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Yanaka Historical Walking Tour: Discover Tokyo's Old Town, Nezu Shrine, and Craft a Lucky Cat
4.9
167 Ratings
Bunkyo City
-Feel the Shinto vibe as you cross a vibrant red arch in Nezu Shrine, a portal into another world
-Feel the Shinto vibe as you cross a vibrant red arch in Nezu Shrine, a portal into another world
Duration:
3 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
-
Nezu Shrine - Experience the endless Torii gates, reminiscent of Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari Shrine.
Immerse yourself in the Shinto atmosphere as you pass through a vibrant red arch at Nezu Shrine, a gateway to another realm. After gathering at Nezu station, the journey begins to Nezu Shrine, one of Tokyo’s most ancient shrines. It is renowned for its…
- Nezu Shrine - Experience the endless Torii gates, reminiscent of Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari Shrine.
Immerse yourself in the Shinto atmosphere as you pass through a vibrant red arch at Nezu Shrine, a gateway to another realm. After gathering at Nezu station, the journey begins to Nezu Shrine, one of Tokyo’s most ancient shrines. It is renowned for its tunnel of vermilion torii gates, similar to those at Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari Shrine. As your guide shares fascinating cultural and historical insights about Japan, capture stunning photos in and around the tunnel. Discover the proper way to pray and conduct oneself at shrines.
- Yanaka District - Explore the Yanaka area and enjoy a traditional Japanese lunch.
Wander through a residential neighborhood to experience authentic local lifestyles.
Savor a variety of local delicacies as you explore Yanaka Ginza and find a charming house offering Soba lunch, a dish deeply rooted in Japanese culture.
- Nezu Museum - Walk past Nezu Museum.
- Cafe Neko-e-mon - Enjoy painting a Japanese cat doll while indulging in dessert and drinks in a delightful old Japanese house cafe.
Create a lucky cat as a travel keepsake in a cafe housed in a traditional folk home. After a pleasant walk, relax in a cafe with a drink and sweets. This is Japan’s first cafe to offer workshops for crafting lucky cat statues that symbolize luck and happiness. Paint a cat statue with your preferred colors and designs, ensuring your cat preserves your memories from Japan.
- Yanaka Ginza Shopping Street - A shopping street with a nostalgic charm. Sample some street foods.
Stroll through a residential area to experience genuine local lifestyles. Explore small establishments like antique stores and sweet shops that line the streets.
What's Included
- Tour photos
- Lucky cat craft experience (painting)
- Food samplings (Various types of local snacks and sweets)
- 1 drink & sweet at a cafe
- 3.5 hours with a local guide
- Tour photos
- Lucky cat craft experience (painting)
- Food samplings (Various types of local snacks and sweets)
- 1 drink & sweet at a cafe
- 3.5 hours with a local guide
Additional Information
- The itinerary for this tour includes some locations that are not accessible by a wheelchair or stroller.
- While you’ll enjoy some tasty food samples on this tour, a full lunch or dinner isn’t included. We suggest having a meal beforehand to make the most of your experience.
- Out of respect for other guests and to ensure the best tour for everyone, we…
- The itinerary for this tour includes some locations that are not accessible by a wheelchair or stroller.
- While you’ll enjoy some tasty food samples on this tour, a full lunch or dinner isn’t included. We suggest having a meal beforehand to make the most of your experience.
- Out of respect for other guests and to ensure the best tour for everyone, we must start the tour on time.
- You will not be able to join the tour, get a refund or reschedule if you are late for the tour and miss the group.
- This tour is not recommended for people with mobility issues.
- Please note that we are unable to guarantee allergy-free or cater to dietary restrictions as the food is prepared in kitchens that do not belong to MagicalTrip. Additionally, there may be instances where substitutions are not possible at certain stops; however, we will make every effort to compensate at different stops throughout the tour.
- Summer in Japan is very hot and humid, so we recommend that you bring water and wear a hat to prevent heat stroke.
Location
ディージェイ根津駅前
- Outside of Tokyo Metro Nezu Station Exit 1
- Your guide will be holding a red/orange sign saying "Magical Trip"
- When arriving at Tokyo Metro Nezu Station, go to Exit 1 and up stairs to ground.
- Your guide will be waiting just right in front of upstairs
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(167 Ratings)
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Stan_k
Apr 28, 2025
Our guide was great, saw... - Our guide was great, saw Azalea garden and Shinto shrine, and a street of Buddhist cemeteries. Tanaka neighborhood was quite interesting.
Review provided by Viator
Furiousf2025
Apr 25, 2025
Quiet Tokyo - Mark was an excellent host. This tour is serene and almost tranquil amidst the hectic of everyday Tokyo, and Mark did a great job explaining the various stations and localities along the way.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mariyas996
Apr 16, 2025
Beautiful and informative tour - Mai was a great guide. She took me to many cool places like art ateliers, temples, shops and markets which had a very authentic and local vibe. She was very friendly, energetic and kind. I really enjoyed our afternoon together. Thank you, Mai for showing me around the hidden gems of Tokyo.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Simony75
Apr 8, 2025
Yanaka walking tour. - Enjoyed our morning walk around Yanaka. Ricardo was an enjoyable guide, we happened to be the only 2 on the tour that morning. Saw some great streets and a view into local life. And a lot of temples and shrines. A lot. In fact for me we could have cut some out and saw some other things, like shops etc.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
L6152vitoddh
Mar 28, 2025
Yanaka Walking Tour brings understanding on many levels. - Wonderful walking tour through historic, beautiful, vibrant Yanaka District in Tokyo. Our guide, Rei, was personable and so knowledgeable, connecting 10 of us with elements of Japanese culture spanning two thousand years, surviving wars and fire bombings, cultural influences, etc. Shrines and temples, neighborhoods and community, cats and dogs, transportation and urban planning — the tour caught glimpses of all of it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Excursion68492207387
Mar 26, 2025
Great tour and experience with Mark! Definitely recommend! - I booked this as a solo traveler and had Mark as my tour guide. There were 3 others in the group and it was the perfect size. Mark was amazing!! Very friendly and knowledgeable. Answered all of our questions both related and unrelated to the tour. At the end, he saw us off at the train station and helped us all get directions to our next stops.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Di785
Mar 23, 2025
Best experience! - Thank you very much to Magical Trip and our guide Taka. We had so much fun and learned so much. Painting our lucky cats was a blast. Lots of great photos too!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
J0hnan
Mar 19, 2025
Nezu Shrine, Maneki Neko and Yanaka neighborhood an excellent change of pace with Mark - Mark our guide is a very excellent and exceptional guide. Walked us thru Nedu Jinja( Nenzu Shrine)beautifully landscaped with its thousand ‘tori’ gates( really 200). Then we went to the very quaint artists’ neighborhood, around Yanaka, where there’s a very nice shopping street, plus many shrines. Also we went to a shop and a small cafe where there’s a maneki neko ‘vibe’, where they give you one of the figurines of the ‘beckoning cat’ so it can be painted.
It was a nice, very quiet, old neighborhood without the crowds in the more popular districts of Tokyo. We loved it and it was a great change of pace. Thank you, Mark for this welcoming relaxed environment
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Avinash
Apr 19, 2025
Ticked off the Tokyo Check list - I went with a load of expectations i guess.
One spring morning it turned out too sunny and warm for a walk in Yanaka.
Got off at Nipori Station, walked through the cemetery into the old town.
Cemetery is nice for a slow walk amongst nature and very peaceful.
Felt intrusive as if i was disturbing the peace and serenity in-spite of being solo.
Most old houses are replaced by new construction.
One Edo period historic wall remains and is worth finding. It is hidden in a small street.
The old houses are beautiful and slowly crumbling in the myriad of new tokyo.
I found a small restaurant for lunch luckily i arrived early so did not hv to face the issues of reservations. Please note Yanaka is not tourist friendly as most restaurants display We do not speak english signs openly.
The shopping Yanaka Ginza is just like any tourist trap in the world.
Over all i would say if u want to complete your tokyo checklist. Do this but get a local guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lucie
Apr 8, 2025
Witnessing a Shinto Tradition - Our guide clarified that we would not see many old traditional buildings because the entire neighbourhood had been bombed during World War II. We learned a lot about our guide’s life in Tokyo and lucky for us, we witnessed a Mikoshi celebration. A Mikoshi is a portable temple weighing over a ton carried by Shinto volunteers throughout the various local neighborhoods. The Mikoshi is said to contain the deity from the local Shinto shrine. It is carried throughout the neighbourhoods to bring luck and happiness. After being taken around all the neighborhoods, it is brought back to the local shrine.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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