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                Tokyo Subway Route Map

Day 1 -Arrival Tokyo

Transfer to hotel - Keio Plaza. Note: Tokyo Metropolitan government building is just across the road  containing the Tourist information centre and observatory.  Very handy and worth a visit to pick up local maps and other tourist information . Suggest evening Mukojima Geisha Tour

(guided tour 5.20pm – 9.30pm)Visit traditional Japanese style restaurant for dinner and Geisha performance

(smart attire required)

Day 2 – Full Day Edo TokyoTour

(Guided walking tour – wear comfortable shoes!) Includes visits to: Shiodome Area, Hama Rikyu Garden, Tsukiji Outer fish market and Nami-Yoke Inari Shrine, and Tokyo Museum. (9am – 5.30-6.30pm) Toei Subway Oedo line is used for the transfer . Get a suica Card (Like an Oyster card) for use for remainder of week. 

Day 3 – Do it yourself day:

Take the Metro for a walk around the Imperial palace and it’s gardens. Walk around the Ginza area and do some shopping. Book a show at the Kabuki-za Theatre  . Enjoy a sushi lunch. Take the metro to Akihabara, the world renowned electronics district, offering every imaginable high tech game and comic! .  Take the metro to Asakusa to visit Sensoji Temple and wander around the markets shopping for souvenirs.

Enjoy dinner in one of the Japanese style pubs in the Shinjuku area near your hotel.

Day 4 - Morning visit to the Ghibli museum

(ticket must be booked in advance as the museum is very popular.

Use public transport to get to Mitaka where the museum is located).   In the afternoon, visit Yanaka, the town of Art, where there are plenty of chic ateliers and galleries to look around.

Evening dinner cruise around Tokyo Bay (guided tour).

Day 5 -  Do it yourself day:

Take the subway to to Harajuku station and visit the Meiji Jingu Shrine ,  where the Meiji emperor is enshrined.  The Meiji Jingu Shrine is a great contrast to the hustle and noise of Tokyo with the forest of 120,000 evergreen trees blocking out the noise of the city.  As this is an active Shinto shrine it is possible to see Shinto wedding parties parading through the inner ground of the shrine. (usually at weekends, especially Sundays, or on auspicious days in the Japanese calendar). This is an amazing sight to see with the bride in the traditional Japanese wedding kimono (Uchikake), shrine maidens, Shinto priests and the wedding party with the women wearing gorgeous kimonos.

Afterwards, explore the Harajuku district. Harajuku Tokyo is a significant fashion and shopping region, famous for its Harajuku Girls and Harajuku fashion.  Opposite Harajuku Station, Takeshita-dori is a narrow street packed with young fashionable people and lined with fashion boutiques and cafes. This is definitely the place to be seen if you are young Tokyoite, but well worth visiting as a tourist. Takeshita-dori represents the cutting edge of fashion in Tokyo where you can see all the latest in Japanese street fashion and then buy in the boutiques.

Omote-Sando, which runs parallel to Takeshita-Dori, is where you can find a lot of fashionable boutiques and cafes for adults rather than the young. Here you will find "Oriental Bazaar" where you can find and buy a lot of Japanese souvenirs in one place. It's a must for foreigners!

Evening visit to Roppongi Hills to view modern Tokyo architecture, and night time Tokyo city view.

Day 6 – Visit to National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation.

Opened in 2001 on Odaiba, this fascinating educational museum provides hands-on exploration of the latest developments in cutting-edge science and technology, including interactions with robots, virtual-reality rides, a planetarium, and displays that suggest future applications such as non invasive medical procedures and an environmentally friendly home.

After the visit , we suggest a water bus tour from Odaiba to Ryogoku . Visit the Sumo museum, watch a Sumo Tournament (takes place in January, May and September and advance tickets are a must ) In the evening ,

enjoy a Chanko dinner (Chanko is the Sumo Wrestlers stew!).

Day 7 –Departure

or extend your stay to explore outside Tokyo, with one or two day trips available toNikko, Kamakura, Mt Fuji/Hakone & Kyoto and beyond to Hokkaido , Shikoku ,Kyushu and Okinawa

For a truly authentic Japanese experience , we recommend staying at a traditional Ryokan such as the Sadachiyo Ryokan at Asakusa