• Tours
  • Off the Beaten Path
Tokyo
English
4 hours
Private tour (only you and your group)
Up to 4 people

Shibamata: Beautiful Gardens and Good-Old-Days Downtown

Off the Beaten Path

Shibamata is a small and old downtown with a temple and beautiful Japanese gardens, located in the east end of Tokyo. You will find the nostalgic lifestyle of ordinary people in 1960’s. The town is not stylish nor modern, but full of atmosphere of Japanese traditional neighborhood life.

Chiaki K.

4.91 / 5
(87 reviews)

Meeting Point

At your hotel in Tokyo

09:00 AM

Meeting Point

Pick up at your hotel or anyplace you’d like.

10:00 AM

Shibamata

Walk along the street to Shibamata Taishaku-ten temple from the nearest station and see the local sweets and food shops. You can reach the temple in 10 min. The whole area shows the atmosphere of traditional busy downtown in 1960’s.

10:20 AM

Taishaku-ten Temple

Taishaku-ten is a temple known for its beautiful Japanese garden and engraved Buddha stories on the outer walls of Taishaku-do inner shrine. The admission is 400 yen per person. You can go-around the garden by walking through the outside corridor with roof.

11:30 AM

Yamamoto-tei

Yamamoto-tei, a traditional Japanese-style architecture built in 1920s. It was once used as the residence of the wealthy president of a company. You can see the inside of the house and the beautiful garden through “engawa” (a narrow wooden deck along the edge of a house facing the garden). Admission 100 yen. You can also have tea and sweets in the Japanese style tatami tea room.

12:00 PM

Lunch

We can have lunch at a restaurant nearby as you like. There are noodle, tempura rice-bowl restaurants, etc.

01:00 PM

End tour at your hotel or anyplace you’d like

You can visit Tokyo Skytree or Asakusa in less than 30 min. I will take you there if you’d like.

Ending Point

At your hotel or anyplace

Want to personalize this tour?

  • Our tours can be customized according to your needs and preferences
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Inclusions & Exclusions

What‘s included

Guide fee, hotel pick-up, guide’s transportation fee

What‘s not included

Your transportation fee (about 1,500 yen per person), lunch (about 1,500 yen per person) and admission fee for you and guide

Important Information

If you stay in the central area of Tokyo or Chiba, I will pick you up and drop you off at your hotel or anyplace you like.

We will take public transportation and walk a lot so please wear comfortable shoes.

This is a flexible tour you can change places to visit upon your wish. I will make an itinerary customized for you, so you can fully enjoy the city with your limited time.

This is a private tour, you can change the route according to your interest, condition or the weather during the tour.

In this tour, we will take public transportation and walk a lot so please wear comfortable shoes. If your group has someone who prefers not to walk a lot, please let me know.

And if you have someone with allergies or dietary restrictions, please let me know in advance.

Cancellation Policy

  • Free cancellation - 8 days prior to meeting time
  • 50% Refund - 3 to 7 days prior to meeting time
  • No Refund - Within 2 day(s) prior to meeting time

Reviews

Marie L.

5 / 5
Sep 16, 2024

A smashing day with Chiaki K

We found Chiaki so very friendly she went out of her way to ensure we did all we wanted to - Chiaki’s English is excellent even understanding our jokes. Chiaki has great knowledge of Japanese culture and we saw places we would never have found ourselves. Chiaki is a fantastic guide and we have no hesitation in recommending her to you.

Chiaki K.

Dear Marie, thank you so much for your kind words! It was such a pleasure guiding you and Steven. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed my tour and that I could help make your visit enjoyable. I had a lot of fun spending a day with you. And the soba lunch was good! Oisii! Thank you for your recommendation! I hope that you travel to England safely and smoothly! Thank you again!

M

Mark C.

5 / 5
Jul 19, 2024

Chiaki gets 5 stars for a reason

I'm always reluctant relying online reviews especially when I flew 14 hrs to get there. Im glad I did and Im glad we got connected with Chiaki. She is awesome we brought my 83 year old mother in law and Chiaki not only gave all the history etc. but held her arm much of the time, sheparded her around and made changes on the fly like saying it's too hot for her at the next site let's do this instead. Bottom line if your sitting on your couch in the states planning a trip to Tokyo and your bringing your parents and you want a low key, not rushed experience she's the one. 5 stars all day

Chiaki K.

Hi Mark, thank you for your fantastic review! I’m glad to know that you enjoy my tour! I’m also spending a joyful time with you and your family. Your mother-in-law is a wonderful person to talk with and I admire her. Thank you so much for booking me as your guide for such a long and precious journey. We have one more day together and I’d like to make it a comfortable and enjoyable experience. See you at 9:30 tomorrow at your hotel! Thank you again!

T

Tyson B.

5 / 5
Jul 12, 2024

Great start to our trip

Chiaki was a great guide, full of local knowledge. We had an evening tour, visiting a number of areas with a few surprises along the way (stepping into the serenity of a shrine, moments away from the hustle and bustle to name one). Thank you for saving us from looking like tourists on our first day Chiaki

Chiaki K.

Thank you Tyson, for posting your great review and beautiful photos! I’m glad to hear that you liked my tour. Hope you enjoy your trip in Japan and go back home safely and smoothly. Please send my best wishes to Kelly and Spencer. Arigato!

G

Gwenaelle L.

5 / 5
Jul 6, 2024

Perfect immersion into the delicious world of food

We spent 3 wonderful hours, discovering the food market, food places . We strongly recommend!!

Chiaki K.

Dear Gwenaelle, thank you for posting a wonderful review and photo! I sent a message to your email address, so please see it! Thank you again!

$105/ per group

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