Yanaka is an old temple town which survived WWII air raids, having nostalgic atmosphere. Walking around the back streets, you can see usual Japanese lives. The shopping street has a variety of shops. It also has Hand Puppet Showkichi. Enjoying the old town, we can reach Ueno. It has a lot of museums, a famous temple called Kaneiji, a shrine with a lot of red torii gates, a nice park which has 800 cherry trees, Ueno Zoo and also the bustling Ameyoko shopping town.
At Nippori station
Meet up with your guide
An old temple town where you can feel the good old days in Tokyo. It is a beautiful calm town that preserves its tradition and has been featured in many Japanese dramas. It has a lot of narrow streets and a lot of curbs, which makes you easily lost. But your guide helps you walk around the area. It also has a very interesting finger puppet show theater, Hand Puppet Shokichi! The puppets are lovely and the movement is funny.
It has some museums including National Museum, temples, shrines, a lot of cherry trees, the oldest zoo in Japan. Walking through the park you can see many interesting things. Out of the park there is a bustling shopping town,Ameyoko. You can hear selling everythig from clothes to fish. It's a good idea to have some Yakitori, skewed chicken with beer at the stall.
I will take you to the nearest Ueno station, JR, Keisei, or subway.
Ueno
Yanaka is an old town with a nostalgic feeling. You can see the Japanese usual people's lives. It's a temple town. You can see many buddhas and graveyards. Your guide can explain about buddhas and Japanese religion. On the shopping street, many papa-mama shops. At a meat shop, you can buy just fried minced meat cutlets. Yummy! There are many shops that sell Japanese paper, small goods made of Japanese kimonos, and Japanese tableware. 'kawaii!' They will be good souvenirs to your country. Yanaka is also called a cat town. If you are cat-lovers, enjoy finding cat figures and of course real cats! At the Hand Puppet Syoukichi you can know Japanese people's lives by watching the interesting show. And the puppets are wonderful!
Ueno offers endless areas to explore. At the National museum, you can see old Japanese art. At Ueno zoo many kinds of animals including pandas. There are also some temples and shrines. In spring breathtaking view of 800 cherry trees. Pink, pink, pink! At Shitamachi museum you can learn about Japanese life about 60 years ago. Finally, there is a nostalgic bustle of the shopping street, called Ameyoko You can know Japanese food culture and enjoy the lively atmosphere! Kanpai! with sake or beer.
guide fee,
Entrance fee to Hand Pupper Shoukichi 600 yen per person, Shitamachi museum 300 yen per person (you and your guide).
Depending on my availability I could also guide you on Mondays, so please send me a message. Thanks!
Some Mondays are available
This is a walking tour, so wear comfortable shoes.
If the weather forecast predicts rain the day of the tour, you can either have the tour with a different itinerary or you can cancel the tour and get your money back.
Hand Puppet Shoukich closes on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Some shops don't accept credit cards, bring Japanese Yen.
In Yanaka and Ueno, we don't use transportation. Just walk around. No transportation fee.
My teen son and I took a tour of the Tsukiji Market and Sensou-ji Temple in Asakusa with Tomoko. Tomoko met us in our hotel lobby, and balanced historical information with traditions and local knowledge along the way. We had a very enjoyable and comfortable time with Tomoko!
Thank you for your wonderful review. It was a wonderful weather and I also enjoyed guiding you. I was happy you were able to eat fatty tuna in Tsukiji market without making a line for a long time. I have only daughters. I envy you because you have a good son. Have a nice trip in Japan. Thank you.
Tomoko was an excellent guide. She was very obliging and happily added to our itinerary so we could see as much as possible. Her English was very good and she made our day in Tokyo special. Rena and John
Thank you for the nice review, Rena-san, and John-san. You are a nice couple. Rena-san is interested in Japan. I enjoyed talking to you. John-san is always kind and a gentleman. It was my pleasure to guide you. Thank you and see you again in Tokyo!
My husband and I were lucky to be guided by Tomoko during our recent trip to Tokyo. On two half-day-tours she showed us a whole lot of fascinating landmarks such as Shibuya, Meiji Shrine, Omotesando, Ueno, Senso-ji Temple and Asakusa. She knows everything about history, culture, food etc. and with her help we discovered so many things we would never have noticed on our own. Her timing and navigation were perfect, and though we walked a lot it was never exhausting as she took care to include some relaxing strolls through Tokio's beautiful parks. She also went out of her way to help us with some unusual shopping (musical instruments). Thank you, Tomoko, for a delightful and memorable experience!
Siv-san, thank you for the wonderful review. You are a nice couple, and I enjoy guiding you in Tokyo. You have a lot of knowledge about Japan and are interested in Japanese history and culture. It was my pleasure to talk about Japan to you. I hope you enjoy the sound of, the musical instruments, hyoushigi and orin! I'm looking forward to seeing you in Tokyo again someday. Thank you, Tomoko
Tomoko was a pleasure to tour with... early on we exchanged messages about how we wanted to spend our time, she was very receptive to our ideas to tour the back-streets of Asakusa and even helped us getting tickets ahead of time for the Sumida River Cruise, a huge WOW, we had time after the cruise to tour the Hama-Rykuen gardens and Tomoko recommended we have tea at the tea house there - so enjoyable thank you so much for your insights and knowledge and help!!
Terri-san, thank you for the wonderful review. You are a nice group. I enjoyed guiding you. The tea at Hamarikyuu Garden was refreshing. I hope you enjoyed the tour in Japan with your friends. Hopefully, you will revisit Japan. Thank you. Tomoko