Tokyo: Japanese Shopping Secrets and Food Tastings Tour

Your 3-hour Tokyo tour begins in the Ningyocho neighborhood, a district known for its timeless traditions and, as you’ll discover right away, tasty treats. The fragrance of cinnamon will lead you to a shop that specializes in Japanese sweets. You’ll also stop at a little gift shop that carries traditional Japanese items, from calligraphy tools to decorative wares. If you’re hungry by this point, that’s good, as we’ll try some Ningyoyaki cakes, a true Tokyo specialty.

Next, you'll visit a shop that specialises in a traditional snack: senbei (rice crackers), a favourite in many Japanese households, which is happily gluten and dairy free. There are many other shops selling Japanese sweets, snacks, or drinks around this street. We especially recommend the Wagyu beef sukiyaki croquettes made by the famous sukiyaki restaurant Imahan. Your Tokyo tour guide will next show one of the 8 temples in Ningyocho. Visit a shrine where virtue, longevity, learning, and wealth are worshiped.

Visit the nearby neighborhood of Nihonbashi, predominantly a financial district that’s home to trading firms and the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Although Nihonbashi is very much a modern neighborhood, you’ll find many traditional Japanese shops hidden in its alleyways and even within its department stores.

We’ll visit a Japanese traditional Washi paper store that was established in 1653. After, we may visit the toothpick shop, the kitchen knife shop, brush shop, gold flake shop or Dashi (soup stock) Shop.