Sakuramochi, a Cherry Cake, is one of the most famous Japanese traditional sweets, which is wrapped in a salt-pickled cherry leaf, filled with red bean paste. They say, this shop founded the first Sakuramochi in Edo era. Why it is wrapped with salt-pickled leaf? Probably, somebody looked to a lot of leaves on ground, fallen from cherry blossom trees, and thought to use them for some food. *On Monday, we visit another Japanese sweet shop.
This temple is a part of Sensoji, founded in 595. There are many images of a “daikon (Japanese radish)” and a pouch in the temple.The daikon represents our minds trapped in deep ignorance, emanating poison of anger, but by offering a daikon to temple, that poison will be purged from our body and soul. The pouch is a symbol of treasure, and it represents the gift of prosperity in business. There is a beautiful garden, which is authentic Japanese style, in the temple. You can ride a small transportation (like a train) to go to the main building instead of walking up stairs.
Founded in 1063, this shrine is now a “Power spot”, that is popular for persons who want lovers or marriage partners. (Power Spot = Sacred place) ・ Beckoning Cat, Fortune Cat They say, the first beckoning image was found in this shrine. We Japanese believe that beckoning cats brings great fortune, Such as business prosperity, family happiness. Cat ’s left paw brings many customers. Right paw brings money.
This is a museum exhibiting a lot of Japanese traditional handicrfts. You can see how wonderful our craftsmanship is.
Cycling in front of the Kaminarimon gate, Sensoji (Asakusa) temple . Leave bikes, and enjoy walking inside the temple.
Walking in the Japanese traditional garden, built in the 17th century.
Cycling in front of the Ryogoku Sumo stadium. We may have a time to take pictures.
Cycling through the park towards the Tokyo Skytree.
Cycling under the tower.
Old fashioned shopping malls where you can see the daily lives of Japanese.
Even though we had been exploring Tokyo for a week on our own, Takeshi showed us plenty of new sights (and tastes!). A bonus: the seemingly-small bicycles were perfect for navigating the city streets. Would certainly recommend!
Takeshi was a very nice guide. He took pictures along the way and explained the significance of each of the places we stopped. It was quite fun to see Tokyo from a bike and get to ride through residential neighborhoods alongside locals.
Excellent bike tour of Tokyo! More interesting to go through back streets like locals to appreciate their lived experiences, & learn of unique spots that tourists would not discover on their own. Our guide was fabulous, knowledgeable & friendly!
We could make this tour. The Meeting Point was not correct. Provider gave us a second meeting place. This was not correct. Talked to provider. His English was not good. Tour was meant to be of Tokyo. Meeting place was in distance suburb. Strange that tour had 120 reviews, all but one 5 out of 5. Only one rating is 4.9. Reviews have similar wording. Have doubts.
It is a great way to see a nice part of tokyo. We have spencer about 4,5 hours with a personal guide
We loved touring around the back streets of Tokyo and learning about the different sites of worship. For non- cyclist in our group, 4 hours was a bit long… maybe cut it down to 3 hours + include a lite meal towards the end. Were we all pretty hungry when we finished. Our guide was super knowledgeable.
Very knowledgeable guide, you literally take the back streets to get to a good few landmarks. Would absolutely recommend! Bonus points if you can do this on the first few days of your Tokyo visit!
Great way to see the city and get some understanding of Tokyo. Our guide was friendly and knowledgeable.
Very interesting and authentic bike tour. A great introduction if you are visiting Tokyo for the first time. The bikes are very well maintained and ride smoothly. Absolutly recommended.
Nicola was a very knowledgeable guide. We enjoyed all of the stops along the tour and used the bikes afterwards to continue to explore.
This is a great way to see some of Tokyo city. The bikes are in great condition and Tokyo is very cycle friendly so you feel safe. Takashe was a wonderful guide and made our day a fun and memorable one. Highly recommend this tour.
This tour takes you to see many interesting places in the tour guide is flexible and will take you to places that you want to see as well as all the ones he recommends. We saw a candy making store and an artisan museum and shop, we saw an Old fashioned bath house and shopping area, we went to sky Tree, he bought a traditional sweet for us that tasted amazing and it was bought at a 300-year-old sweet shop store. The bike ride itself was beautiful along the water and we visited many Japanese gardens and even the site of the sumo tournament. Highly recommend!
This was an wonderful introduction to Tokyo with insights into what makes it special. Takeshi was a fabulous guide. He was informative and interesting and created the right level of biking and engagement with the environs. We would highly recommend this experience.
This was such a wonderful tour! We loved seeing a side of Tokyo we wouldn’t otherwise see. It was jam packed with history and local insight. Takeshi went above and beyond in giving us the full experience- we even had tea and dango by the river and met some fun locals! It felt really authentic, something we usually wouldn’t see as tourists. Takeshi was an amazing guide. I highly recommend booking this tour!
Great tour. It was exciting to ride around the backstreets of Tokyo and see local life, away from the hustle and bustle of downtown.
Takeshi is a knowledgeable guide who took me to various parts of Tokyo i wouldnt have seen otherwise. Bike was comfortable and easy to ride. He also took photos which he emailed after. Handy as a solo traveller.
This was a great tour through the Tokyo back streets and past some key tourist sites. Delicious snacks and a well informed guide. I will recommend this trip to friends and family.
I had an amazing time with Takeshi and my partner on our bike tour of Tokyo and the Sumida/Asakusa area. We started a bit late because of a no-show group that was supposed to join us, but we got to see everything with plenty of breathing room between sights. The temple and shrine we visited at the beginning were extremely cool, quiet, and unique. I loved how our guide gave us a primer on the differences and how to show respect at a shrine versus a temple. This was the first thing we did in Japan and it really set the right tone. I highly recommend! The biking was not strenuous and I felt safe the whole time.
A really great ride with Takeshi! We covered some ground and saw 10x more than we would have on foot. Takashi was a great guide and gave good explanations.
Great way to see some key sights in Tokyo from a Japanese person and fight jet lag at the same time.
We had a great experience exploring the neighborhoods! Takeshi gave us lots of insight along the way. It was fun to experience the many small streets and pathways that connect the communities, while also seeing the more popular sites. We rode at a nice steady pace and stayed warm despite the colder temperatures. We would highly recommend doing this tour!
What a wonderful experience biking around the local neighborhoods and enjoying the company of our great tour guide, Takeshi! One of the highlights of our trip to Japan! Definitely recommend :)
Was ill and couldn’t attend, wouldn’t offer refund. I could have provided a doctors note but no understanding was provided
This tour was the perfect introduction to Tokyo. We loved riding through the back streets and seeing things we wouldn’t normally see. It was a great mix of things (a shrine, temple, major sites, craft and a food alley). My kids (age 12 and 10) loved it too and there was a good mix of riding and breaks. The riding itself was easy, as it’s mostly flat. I would recommend wearing gloves in winter! Takeshi was the perfect host and a bonus was he shared all the photos he took of us! We’d recommend this to anyone wanting to see real Tokyo!
Takeshi showed us all the sites and we had a wonderful experience. He was very patient with all of our questions. Thanks Take!
I enjoyed this tour very much! The tour begins at a more traditionally and iconically urban area of Japan. We’d ride through the beautiful river, stop by for snack & tea, temples and shrines including the famous one in Asakusa. The tour culminated at the bottom of the Sky Tree Tower. In addition, we passed by beautiful alleyways, one of which has the best taroyaki! Throughout the journey, we’d stopped by popular parks where locals and visitors would go, and have some time to explore them. Overall, this is a great tour to get you introduced to the urban and historic parts of Tokyo. I highly recommend it!
Wonderful guide and the small group format is wonderful. Good insights on how this amazing society functions while visiting a bunch of interesting but less well known historical sights. Traffic free route mostly. Good bikes for city rides.
Takeshi has created a bike tour that is very much worth your while. He is a kind and gentle man, very knowledgeable, helpful and speaks outstanding English (his wife teaches it). He has created a fun afternoon that hits a number of conventional attractions like the Tokyo Skytree observation tower but also touches upon the attractions of the Sumida area, in the north of Tokyo. The backstreets really refers to the understanding of how Tokyo residents actually live. A highlight for me was the Yasuda Garden, an oasis of serenity right in the middle of a lively and bustling neighbourhood. There is some good exercise in the tour, pretty much all on flat ground on ingenious folding bikes and often by the river or canals. It was a great afternoon and we recommend this tour strongly.
导游很好，很有经验，也很耐心。是一个很特殊的一次体验。推荐骑行爱好者来体验。 Very knowledgeable and nice tour guide and a very special experience indeed, would recommend anybody into cycling to try this.
My sister and I did the Backstreet Tours cycling trip in Tokyo, and we really enjoyed it. It’s a great way to explore parts of the city that you wouldn’t usually visit, and it gives you a sense of how locals live in their neighborhoods. Being on a bike meant we could see a lot more in a short amount of time. Overall, it was a really good experience (albeit on the hot side) and we’d definitely recommend!
We have been to Tokyo pretty often but this is the very first time we could ride in the back streets in Tokyo. Thanks to the patient guidance of Mr Akiyama Takeshi, we have reached and explored many places tourists normally would not know, and saw the beauty of those places. Part of the route was along the Sumida River that leads to the historical district Asakusa, our favorite place in Tokyo. We will definitely do it once again next time.
The Guide was very nice and friendly! He gave us water and a snack before starting the ride. Also he was very attentive to our needs and took nice photos. Nice tour to see the neighborhoods (which walking would take much longer). Everyone from all age ranges can participate as the route is easy to follow and the bikes are comfortable.
Enjoyed the tour- fairly laid back compared to other bike tours- trying to think of the reason- locations we stopped, afternoon summer heat or connection with guide? Either way- if looking for something a little more low key while seeing a section of Tokyo this is terrific!
We had a memorable time on this tour with our family. Our 9 year old rode a tandem bike with my husband and my kids (12, 14) had their own bikes. The bike ride was easy. Mr. Takeshi gave us a great backstreet tour of Tokyo. We had to cut our tour short due to rain but the rain only made it even more memorable. We would absolutely do it again!
Takeshi is an incredible guide! He is very knowledgeable and helpful! His tour of Tokyo was very unique! Everyone should do this!
We always try to join a bike tour when we travel cities. This was by far the best one yet! The route chosen was truly a backstreet, off the beaten path route. The tour guide was so friendly, and informative. He truly made the tour amazing and memorable.
We had a wonderful afternoon with Takeshi-san exploring Sumida and Asakusa - radish temple, cat shrine, octopus street food, a 300 year old sweet shop, and much more including the beautiful, tranquil Kyu Yasada Gardens. Takeshi-san is knowledgeable and enthusiastic and great company as we cycled around. We covered nearly 15kms with ease as it’s mainly flat. Highly recommended and the highlight of our Tokyo stay.
Loving this biking tour! Takeshi san is very informative and passion in sharing the history of the town during the tour. Enjoyed every sightseeing points and the experience in whole. Only complaint is Viator said it is a private biking tour but ended up having another traveler joining us, without any prior notice!
The guide was friendly and very informative. We enjoyed the tour very much. Highly recommended it. Except it turned out to not a private group. But lucky another guest was a wonderful person.
We had such an amazing time on our bike tour! From the delicious cherry cake to the off the beaten path shrines, temples, gardens, and neighborhoods, our tour was a highlight of our time in Tokyo. We feel so grateful to our guide who showed us places and taught us insights that we never would have seen otherwise! We can’t recommend this enough.
I had a wonderful backstreet tour and saw some different sites I would not have on my own. The owner/guide is super personable and knowledgeable. This was the first time on a fold up bike and it was so much fun!! Highly recommend this tour!!
We really enjoyed seeing the backstreets and learning about local culture. The tour was a good mix of bike riding and sight seeing.
What a wonderful time we had. Learnt about the culture and history relating to the area and got to try a few Japanese treats. Great balance of riding and resting or stopping to view the sites. Thanks again and would definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a tour to do in Japan.
Amazing cycling tour. Taka took his time explaining the various stops, such as the temples, the Japanese traditions, the sky tree tower, etc. Taka is very nice and shares stories, as well as adapts to children. Will highly recommend. Super tour en vélo. Taka prend son temps, en expliquant les différents stops - les traditions japonaises, les temples, le sky tower. Taka est très gentil et s’adapte aux enfants. Nous recommandons vivement
A fantastic way to see a part of Tokyo that isn’t overcrowded. Takeshi was a knowledgeable guide who took us through the back streets and answered all our questions. I highly recommend this as a part of your visit to Tokyo.
Sharing a glimpse of Asakusa and Sumida way of living, bicycle safely with our guide Take. We also have taken really memorable pictures under Sakura
This is a must do in Tokyo! Superbly led, intimate, playful, and full on exciting expedition exploring the streets, alleys, parks, temples, schools, foods, rituals, and treasures of modern life in Tokyo. We had a great time!!!
Oh man. This is absolutely mandatory if it’s your first time in Tokyo! And even if it’s not, my friend who lives here in Tachikawa said he had never done or seen anything that we did other than our brief stop by SkyTree! I truly felt immersed in Japan the way that a local might on their commute, sans the stress. The tour had great educational moments, sightseeing moments, and purchase opportunities. I could not ask for anything better. Highly recommend.
I highly recommend this tour!! There were so many locations that you reach through the tour. Since you're on a bike, you're able to see so much of Tokyo in the allotted time over a walking tour. The best part is the only prerequisite is that you know how to ride a bike! The tour will take you from exciting temples to the quaint neighborhoods around the area. It also comes with a small dessert to enjoy. Our tour guide, Takeshi, was super knowledgeable and answered any questions we had! He even went above and beyond with answering additional questions we had by researching them and emailing us after the tour with his recommendations.
The tour was very personal, pleasant, and a great way to see the city. The bikes were nice, and the riding was at a pleasant pace that allowed us to see lots of sights. The tour guide was very friendly, and gave us lots of interesting and useful information.
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