❖ Pick-up at JR Jujo Station

15:00

Meet your English-speaking guide at the north ticket gate of JR Jujo Station, the starting point for an afternoon exploring two of Tokyo's most authentic local neighbourhoods. Just fifteen minutes from Ikebukuro, Jujo opens onto a covered shopping arcade where the everyday rhythm of the old downtown still beats. Your guide will help you choose what to taste and where to wander, sharing stories of the shopkeepers and the district as you go.

❖ Jujo Ginza Shopping District

15:00 - 16:00 (1:00 h)

Step into Jujo Ginza, counted alongside Togoshi Ginza and Sunamachi Ginza as one of Tokyo's three great old shopping streets. The covered arcade holds over 500 shops selling prepared foods, fresh produce, clothing and everyday goods, all at strikingly low prices. Locally-based shopkeepers know their customers by name, and there is a closeness between seller and buyer that defines the experience.

Among the storefronts you will pass Tensho, a vintage taishu shokudo (community diner) whose hand-painted noren and weathered signboard have served the neighbourhood for decades.

Stop at Shio-ya Meat Delica, the butcher counter where queues form for fresh cuts and ready-made delicatessen. Watching the shopkeepers handle each order with practiced efficiency is part of the experience.

At Tomatoya, a long-running greengrocer, seasonal fruit and vegetables spill onto the arcade floor in wooden crates. Hand-written price tags here are part of what gives Jujo its reputation for special price tags at every storefront.

At the deep-fried foods stall the famous arcade prices are written in bold black marker on yellow tags: croquettes for 30 yen, yakitori for 50 yen, menchi-katsu for 100 yen, side dishes for 60 to 80. Enjoy takeaways and light snacks on the spot as you walk.

Pause at a miso specialty shop where handwritten labels describe each varietal and its provenance. Family-run shops like this are the texture of Jujo Ginza, where each store contributes its own character to the district-wide community feel.

❖ Jujo Fujimi Ginza & Walk to the Park

16:00 - 16:20 (20 min)

Pass through the adjoining Jujo Fujimi Ginza arcade, a quieter extension of the main shopping district. From here, a five-minute walk through residential lanes brings you to Shimizuzaka Park, where the rhythm of the arcade gives way to the calm of trees.

❖ Shimizuzaka Park

16:20 - 16:40 (20 min)

Pause at Shimizuzaka Park, a quiet green oasis surrounded by trees. Children play on a 52-metre roller slide that runs the full length of the slope, while a small pond and open square anchor the park as a centre of neighbourhood life. Enjoy a few of the snacks you picked up in the arcade while immersing yourself in the calm just a few steps from the vibrant shopping street.

❖ Inatsuki Castle Ruins

16:55 - 17:25 (30 min)

After a fifteen-minute walk, you reach Inatsuki Castle Ruins, a fifteenth-century fortification built by Ota Dokan, the warlord famous for raising the original Edo Castle. The ruins sit at an altitude of 21 metres above sea level, a modest height that gave the post a clear view of the surrounding plain. A statue of Dokan stands at the entrance, and the site is opened to the public every month on the 26th, the date associated with the day of his death. Behind the precincts, a quiet graveyard offers a striking contrast between old stone markers and the modern city beyond.

❖ Walk to Akabane

17:25 - 17:35 (10 min)

A ten-minute walk through quiet temple grounds and residential lanes brings you to Akabane Station. As dusk begins to settle, the streetlamps come on and the mood shifts: from the meditative pace of the old shopping streets and shrine precincts to the convivial buzz of one of Tokyo's most famous local drinking districts.

❖ Akabane Ichibangai - "Senbero" Drinking District

17:35 - 18:30 (55 min)

Emerging from the north exit of Akabane Station, you enter Akabane Ichibangai, a sprawling drinking quarter with extraordinary access to central Tokyo: 15 minutes to Ikebukuro (no transfer), 20 minutes to Shinjuku and 25 minutes to Shimbashi. The traditional drinking lanes remain firmly entrenched here, famously branded the city of Senbero from the long-standing saying that for 1,000 yen ("sen" yen) you can get thoroughly drunk.

Along the way the district reveals its theatrical side. A traditional theatre entrance welcomes visitors with kabuki-style lanterns, paper bouquets and signed posters of touring performers: the Akabane of evening shows and old-style entertainment lives on alongside the bars.

A few doors down, Darumaya, a vintage kanmi kissa (Japanese sweet shop), keeps its glass display cases and lacquered storefront just as they have been for decades, offering anmitsu, kakigori and warm desserts to weary walkers.

You will also pass family shops like Handa, a long-running textile and kimono store whose noren reads Sometsukimono Kobuku Handa, a reminder that Akabane mixes everyday commerce with the eateries and bars.

Explore the intimate Akabane Ichibangai lively drinking heaven, the nostalgic OK Yokocho, and Silk Road, each with its own distinctive character. As dusk turns to evening, enjoy a few drinks lightly with your guide before the tour concludes.

❖ Tour Concludes at JR Akabane Station

18:30

The tour ends at JR Akabane Station, from where you have excellent access back to your hotel via the Saikyo, Keihin-Tohoku and Yamanote lines. Your guide will help you to the right platform.