty of food tours, but this 150-minute cooking class near Shinjuku gives you something more useful than a single meal: recipes and techniques you can repeat at home. You choose a menu, prepare several dishes, and eat the results together in a small kitchen setting. I like the central location and the chance…
Mount Fuji is best seen from several angles, and this private day trip from Tokyo gives you the wheels to do just that. In roughly 9 to 10 hours, you can visit mountain villages, lakeside parks, shrines, a pagoda viewpoint, and the 5th Station without working out Japan’s complex regional bus connections. I like the…
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.