Walking
Tours
The Tokyo Tourist Information Office (tel: (03)
3201 3331) publishes a leaflet, ‘Walking Tour Courses
in Tokyo’, explaining walking routes in several main
areas of the city. Asakusa’s Goodwill Guide Club
provides a free 1-hour English-language walking tour of this historical
area every Sunday afternoon, starting from its offices on 2–18–9
Kaminarimon, Taito-ku. Details are available from the Asakusa
Cultural and Sightseeing Centre (tel: (03) 3842 5566).
Bus Tours
Hato
Bus (tel: (03) 3435 6081; fax: (03) 3433 1972), JTB
Sunrise Tours (tel: (03) 5796 5454; fax: (03) 5495 0680) and
Japan
Gray Line (tel: (03) 3433 5745; fax: (03) 3433 8388) all provide
a wide range of half-day, full-day and evening bus tours, with English-speaking
guides.
For example, Hato Bus offers a half-day (09:00–12:30)
‘Tokyo Morning Tour’ which departs
everyday from the Hamamatsucho Bus Terminal. The
tour costs ¥5000 and visits several sights,
such as the Tokyo Tower and the Imperial
Palace Plaza, as well as driving through many of the cities
lively shopping districts. Free hotel pick-up is available. Full
day tours normally cost approximately ¥10,000.
Boat Tours
The
Tokyo Cruise Ship Company (tel: (03) 3841 9178) operates a frequent
waterbus service along the Sumida River, between
Asakusa, the Hama Rikyu Gardens,
Hinode Pier and Odaiba. The journey
takes 40 minutes and costs ¥660
(one way). The company also operates a range of
other waterbus services around Tokyo Bay, lasting
between 5 and 55 minutes
and costing ¥200–800.
Vingt-et-Un
Cruises (tel: (03) 3436 2121) and Symphony
Cruises (tel: (03) 3798 8101) offers 2-hour daytime and evening
boat cruises around Tokyo Bay. The tours cost, on average, ¥5000
and ¥3000 respectively. Symphony Cruises
depart from the Hinode Pier, while Vingt-et-Un
cruises start from Takeshiba Pier.
Half Day Excursions
Kamakura
A small coastal town surrounded
by wooded hills, approximately ten kilometres (six miles) south
of Tokyo, Kamakura was once the seat of Japan’s 1st military
government, the Kamakura Shogunate of 1192 to 1333. Well known for
the imposing 12 metre-high (39 feet) Great Buddha, which dates to
the mid 13th century, the town also contains many fine Zen
temples, the impressive Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu
Shrine and the nearby National Treasure Hall, which displays significant
Buddhist art of the Kamakura period. Pleasant hiking
paths snake through the surrounding hills and the
beach is a favourite sunbathing and windsurfing spot in summer.
Trains regularly run to Kamakura from Tokyo Station and Shinagawa
Station, on the Yokosuka line (journey time – about 1 hour).
The Tourist Information Office in Tokyo (tel: (03) 3201 3331) offers
a leaflet, Hakone and Kamakura, with information on transport and
sights.
Whole Day Excursions
Nikko
Among Japan’s most famous tourist attractions and a UNESCO
World Heritage Site, Nikko is celebrated for the vividly
ornate mausoleum of the 1st shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu (died
1616), who was the model for the fictional warlord of the novel
Shogun by James Clavell. The intricately carved, elaborately painted
and gilded gates, halls and storehouses of the mausoleum –
called the Toshogu Shrine – presently appear somewhat gaudy
but, as a mid 17th century political representation of shogunal
power, they were truly a reflection of the times.
Located amid an ancient cedar forest, the sprawling complex also
includes Futarasan Shrine, Rinnoji Temple and the
smaller, somewhat less elaborate, mausoleum of the third shogun,
Tokugawa Iemitsu. A combination entry ticket for
all four attractions can be purchased. Beyond Nikko lies Lake
Chuzenji and the amazing Kegon Waterfall,
reached by a one-hour bus journey up a scenic mountain road of hairpin
bends.
Nikko is located approximately 150 kiloemtres (93 miles) north of
Tokyo and trains depart several times an hour from Asakusa Tobu
Station on the privately operated Tobu Nikko line
(tel: (03) 3621 5202). The trip takes approximately 2 hours. JR
Rail Pass holders might prefer to ride the slightly longer
route of the JR Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo Station or Ueno
Station to Utsunomiya, switching there to a local train for Nikko.
The Tourist Information Office in Tokyo (tel: (03)
3201 3331) provides a leaflet, Nikko, with details on transport
and sights, while the information desk in Tobu Nikko Station (tel:
(0288) 534 511) offers leaflets and an English map.
Hakone
The Fuji-Hakone National Park, only 80 kilometres
(50 miles) southwest of Tokyo, boasts a spectacular landscape of
lakes, mountains and cultural attractions – for example the
impressive open-air art museum – and (assuming the weather
co-operates) the bonus of spectacular views of Mount Fuji. The popular
circular route through the area by toy train, cable car and boat,
runs through forests and old spa villages before whisking visitors
high over sulphurous volcanic valleys and ending with a leisurely
cruise on scenic Lake Ashino.
The Hakone Free Pass costs about ¥5000
(depending on the starting point) and permits unlimited travel on
the area’s transport network. Hakone can be reached by Shinkansen
Kodama ated Odakyu line, which departs from Tokyo’s Shinjuku
Station.
The Tourist Information Office in Tokyo (tel: (03)
3201 3331) offers a leaflet, Hakone and Kamakura, with details on
transport and sights. |
