Open Around Tokyo in the guide, with the map, the walks and the places you can see for free.
Around Tokyo, Tokyo
Walking tours from JAPAN IN 4K filmed beyond the main guide neighborhoods: Odaiba, Shinagawa, Ikebukuro, Nakano, Koenji, Machida, and others. No restaurant pins here yet; this section is video-only.
How I use Around Tokyo
The day trips I actually recommend: railway museums, mountain shrines, onsen towns within ninety minutes. When guests have a fourth day, this is where I send it.
What Around Tokyo is known for
'Around Tokyo' covers the day trips within about ninety minutes of the city that are genuinely worth the train: Kamakura's Great Buddha and temple lanes, Hakone's onsen-and-Fuji loop, Nikko's carved shrines in a cedar forest, and Yokohama's harbour and Chinatown. When guests have a spare day, these are where I send it.
Getting to Around Tokyo
Most are reached from the big Tokyo terminals: Kamakura via the JR Yokosuka line (about an hour from Tokyo Station), Hakone via the Odakyu line from Shinjuku, Nikko via the Tobu line from Asakusa, and Yokohama in about 30 minutes on the Tokyu or JR lines.
The rule for all of them is the same: leave early. Day trips are morning creatures, out by 8, back by 7, and the day feels like a second vacation instead of a commute.
What to eat & do in Around Tokyo
I've vetted 4 places in Around Tokyo myself. Each one in the guide carries the nearest station and exit, what to order and the reservation reality.
The full names and the exact directions open in the full guide, that specificity is the whole product.
Around Tokyo, Tokyo: frequently asked questions
What is the best day trip from Tokyo?
For most first-timers, Kamakura, about an hour by train, with the Great Buddha, temple walks, an old shopping street and a beach, all doable at a relaxed pace in a day. Hakone (onsen and Fuji views) and Nikko (grand shrines) are the other strong picks.
Can you visit Mount Fuji as a day trip from Tokyo?
You can chase Fuji views from Hakone or the Kawaguchiko lake area on a day trip, but the mountain makes its own schedule, clear winter mornings give the best odds. Build a good day where seeing Fuji is a bonus, not the whole plan.
How far is Nikko from Tokyo?
About two hours each way on the Tobu line from Asakusa. The Toshogu shrine complex is spectacular, but with four hours of round-trip travel you need to leave by early morning to make it worthwhile.
See Around Tokyo before you go
I've filmed 19 walks through Around Tokyo, on foot, no cuts and no commentary. Watch the light, the crowd and the pace before you decide how to spend an evening here.
Explore nearby
- Shibuya, Energy capital.
- Shinjuku, The city in miniature: skyscrapers west, Golden Gai's tin-roof bars and Omoide Yokocho's yakitori smoke east, Shinjuku Gyoen's gardens an unexpected hush in the middle.
- Asakusa, Old-Tokyo temple district.
- Ginza, Old-money Tokyo.
- Harajuku & Omotesando, Takeshita Street's teenage chaos one block from Omotesando's quiet luxury, the most architecturally beautiful shopping street in Tokyo.
- Ueno & Yanaka, Museum row meets a low-key neighborhood untouched by the bubble years.