The best way to experience Tokyo is with your own private tour guide from ToursByLocals. Our local guides have created private tour itineraries that will help you see the best of the world's largest metropolitan area. Or if you already know exactly what you want to see and do, your guide will design a day around your wishes.

And with no other people on your tour you can adjust the schedule and the pace of the day to fit your interests. Feel free to 'ask your guide' if there are special things you want to do.

Choose from the Tokyo tours offered by ToursByLocals, but feel free to suggest alternative places and activities. Your private tour can be customized by your personal guide to include exactly what you want to see and do in Tokyo.

Tokyo

Tokyo Contemporary Architecture: Harajuku, Omotesando, and Aoyama (3 hour walking tour)

Tokyo offers many architectural gems as Japan has produced myriads of world famous architects. In 2024, another Japanese architect had the honour of being listed in the prestigious Pritzker Prize.

This tour's main focus is to visit these architectural sites in Harajuku, Omotesando and the neighbouring towns by starting at Prada that is an iconic building of the neighbourhood.
In the area, most of the buildings are contemporary architecture that accentuate these cultural and trendy towns where fashionistas gather.

On top of the basic fixed places to visit, I will pick up some extra places according to the customers' interests.

Note:
- Some sites view from outside and we will not go in.
- Admissions of facilities are subject to the opening of the facilities (e. g. , Nezu Museum closes on Mondays; Okamoto Taro Memorial Museum closes on Tuesdays. Also, change of exhibits at each museum, etc. )

Dubbed "Japanese Picasso" Okamoto Taro Memorial Museum (admission optional)

COMME des GARÇONS designed by UK's Future System

Japanese's favorite confectioner Yoku Moku cafe

Tessen Nohgaku Hall with board formed concrete wall

Star architect Kengo Kuma's famous Nezu Museum (admission optional)

Collezione by Pritzker Laureate Tadao Ando

Discover Cultural Tokyo with a private tour (3 hours)

Tokyo Architecture Tour - 4-hour Walking in Harajuku/Omotesando

Tokyo is a mix of history and modern technology. I am an architecture lover, and will show you around Tokyo, focusing on worth-visiting architectural sites, from buildings with several-hundred-year history to innovative fashionable buildings by world famous architects. By this tour, you can learn characteristics and philosophy of traditional Japanese architecture and can actually visit modern buildings, while feeling the influence of traditional architecture over modern buildings.

The standard itinerary will visit Harajuku and Omotesando. If you have some places in your mind, please feel free to contact me - we might be able to visit them additionally.

Detailed document with photos and map is also available.

Note: For your photos of the buildings in daylight, please remember that Tokyo's sunset is between 4:30 (winter) and 7:00 (spring to summer).

National Olympic Stadium for 1964 Games (Kenzo Tange)

Entrance of Meiji Jingu Shrine (Enter the premises and walk closer to the shrine buildings)

Sunny Hills Minami Aoyama Store (Kengo Kuma; if time allows)

Visiting Old and New Architectural Sites in Tokyo

An architecture tour focusing on toilets may seem like a crazy idea at first, but the some of the top names in Japanese architecture joined a project to redesign public restrooms in Tokyo's Shibuya district. This is a great way to look at some of their latest works. Previously very dirty and hardly ever used by the public, the new designer toilets have changed the way we look at public toilets. The itinerary will allow for a quick sample of the different styles of each of the architects including Tadao Ando and Kengo Kuma. A total of 17 toilets were completed within a span of 4 years, from 2020-2023.
The additional bonus of the tour is that it will involve strolling through some interesting neighborhoods such as Ebisu, Yoyogi Hachiman and Shoto, which you might otherwise miss. 

Project featuring top architects and designers in Japan to renovate Shibuya's public toilets

Tokyo Toilet Tour

Tokyo is a unique city known for its modern and contemporary architecture, unlike any other in the world. The city boasts a variety of buildings designed by renowned architects like Kenzo Tange, Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, SANAA, Kengo Kuma, and Sou Fujimoto, among others.

The Tokyo Architecture Tour takes you on a journey to explore these intriguing buildings and appreciate their design with the help of a professional guide who will provide explanations. You will be amazed by the fantastic architecture in Tokyo that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world.

In addition to appreciating the buildings, the tour also provides insight into the urban development of Tokyo and the Japanese aesthetic sense behind the design of the buildings.

Harajuku tours

Explore with 4 tours and 4 guides.

Yoko T.

$ 281 (USD)

Chiaki K.

$ 260 (USD)

Ken T.

$ 211 (USD)

Akio T.

$ 422 (USD)

Meet your local guides in Harajuku

Customize your tour