Visit Japan’s Imperial Palace, the home of the Emperor and the former site of Edo Castle, the political center of Japan until the mid-19th century. Then explore the commercial district of Nihonbashi, where you can visit long-established stores in business for over 400 years.
＊Edo Castle does not exist. We will visit the ruins of Edo Castle.
Highlights of this tour:
◆ Visit the Imperial Palace, the home of Japan’s Imperial Family
◆ Tour the palace's East Gardens and see beautiful seasonal flowers and the ruins of Edo Castle
◆ Walk through historical Nihonbashi, Japan’s major commercial district for over 400 years
◆ Try delicious dashi soup stock at a 300-year-old business
◆ Observe how Japanese seaweed is roasted at another historical establishment
◆ Try for yourself Japanese knife sharpening
◆ Learn about washi, traditional Japanese paper, at a centuries-old paper store
◆ Taste a variety of sake at Toyama-kan prefectural store
Posted By : Angela_J
We had an amazing time with Tombi and Yuji. There were very knowledgeable not only about the tour stops but about Tokyo also. They event went above and beyond to make sure we made it back to the and all. Great time!
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Posted On : 2024-05-01 09:38:40 
Posted By : Teodulo_R
So far, everything. Guide was wonderful and knowleable. Except for a little bit of rain and drizzle.
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Posted On : 2024-04-28 19:35:48
Posted By : valhill
Must do in Tokyo is to walk the Imperial gardens. Our guide Toyo took us everywhere around the gardens. We were her mid-ApiI’ll so there were still cherry blossoms and it was now azalea season! Wow the colors. We could have done this walking on our own, but I recommend a guide to get full appreciation and understanding of the area’s history. Using Tokyo subway to go from the garden to nihonbbashi was a blast. So much going on below Tokyo streets. Shopping was eye candy. Wish I could afford a beautiful Japanese knife😂!
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Posted On : 2024-04-22 21:36:30
Posted By : Christina_S
Our guides were excellent and did a great job showing us the garden at the Imperial Palace. They told us a lot of interesting facts about it and some of the history of Japan. We were treated to a sake tasting which was a unique experience. We also visited a number of shops where the business had been in existence for over a hundred years. We were also given a bag of cookies to take with us. Our guides spoke very good English.
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Posted On : 2024-04-21 07:00:19
Posted By : Leonard_L
The tour title is misleading. There was NO tour of Imperial Palace. We just visited the gardens, which is a free tour for everyone. Tour guide knew less about the history than I have. We decided to skip Nohobashi, and just went to Ginza to enjoy on our own. Waste of time and money.
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Posted On : 2024-04-17 12:57:56
Posted By : Miriam_W
The tour itinerary overpromised and underdelivered. Itinerary mentioned the following:
-Visit the Imperial Palace, the home of Japan’s Imperial Family
-Tour the palace's East Gardens and see beautiful seasonal flowers and the ruins of Edo Castle -Walk through historical Nihonbashi, Japan’s major commercial district for over 400 years
-Try delicious dashi soup stock at a 300-year-old business
- Observe how Japanese seaweed is roasted at another historical establishment
- Try for yourself Japanese knife sharpening
- Learn about washi, traditional Japanese paper, at a centuries-old paper store
- Taste a variety of sake at Toyama-kan prefectural store ※If some facility we mention above is temporarily closed, you will be guided to other facilities.
We walked in the East Gardens which is open to the public for free with no sight of the Imperial Palace. We then took a subway ride to Nihonbashi were we did visit a museum of traditional Japanese paper making "washi" which was interesting but tour did not include the option to make washi which was available at museum for a fee but had to be pre-booked and was full. The seaweed stop was not at all as advertised above, we basically went into a shop that sold seaweed already packaged with no explanation of how it is roasted or made. Same for the knife shop, we basically went into a knife shop and had option to buy a knife. The dashi soup place was closed and the tour guides were not aware until we arrived. We ended the tour with a saki sampling of 3 sakis but again just a normal saki store with little to no explanation of anything related to saki.
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Posted On : 2024-04-14 01:23:34
Posted By : Brenda_S
Nice tour of the Imperial Gardens. The Wash paper making was interesting. Ended the day with saki tasting which was pleasantly surprising.
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Posted On : 2024-04-10 06:58:13
Posted By : erik_m
Very good guides that made the day perfect👏.
My best recommendations ☀️
For a wonderful experience.
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Posted On : 2024-04-08 21:55:58
Posted By : Road562440
A great place to see cherry blossoms at that time without huge crowds. There’s a certain peace to be had just strolling around the east garden.
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Posted On : 2024-04-06 04:22:19 
Posted By : Kanchana_R
On a cold, rainy day in Tokyo our family of 6 walked along the streets of Tokyo with our enthusiastic and cheerful guide Eriko and her assistant Saiyo. They were not just motivating on a very dreary, heavily raining day but kept us riveted with stories, anecdotes and history - making us forget our rain soaked socks while we walked with our guides through the palace complex and exquisite palace gardens. Our tour ended with a hot sup of Dashi, sake tasting and shopping for Japanese knives. A thoroughly memorable tour in the heart of Tokyo, made even better better with friendly, knowledgeable guides. Highly recommended in any weather!
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Posted On : 2024-04-04 22:44:18
