Private Tour - Thousands of lucky cats! Go by tram, Gotokuji Tour
Description
Setagaya is a quiet residential area 3min by a tram from central Tokyo. You may know that the Setagaya area is now getting a popular tourist destination on SNS as a photogenic spot. Gotokuji has many dedicated Manekineko figurines which are rare in Japan. We will take you around the Gotokuji temple and other cultural venues related to its history. Manekineko is a traditional figurine that is said to bring happiness so they may bring you luck. If you are lucky enough, you will see the real cats at the temple! Of course, not only the temple but also you can enjoy other historical places and local cuisines. Enjoy the atmosphere and walk through the shopping district loved by the locals.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Shoin Shrine: A shrine dedicated to Shoin Yoshida who was an educator and philosopher in the 19th century. There are stone lanterns and a stage for playing music to the gods. Feel the holy atmosphere.
Shoin Shrine Street shopping district: A shopping district with long-established shops and some with interesting items - full of shops you want to drop-in and visit.
Setagaya Daikanyashiki: A Japanese traditional mansion of a clan who ruled the area in the Edo era (1700~1900 AD). You will feel as if you've gone back in time and are visiting a Japanese person's home because the place has been kept as an upper-class residence!
Setagaya Local History Museum: Let's learn Setagaya's history at the museum located next to Setagaya Daikanyashiki. You can learn about literature and paintings from the Edo era, as well as the history of the 500 year old market.
Gotokuji temple: Do you know about manekineko (beckoning cat) which is a cat figurine thought to bring good luck and success in business? Gotokuji is the Zen sect temple with a history of 600 years and is said to be the originator of manekineko. In the temple, you will find many manekineko which are dedicated by people whose dreams came true. You may be able to get some luck!
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- All transportation costs, entrance fees, food and drink costs, etc. incurred at the visited spots, will be borne by the customer.
- Tour finishing spot is different from starting spot. Please let your tour guide know if you would like to change the finishing spot.
- Please understand that tour spots might be changed to alternative spots in case of temporary closure.
- Some of the spots we will visit on the day do not accept credit cards. Please remember to bring cash.
- Lunch is not included in this tour.
- If the weather is bad on the day, there is a possibility that the means of transportation, destinations, and routes may be changed.
Reviews(16)
Helpful and sweet guide. We enjoy the trip. Pleasant and helpful guide, Yoriko is a pleasant well-adult lady who possesses a lot of historical knowledge.
Very kind guide. Yoriko speaks English well and is super sweet. We had a bit of a hurry and had to go a bit earlier then we had planed, and she was fully understandable of that. Great trip
We had a very nice guided tour with Yoriko. She had a lot of knowledge about both modern and ancient Japanese history, and also spoke good English. I highly recommend Yoriko.
Kei did a great job. He is very friendly and knowledgable. We were very grateful he spoke english well! He is a great tour guide and knows his way around. He was very helpful with us for using transit! Really enjoyed the tour!
A tour we were looking forward to as a family and it did not disappoint . It was one of our best tours . Kaori San, our amazing guide made the day for us . She was so friendly and knowledgeable. She took the most amazing photos of us , and was very patient with us as we stopped and took a million pictures :) I would highly recommend picking this tour to see a totally different side to Tokyo away from neon lights and tall buildings :) !!
It was so nice to get away from the hustle of Tokyo for a couple of hours and go on this tour. Our guide Ms. KAORI was amazing! I loved having the private tour with her as it makes it easier to ask questions and get one on one conversation. We also got to talk about Ohtani lol. We had my 11 year old son with us and it was extremely hot and humid this day but she made sure we were hydrated and had snacks. We got lucky and got to ride the maneki neko train at our Setagaya Line stop. We also had luck at the Daikan Residence and got to go inside the traditional Japanese home. My son said the highlight was when Ms. Kaori made the stop at the Shaved Iced shop. Arigato gozaimasu Ms. Kaori! I would highly recommend.
Being able to go on this tour and using local public transport was quite nice. It gave it a more intimate feel, and being able to take some time to look at a few things on the way to our different locations gave me ease of mind. Our tour guide was delightful, though I do wish I had recorded his name, as I would like to mention him personally. Starting at Senganjaya station, he first helped us purchase our tram tickets, which were special prints due to an event at the time we were visiting, so we were able to have them as keepsakes. I was able to ask many questions about the local area during transit to our first stop. He first spoke about the 2 main religions in Japan, and let us know how to tell the difference between the Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. He walked us through the rituals for entry and cleansing and was able to translate the information about the shrine. He explained the rivalry between Shoin Yoshida and Il Naosuke, and their amusingly close burial sites, which link the locations we were visiting. While this was by no means a rural location, it was still pleasant to see a bit further away from the centre of Tokyo. We were guided through to the Setagaya Local History Museum, where our guide explained further about the "black ships" that arrived, the political struggles between the shogunate and their followers, the end of the Edo Period, Japan's Isolation, and the beginning of the Meiji Restoration. Our final stop was Gotokuji Temple. Our guide explained that the smoke from the incense in the bowl was a way to purify oneself, as well as to become aligned with their spirit and soul. There were quite a lot of people there to observe the number of maneki-neko placed around the temple. He also pointed out a few hidden ones, which were quite amusing. I feel a lot more informed and appreciate the spiritual side of Japan more, thanks to our guide's knowledge.
Really fun and interesting tour outside of the typical Tokyo neighborhoods. We missed one of our stops due to the holiday (local museum) - that was a bummer and unfortunate that our guide wasn’t told prior to the trip so we walked there only for it to be closed.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We're glad to hear that you enjoyed exploring some of Tokyo’s lesser-known areas. We're truly sorry about the inconvenience caused by the unexpected museum closure, and we understand how disappointing that must have been. We’ll work to ensure better communication in the future. Thank you again for joining the tour.
My tour guide Shizuko is best. She is knowledgeable about all the shrines and is great at making conversations. The shrines were serene and beautiful. The manenekos were cute!
We're glad to hear that Shizuko made your tour experience enjoyable and engaging with her knowledge and conversational skills. The serene beauty of the shrines and the adorable manekinekos must have added to the overall experience. Thank you for choosing us and sharing your positive feedback!
We had an amazing time. My ten year old was riveted by our lovely guide - not an easy task. We sincerely enjoyed all parts of our tour.
Thank you for sharing your amazing experience with us. We're thrilled to hear that your ten-year-old was riveted by our lovely guide, and that you sincerely enjoyed all parts of the tour. We appreciate your feedback and hope to have the opportunity to show you more in the future.
