Shibamata: Beautiful Gardens and Good-Old-Days Downtown
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.
Itinerary
This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!
Meeting Point
At your hotel in Tokyo
Meeting Point
Pick up at your hotel or anyplace you’d like.
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.
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.
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.
Lunch
We can have lunch at a restaurant nearby as you like. There are noodle, tempura rice-bowl restaurants, etc.
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?
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This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.
Inclusions & Exclusions
Guide fee, hotel pick-up, guide’s transportation fee
Your transportation fee (about 1,500 yen per person), lunch (about 1,500 yen per person) and admission fee for you and guide
Tour Important Information
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.
Important message from the supplier
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.
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
About Tour Guide Chiaki K.
Welcome to Japan! My name is Chiaki. I’m a government licensed guide interpreter, a wife and mother of two grown-up children. I’ve been living in Tokyo for 30 years so I know the area well.
If you don’t want to miss popular “must see” places, wish to eat a variety of Japanese popular and delicious food, have particular interest in Japanese theatrical arts, architectures, gardens, tea ceremony and “kawaii” characters, or are tired of tourist spots and like to see the real life of people in Japan, I can help you.
My goal is to help you to make your stay in Japan as memorable and fulfilling as possible. If I can serve you to make your special trip more special, it will be my pleasure.
Reviews
Tina N.
“Tokyo - Private 6 Hour Day Tour by Chiaki ”
Chiaki's is Great!!!! My husband and I are very pleased with her guide on May 11, 2026. As we discussed, Chiaki met us at 10:30am 11/5/26, at our APA Hotel. She had everything ready: the address of places that we love to see and things that we would like to do. Chiaki is very sharp, patience, with full of experiences. During our tour, we learned and become friends. Thanks Chiaki so much for going beyond to make sure that we're understood and knew everything we needed. Thanks Chiaki so much for giving us the opportunity to learn more about the Japan's rich cultures and honest peoples. We highly respect and definitely will refer Chiaki to our friends, relatives for Travel Guidance & services. Best regards, Tina & Harvey Nguyen
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Chiaki K.
Thank you so much Tina, for your beautiful and thoughtful review! I’m truly happy to hear that you and Harvey liked the day we were together. I’m sure you enjoyed your tours to Ashikaga flower park and Mt. Fuji, too. Your kind words mean so much to me. I’m especially touched that you felt we became friends during the tour. Thank you for your warmth, curiosity, and wonderful company throughout the day. And I’m glad that you posted the photos of you. They remind me the lovely day with you! I’m very grateful for your recommendation! I hope you carry many happy memories of Japan, and go back home safely and smoothly tomorrow! Arigato!
Maria M.
“Great visit to Asakusa and tea ceremony with Chiaki”
First, I want to emphasize how kind Chiaki is and the great tea ceremony experience that Chiaki took us to. It was the highlight of our afternoon in Asakusa. Chiaki did a great job translating for us everything related to the ceremony which was not a touristy spot but a very authentic place. On the other hand, in all honesty, I believe that tour guides in Japan could do a much better job talking about the areas visited, history of the area, cultural relevance, specially when you pay for a private tour guide. We hire tour guides to learn and not just to be chaperoned from one place to another with very little context. With google nowadays that kind of tour guide is not necessary. Definitely not a good value.
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Chiaki K.
Dear Maria, thank you very much for your honest feedback and for your kind words about the tea ceremony experience. I’m truly pleased to hear that you enjoyed visiting such an authentic and special place. I also sincerely appreciate your constructive comments regarding the historical and cultural information shared during the tour. I understand your expectations for a private guide, and I’m sorry that I did not fully meet them on this occasion. Your feedback is valuable to me, and I will certainly reflect on it as I continue improving my tours so that guests receive what they expect. Thank you again for taking the time to share your thoughts. I wish you many wonderful travels ahead.
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Chiara M.
“Excellent first day in Tokyo with Chiaki”
Chiaki was a brilliant guide and a very nice person. She showed us around the city and explained the subway. She had an interesting and varied itinerary, was very knowledgeable and was happy to go at our own pace, making unscheduled detours and helping us discover this incredible city.
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Chiaki K.
Dear Chiara, thank you so much for your wonderful review! I’m truly happy to hear that you enjoyed my tour. We expected rain, but it was not bad, only started on the way to the last site, Nezu shrine. It was a real pleasure for me exploring Tokyo with you and your beautiful sons, and I wish you will spend many more exciting days in Japan! Arigato!
$114/ per group
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