Shimbashi Hidden Gem Walking Tour

We had such a fun evening with Justin exploring the Shimbashi area! He was entertaining and gave us insights and tips about Japanese culture and food. He took us to places we would have not found ourselves. He was a thoughtful and attentive host. This Shimbashi food tour is highly recommended.

My husband and I took the Shimbashi Hidden Gem food tour with guide Hannah G in May 2026. This was honestly our favorite activity of our entire trip. The Shimbashi tour is unique because it takes place in the evening in an area of Tokyo where tourists don't frequent because it's a business and office work area. By chance, the other tour participants did not show up so it was just the two of us and the guide. I am a vegetarian and Hannah was so incredibly helpful in accommodating me while also not skimping on feeding my meat eater husband. She asked us what we were interested in and what foods we had been wanting to try on the trip and did her best to help us make that happen! We ate a variety of different things at many places and even had a sake tasting. My favorite was a small rotating sushi bar that was full of locals and chefs - a place I would have never had the courage or thought to go in myself. She was so knowledgeable and you could tell really cares about Japanese culture and all of the fun and interesting stories and facts she shared with us. We learned so much from her - not just about food but about Japanese folklore, lifestyle, work culture, family life, sake, and so much more. We added the extra karaoke session afterward and had a blast. I cannot recommend this tour enough! Hannah, if you are reading this, thank you!! We are so appreciative of our unforgettable experience and we had the best time.

Excellent tour with very knowledgeable guide (Emmanuel). He introduced the Izakaya culture, food and background and we had together an entertaining evening.

We had an excellent food tour with John on our second night of four in Tokyo. It was the perfect introduction to the best isakayas, restaurants and food in the area around our hotel. John was a great host - friendly, very knowledgeable (with an answer to all of our many questions!), and chose the tour spots perfectly. We had some delicious food, trying things we may not have been brave enough to on our own! The tour was around 3 hours and great value for money-we would highly recommend to all first time and even repeat visitors to this fabulous city and country! Arigato gozaimasu!

We had a lovely tour although the weather was dismal, pouring with rain! John took us to the salaryman’s district and the stories and information he held was fascinating. We were restricted to food because of my wife’s dietary requirements, but that we had was very tasty. The drink was good too and we were too engrossed to take more photos.

We booked a three-hour experience and were fortunate to have Rai as our guide. Despite the rain, he brought us to four fantastic spots, each unique and memorable. He even stayed an extra hour so we could complete the full tour. I would recommend it to anyone visiting.

Great experience, great food! Ethan was a very knowledgeable guide and a pleasure to spend a few hours with, visiting five or six small venues that we would never have found by ourselves.

Ethan was our guide for this incredible tour. He was engaging, knowledgeable, and was an all around great guide. The food and beverage selections were unique and of very good quality. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing the sights as we traveled from restaurant to restaurant. We highly recommend this tour.

Had a wonderful time on my first all-too-short trip to Japan and took two of Arigato’s food tours while in Tokyo. On my first night, I met up with our guide Ethan (also originally from Colorado!) and two others at Shimbashi Station, where we started our tour by learning about the history of the area. On the way to our first food stop, we detoured to a local shine & got to make an offering. (Thanks for teaching us the proper etiquette!) Over the next 3 hours we traveled small alleys to our food stops: a time-limited all-you-can-drink wine bar with flamed Wagyu & corn fritters; a sake bar; a place with skewers of veggies & seafood; another with shrimp-based ramen (you can order half noodles if you’re too full), then a taiyaki filled with sweet red bean for dessert on the street. Ethan warned us ahead of time, but it was still hard not to overindulge…you’ll definitely want to pace yourselves! (The shrine visit & taiyaki were unexpected bonuses as I planned both for later days.) It was a great way to end my first day in Tokyo / Japan!

Ray was amazing! He was very knowledgeable of the area, the restaurants and their owners. He mixed in some history and storytelling with our tour which was very helpful. Highly recommend!