Located 15 minutes west of Shinjuku Station, the city of Chofu is full of outdoor fun. In this walking tour, we will visit Fudaten Shrine and Nogawa River, famous for the beautiful natural landscape during any season. We will then see the famous Jindaiji Temple, and the Jindai Botanical Garden - well known to be Tokyo’s biggest rose garden and cherry trees. This is an excellent opportunity to escape the intensity of the central city and enjoy this truly off the beaten path private tour!
Chofu Station
10:15 AM - Fudaten Shrine: Visit the shrine considered a spiritual spot for locals
10:45 AM - Nogawa River: Enjoy the lovely scenery along the river, especially in early April when cherry blossoms are in full bloom.
11:00 AM - Jindaiji Temple: Explore the second oldest temple in the Tokyo metropolis and feel the Edo-charm in the traditional Japanese architecture.
11:45 AM - Soba Lunch near Sanmon gate, where traditional soba restaurants line the lanes and paths leading up to the temple.
12:45 AM - Jindai Botanical Garden - Home to the biggest rose garden in Tokyo and a variety of seasonal plants that transform during the seasons.
2:00 PM - Walk back to Chofu Station/or take the bus from Jindaiji Temple to Chofu Station.
2:30 PM - End of the tour.
Chofu Station
Yoko is one of the most reviewed tour guides on TripleLights and continues to gain excellent reviews from tourists. Rest assured you are in good hands with this Chofu walking tour! From Yoko’s knowledge and personal experience as a tour guide, she will provide you with great insight into the history and cultural aspects of the area. In this private tour, she will guide you through the history of the Fudaten Shrine and show you the shrine’s symbol of good fortune. Walking along the Nogawa River, you will feel the serenity and walk on the riverbed covered in grass and well-worn walking paths. At the Jindaiji area, Yoko will introduce to you the second oldest temple of Tokyo - Jindaiji Temple, its history, aesthetics and more. You can’t keep your eyes off the well-preserved Japanese architecture and the unique Soba dishes that draw tourists coming every day. Finally, at Jindai Botanical Garden, you can wander through the park’s 5,000 blossoming roses and many other exotic plants you can’t find elsewhere.
Guide fee
Lunch, transportation fares (you and guide) - if you take a bus: 210 yen for adult, 110 yen for a child. If you will go to Jindai Botanical Garden, the entrance fee is 500 yen for adult, 200 yen for junior high school students.
We had an amazing time in Tochigi with Yoko (her hometown). My husband and I were in Tokyo for our honeymoon and when I think of Tokyo in the winter, I think of one thing: strawberry season! And having done a homestay in Tochigi during my student years, I thought, “What better way to introduce Japanese strawberries to my husband than to bring him to a farm for all you can eat strawberry picking—and not just any strawberries, but the ultra rare Tochihime, known to be the sweetest and juiciest strawberry in Japan... so delicate that it can only be eaten in Tochigi itself?” However, it has been some time since my homestay so I found Yoko-san online who helped make it all happen (Big plus: Tochigi is her hometown)! It was a great escape from Tokyo for a day and totally worth it as we were also able to experience inaka-soba (country style soba) at Izuruya and visit the funky Shinshoga Museum (New Ginger Museum).
Thank you very much for your wonderful review, Felicity-san! I had a lovely time with you and your husband in Tochigi. Thank you for having me as your guide. I was happy to have helped you explore Tochigi on the tour as a part of your honeymoon. Tochigi is my home prefecture, but actually the places we visited were new to me. Furthermore I wasn't aware of Tochihime though Tochigi is famous for strawberries production. I learned from you a lot about my home prefecture! I'm grateful that you gave me such a great opportunity. I was impressed with your deep knowledge about Japan and culture, also your Japanese speaking skills. I hope you had a lovely honeymoon in Japan. I hope I can see you again in the near future. I hope both of you share a long and happy life together.
Excellent guide and more importantly a nice person.
Thank you so much for your great review, Ronald! I had a lovely time with you and your sons. It was a very beautiful day with clear sky, I hope you could see a beautiful Mt.Fuji from the Shinkansen going to Kyoto after our tour. I enjoyed talking with you very much, I'm grateful for your kindness. I hope you have a lovely journey in Japan and hope to see you again in the near future. Please take care!
We had such a lovely day with Yoko. She met us at the Yokohama Cruise Terminal and took us by train to Kamakura. She was very knowledgable and taught us alot about Japanese customs. We got to see alot more than we had planned which was a nice surprise. We had a lovely traditional Japanese lunch and we got back to the ship with time to spare so this took any stress away. Yoko went out of her way to accomodate our wishes.
Thank you very much for such a lovely review, Nicola! I had a lovely day with both of you in Kamakura. It was a very beautiful day and I was very glad that we could go to more places than we had planned. Thank you so much for your cooperation. Talking with you was fun and interesting, and I was pleased to have some similarities with you. I'm grateful for your kindness. I hope both of you come to Tokyo again in the near future and I can see you then.
My wife and I had a one day tour of Tokyo with Yoko; she was an outstanding host and smoothly introduced us to Japanese culture and many sites in Tokyo ; I cannot give her or triple lights a higher rating; Yoko is a true gem and our experiences with her will be treasured for many years ; we chose wisely and will miss her compassion and great smile............Ron and Lisa Marsh
Thank you very much for such a wonderful review, Ronald! I had a lovely day with you and Lisa. I'm pleased to hear that you enjoyed the tour with me. Talking with you was really interesting to me, the day with both of you was memorable for me. I'm grateful for your thoughtfulness. I hope you have a lovely journey in Japan. I hope you come to Tokyo again in the near future and see you then. Please take care.