Private Ginza Architecture Walking Tour

Taka was incredibly friendly and informative. We loved the architectural knowledge he had and the opportunity to go inside many of the buildings. We covered numerous buildings. Very much worth the tour!

Yoko was educational and awesome! We appreciate her time and dedication to the tour, would recommend!! My Daughter and I attended and although we are different ages, we both got along with Yoko very well and found the tour really interesting. If you're looking into architecture as a career path i would highly recommend, once again.

Yoko was very accommodating and we learned a lot about Japanese history and architecture. I highly recommend it!

Preferring not to join a big tour group on my first visit to Tokyo, I instead discovered the joys of a themed walking tour with a Showcase Tokyo Architecture tour of Ginza. My guide Yuka is passionate and extremely knowledgeable about architecture as well as Japanese history - and took me to buildings and back alleys I would never have seen or appreciated without her expert guidance. I learnt so much the history of Ginza itself, and about the background and concepts behind some of the iconic architectural gems of the area - both old and new. The Swatch building, with its individual glass elevators taking clients to niche boutiques, the stunning Hermes building, the shimmering Louis Vuitton building, Ginza 6 complex. Yuka shared her deep knowledge of these buildings - how the light is refracted off the LV facade, for example; the “curtain” of 33,000 glass tiles produced in Milan for the Hermes building to make it earthquake proof! Yuka explained the history of Tokyo’s Kabuki theatre, the families of Kabuki actors, and we admired the new high rise tower that is constructed in perfect linear harmony behind it. We also went into narrow back alleys behind Ginza, complete their own tiny Buddhist temples. Yuka is great company, an outstanding guide, a great communicator. I highly recommend Showcase Architecture Tokyo’s Ginza walking tour.

Delightful and informative tour with Mari. We are not trained in architecture but thought this would be an interesting way to experience Ginza. We were so right! Mari gave us an insightful introduction and explanation of what we were seeing, took us inside some great locations that we would likely have walked past, and indulged our particular interest in visiting the Yamaha flagship store where we had a rest at the cafe and got to explore a bit. I’m sure that Mari had much more substance to share than we were prepared to digest, but she graciously tolerated our novice level of knowledge and provided the interesting, insightful, and informative tour we were hoping for.

Ginza is a thriving commercial area with several luxury brands having commissioned world class architects to create statement buildings. Yuki was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. It was a great experience

Ginza has such amazing architecture! Hiring a private guide can find some real delights! Our guide, Taka Yamamura-San, was so knowledgeable and informative! He’s an urban planner who knows Ginza very well and provided great background and history on almost a dozen different buildings and sites. We’ve visited Ginza over 20 times and learned so much more from him than just seeing an interesting building. He also informed us of exciting ideas on how Ginza was evolving for the future. If you are at all interested in architecture, I highly recommend this tour as a great way to enjoy the beauty of Ginza.

Yoshi was a great guide! You get to see a entire different view of the city! Looking up instead of forward or down you can learn so much.

Our guide was wonderful in every respect. She explained everything clearly and answered all our questions. She was a joy to be with.

The secret to know Japan well is to have local guides (Brazilian or Q speak your language) to pass the most information, curiosities and tips of the city. In Tokyo I had the Guide Letícia ,excellent professional, a lot of knowledge and empathy! In Kyoto was Kimi, wonderful!

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