Experience Old local Tokyo & traditional food in Yanaka Ginza
Description
Try local food and explore the nostalgic streets of Yanesen. Yanesen stretches out over two wards; Bunkyoku and Taitoku, and is the generic name of the three old shopping streets; Yanaka, Nezu and Sendagi, of this area. In this tour, we will taste the usual Japanese meals such as croquettes, which are very popular among the locals. You will also be able to enjoy Japanese food culture in one area. Other than the cuisine, you will also be introduced to traditional shops that sells Japanese accessories, a hand puppet show with elaborate and expressive puppets, and a shrine with a tunnel of vibrant red torii gates. Live like the locals for a day in Yanesen!
Tour Options
Itinerary
Yuuyake Dandan: It is the stairs between Gotenzaka and Yanaka Ginza. In the evening, you can see a beautiful sunset in the direction of Yanaka Ginza from this staircase.
Evil Stamp Shop Shinimonogurui: This is a shop where you can make name stamps with cute illustrations, featuring a large cat sign. Why not make an original stamp to commemorate your visit to Yanaka, the city of cats?
Yanaka Shippoya: Try a donut stick, resembling the shape and pattern of a cat's tail. Our favourites are the creamy ones!
Kanekichien: You can shop for equipment used in Japanese tea ceremonies in this lovely shop.
Niku no Suzuki: Their freshly fried menchi-katsu is beyond delicious!
Waguriya: It is the only store in Japan that specializes in Japanese chestnuts and owns its own farm, and is popular for its sweets that make the most of the natural flavor and taste of Japanese chestnuts.
Echigoya Saketen: Taste Japanese beer and sake, and enjoy drinking the Japanese way; kadouchi.
Hand Puppets Shokichi: Enjoy this fantastically expressive puppet show by professional puppeteers!
Snake Road: Behind Yanaka Ginza, there is an alley that curves like a snake. Take a walk along the alleys that used to be small rivers.
Nezu Shrine: Visit this shrine, also known as a "power spot", right in the center of Nezu, and walk through its magnificent tower gate and tunnel of red torii gates.
Shitamachi Museum Annex (Old Yoshidaya Sakayaten): Old Yoshidaya Sakayaten, an exhibition hall attached to the Shitamachi Folk Museum, was built in 1910 (Meiji 43) and was an actual liquor shop that operated until 1986 (1986). Visitors can feel as if they have stepped back in time to the Meiji era.
Yanaka Cemetery： Numerous famous people are laid to rest in these graves. There are graves of generals who once ruled Japan, literary giants and others, as well as the graves of ordinary people. Visitors will get a glimpse of Japanese culture.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- All transportation costs, entrance fees, food and drink costs, etc. incurred at the visited spots, will be borne by the customer.
- Please understand that tour spots might be changed to alternative spots in case of temporary closure.
- Please wear comfortable clothing as you will be walking a lot
- Some of the spots we will visit on the day do not accept credit cards. Please remember to bring cash.
- This includes spots where alcoholic beverages are served. Children are allowed to enter, but must be at least 20 years old to drink alcohol.
- On Thursdays and Fridays, "Evil Stamp Shop Shinimonogurui" is closed, so we will show you an alternative spot.
Reviews(25)
Fantastic tour of Old town Tokyo, the Yanaka district! Miki-san was an amazing tour guide who gave lots of good recommendations for food to try and souvenirs to buy! He was patient, knowledgeable, and friendly, and he was a fun companion for the afternoon. Highly recommend this tour for everyone!
We spent a lovely afternoon exploring old town Yanaka with Kaori our guide .Had lunch in a soba restaurant and coffee in the garden of a local cafe.Kaori was a knowledgeable and friendly guide and answered all our questions about Japanese customs, food ,history and architecture and pointed out many things of interest .Our last stop was Nesu shrine to see the temple and azaleas - during the azaleas festival - which were spectacular.If you like a relaxed stroll round a charming old town district - this is the tour for you.
It was a nice historical walk in Yanaka, loads of knowledge and loads of hidden spots for pictures. Our guide Sam, was a really energetic and fun guide!
Sam is such a good tour guide. Very knowledgeable and very kind. We learned a lot about little things that normally we wouldn’t think about! 10/10
Guide was interested in what we wanted to get out of the tour and customised the itinerary to fit. Very amenable and charming. Made a big difference having someone to translate written and spoken Japanese.
Thank you for your kind review! We're delighted to hear that your guide tailored the tour to your interests and made the experience more enjoyable with their charm and flexibility. Having a guide to assist with translation can indeed make a big difference. We hope you had a fantastic time exploring!
Thank you so much Yoshi Onari for being our guide for our 2 days in Tokyo. He was very knowledgeable about the history through out our tour. He even helped us get the special discount metro card for our son, which was pretty complicated. He was very friendly and helpful! We highly recommend this tour with Yoshi.
Thank you so much for your kind words! We’re delighted to hear that Yoshi made your two days in Tokyo both enjoyable and informative. His knowledge of the city’s history and his assistance with practical matters like the metro card for your son clearly made a positive impact. We’re glad he could provide a friendly and helpful experience. We appreciate your recommendation and hope to welcome you again in the future!
Fun tour, great guide. We walked and talked as he showed us all the special areas. Lots of shopping and food available. Very interesting and more fun being private.
Thank you for your kind words! We’re glad to hear you enjoyed your private tour and that your guide made it a fun and engaging experience. Exploring special areas with plenty of shopping and food options sounds like a memorable day. We hope to see you again on another adventure soon!
The tour through the more quiet suburbs in the north of Tokyo was super fun and inspiring. Thank you Hina for beeing such a wonderful tour guide!
Thank you for your positive review! We're glad to hear that you had a great experience exploring Tokyo with our guide. We appreciate your recommendation and hope to welcome you again in the future!
Hina was lovely and showed us the Tokio suburbs with it's lovely shops, restaurants and shrines. We really got a feeling of the "normal life" near the busy Tokyo city center. Hina was super nice and fun and told us a lot of interesting facts - in perfect English. Thank you for this lovely afternoon!
We're thrilled to hear that you had a great day with Hina as your tour guide! Thank you for choosing our tour and for taking the time to share your positive feedback. We appreciate it!
Kiyoshi was a wonderful guide - very engaged and knowledgeable. The Yanaka shops were delightful and we enjoyed the various food bites and the plum sake with soda! The puppet show was surprisingly entertaining and funny. After days of tours, the family was too tired to make the temple at the end but Kiyoshi was very gracious about us ending early. More cultural than food tour. The textile street outside the Nippori station was something we would never have found on our own if not for arriving early for the tour and exploring a bit.