Tokyo Tour Imperial Palace, Sake, Robots, Gardens and Edo Museum

Your first destination will be a combined walking tour of the area of Tokyo station, the outer walls and gate of the Imperial Palace, and the Westernised park of Hibiya. Your guide will also take you to a hidden rooftop terrace where you can see amazing views of Tokyo Station, the Tokyo Skyline and passing trains from above!

We will then walk to our second destination, a modern and stylish Sake and Shochu centre where you can sample many types of Sake, Shochu and Amazake (a non-alcoholic rice drink). Your guide will provide you with some facts about Japan’s national drinks, and we will enjoy a relaxing time sitting and tasting. The centre plays bi-lingual documentaries on the brewing process which you can also enjoy! If you have children on the tour, our tour guide will provide some soft drinks/juice options for them to drink.

Now that you’ve had your lunch break, we will now take a refreshment break like no other at a Robot Cafe! Here you can order a drink of your choice and enjoy being served by robots! They have hot and cold drinks to suit everybody. As you enjoy your drink in the Cafe seating area (not the diner area), you can watch as the robots around the cafe serve customers! This cafe is unique in that all the robots are controlled remotely by employees who are living with disabilities and therefore can only work from home. The remote staff speak to you through the robots. The cafe gives employment opportunities to those unable to work in physically demanding jobs and helps tackle social isolation, so you can be happy knowing you are helping to support a great cause! You can even have a try at controlling one of the small robots to see what it’s like for the staff who control them remotely!

Our final destination will be a nearby museum! However, this isn’t like a regular museum. It is a to scale and life sized replica of a traditional Edo period townscape! You will be transported back in time as we walk through the townscape, where you can enter all the houses and buildings, as well as interact with the objects and artefacts on display. It is a great way to learn about how Japanese people lived during the Edo period and how Tokyo used to look. The sounds and lights will change depending on the time of day to make it feel more authentic. You can even sometimes try Kimono on here, so if we’re lucky we can dress up in traditional clothing.

We will now catch the train to the area of Kuramae and Kiyosumi, a trendy area and hidden gem off the beaten path from many tourists! Our first stop here will be a traditional and beautiful Japanese Edo period garden where you can walk around and enjoy the nature that surrounds you. The garden has many features of a traditional Japanese garden including rocks, bridges, rest house and Bonsai. You can also see Turtles, Suppon and Heron here! Let’s enjoy the serenity, nature and wildlife here! You can also get a commemorative stamp here as a souvenir of your day!