Tokyo Highlights Tour: Sumo, Sushi, Tea, and Tokyo Tower

This tour will give guests the opportunity to experience much of the traditional and iconic culture associated with Japan and Tokyo including a Sumo, gardens and parks, shrines, and architecture.
Your first destination on tour will be a traditional Sumo Beya (Training Room) where you will have the exciting opportunity to watch Sumo train! Please note that this is real training and the Sumo cannot be disturbed. Therefore visitors can only watch from outside through the large viewing windows. You cannot enter the Sumo Beya. Depending on the Sumo’s schedule after training, they sometimes come outside for photo opportunities with the visitors.

Once you have watched the exciting sport of Sumo, you will then move onto your next destination by taking a short train journey to the famous Tsukiji Outer Market. Opened in 1935, it is steeped in history and iconic in Tokyo. The market has been providing Tokyo’s eateries with their fresh seafood, fish and sushi for decades. As this is an early starting tour, it is recommended you pick up some breakfast here! A foodie paradise, you will find everything from sushi, wagyu, fresh fruit and sweet potatoes here! The market isn’t huge, so your guide will show you around before you enjoy some free time to sample the culinary delights on offer!

From Tsukiji Outer Market, we will take a walk to a famous and beautiful Edo period Japanese garden. Built in 1654 by the Shogunate family of the Tokugawa clan, the gardens sit at the mouth of the Sumida river. It makes for the perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle of busy Tokyo. You will enjoy a guided introduction to the gardens and its history before having some free time to walk around and enjoy the gardens yourself. We will then all meet back up to enjoy a Japanese tea and wagashi (Japanese sweet) experience in a traditional tea house in the gardens. Please enjoy the serene views of the gardens as you drink your matcha and eat your wagashi.

After your break we will walk for another 10 minutes to our next destination, an historic Buddhist temple founded in 1393. The temple grounds and surrounding park are expansive, with Tokyo Tower standing directly behind the temple. Tokyo’s oldest wooden building also stands here, dating back to 1622. Your guide will give you a tour of the temple and its history. The tour also includes a Sutra copying experience at the temple. Whether you’re spiritual or not, this experience provides you a moment of peace and calm where you will copy your sutra inside the temple, and can enjoy the smell of incense burning. Once you’re finished, you can take your Sutra copy to the temple staff to receive a Goshuin (temple stamp) of the temple which makes for a great souvenir!

Our final stop will be one of Tokyo’s most iconic and famous landmarks, Tokyo Tower. Built in 1958, this is Tokyo’s oldest observatory and has a wonderful retro feel to it. Enjoy the panoramic views of the sprawling city below before we conclude our tour and walk back to the nearby station of Akabanebashi where the tour will finish. Your tour guide will happily assist you with any questions on trains and transport for your return journey.

To guarantee availability book as soon as possible. Early booking is worth consideration especially if you planning the trip during high season like public holidays or weekends.

This excursion you can cancel with no cost up to 24 hours before the start of the trip. If you cancel it after 24 hours or not show up on the excursion you will still be charged the full price of the activity. Being late on pick-up or departure will be considered as not showing up.