A large wooden torii gate at the entrance to a dense forest in Tokyo
Signature Tours
Half day
Meiji Jingu to Shibuya

Signature Tour · Tokyo

Meiji Jingu to Shibuya

Tokyo’s quietest forest and its busiest crossing in one half day: Meiji Jingu, Harajuku, Omotesando and Shibuya.

Harajuku and Shibuya
240 minutes
Private, 1 to 6 guests
From $150 / person
View photos (7)
Overview The Area Itinerary Details Booking

Overview

Old Tokyo and new, two kilometres apart

Few cities change character as quickly as Tokyo does between Meiji Jingu and Shibuya. You start under the trees of a shrine forest planted by hand a century ago, and finish at the crossing that has become the image of modern Tokyo.

Along the way your guide explains how the shrine came to be, why Omotesando is lined with some of the city’s most daring architecture, and how Harajuku became the capital of street fashion.

The forest and main hall of Meiji Jingu
Takeshita Street and the backstreets of Harajuku
Omotesando’s architecture and Shibuya Crossing
A large wooden torii gate at the entrance to a dense forest in Tokyo

Length

Half day, 240 minutes

Starts

9:00 or 13:30

Meeting point

Harajuku Station (JR Yamanote Line), Omotesando Exit

Finishes

Shibuya Station

Walking

About 4 km, flat

Group

Private, 1 to 6 guests

Language

English, others on request

The area

A shrine forest and a fashion capital

The emperor who opened Japan

Emperor Meiji reigned from 1867 to 1912, the years in which Japan turned from a feudal state into a modern nation. The shrine was built for him and Empress Shoken after their deaths and dedicated in 1920.

A forest planned for a hundred years

The designers chose trees that would replace one another over time, so the woodland would look after itself. Today it covers about seventy hectares in the middle of the city.

From army housing to Harajuku

After the war, American military housing stood beside the shrine. It became the athletes’ village for the 1964 Olympics and then Yoyogi Park, and the streets around it grew into the centre of Tokyo’s youth fashion.

Shibuya, rebuilt

Since the 2010s Shibuya has been rebuilt around its station, with new towers and rooftop views over the crossing that made it famous.

Autumn trees line a busy city street with cars
low angle photography of white and brown temple

Itinerary

How the day unfolds

Starts at 9:00 or 13:30. The times below are from the start.

15 min

Meet at Harajuku Station

Your guide meets you at the station and walks you to the great wooden torii at the edge of the forest.

75 min

Meiji Jingu

The shrine was completed in 1920 for Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. Its forest, about 100,000 trees given from all over Japan and planted by volunteers, was designed to grow into a natural woodland, and a century later it has. Your guide shows you how to purify your hands, make an offering and read the wall of sake barrels given to the shrine.

30 min

Takeshita Street

Harajuku’s narrow shopping street, where Tokyo’s youth fashion was born, with crepe stands, vintage shops and the most inventive outfits in the city.

45 min

Omotesando

Laid out as the grand approach to the shrine, Omotesando is now an avenue of zelkova trees and landmark buildings by Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, SANAA and others, which your guide points out as you walk.

30 min

Cat Street

A quieter, winding lane of boutiques and cafés built over a small river that now runs beneath the street.

45 min

Shibuya Crossing

Finish with Hachiko, the faithful dog remembered outside the station, and the scramble crossing, where thousands of people cross from every direction each time the lights change.

Details

What’s included

Included

Private bilingual guide
Route planned around your interests
Photos taken along the way on request

Not included

Food and drinks
Shibuya Sky observation deck (can be added)
Shopping
A large wooden torii gate at the entrance to a dense forest in Tokyo The forest gate low angle photography of white and brown temple The main hall a wall covered in jars of various kinds of liquid Sake barrels Crowded street under a pink archway with music decorations Takeshita Street Autumn trees line a busy city street with cars Omotesando Crowds of people crossing the Shibuya scramble intersection at night in Tokyo Shibuya Crossing Cars driving through a neon-lit intersection in Shibuya, Tokyo, at night Shibuya at night

Booking

Book your day

Pick the number of guests and a date, then morning or afternoon. You pay securely on the next page.

Where we meet

A quiet corner of Bunkyo

The studio is in Suido, a residential part of Bunkyo Ward, well away from the neon districts. The streets are calm, which suits slow and careful work.

5 minutes on foot from Edogawabashi Station
Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line
Your guide meets you at the station exit

Prefer us to meet you at your accommodation? Let us know and we will take you door to door.

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Meiji Jingu to Shibuya

Harajuku and Shibuya
240 minutes
Private, 1 to 6 guests
From $150 / person
From $150 / person
Check availability