Tokyo Night Tour Prices, and What the Fare Leaves Out

A Tokyo night tour costs anything from the price of a lunch to the price of a flight, and the fare is only part of the bill. This guide sets out what each kind of evening costs, what the fare covers and what you pay on the night. It also shows why Tokyo Night private tours can cost less per head than a shared seat.

How much does a Tokyo night tour cost?

By kind of evening, per person unless it says otherwise:

• Guided walks: $20.80 to $26, or $102.70 with the Shibuya rooftop deck.
• Bar nights: $24.70 to $107.26, depending on how much of the drinking the fare covers.
• Photo shoots and the photo walk: $97.51 to $117.01.
• Food tours: $100.48 to $214.51, dinner included.
• Car-meet drives: $79.56 to $146.26 for a shared seat, or $1,007.56 for a private GT-R for two.
• Private drives: $244.20 to $594.78 for the whole group.

The lowest fare is $20.80, for the pachinko walk; the highest is $1,007.56, for the GT-R. Every fare here is the price at the time of capture, and some are sale prices that can change.

Per person or per group?

Most evenings are priced per person. The private drives are priced per group, and the group size changes everything. The driver-guided evening is $488.18 for up to nine: $244.09 each for two, $122.05 for four, $54.24 for nine. The customizable drive is $318.52 for up to five, or $79.63 each for four.

So a private drive is dear for a couple and cheap for a family. The Tokyo-or-Yokohama drive sits in between: $244.20 for up to three, which is $81.40 each when all three seats are full. Our private night tours set the drives side by side.

What does a food tour's fare include?

Dinner, which makes the fare easy to judge. The Ueno crawl, at $107.26, covers tastings at a standing bar, a tavern and a ramen shop, with alcohol at each stop. The wagyu dinner, at $214.51, covers 30 minutes of sake, 75 minutes of all-you-can-eat A5 wagyu with two drinks, and a small dessert. The dinner cruise, at $100.48, covers beef sukiyaki and unlimited soft drinks, with alcohol only in a free-flow package.

Anything beyond the set menu is yours to pay. On the wagyu dinner, the all-you-can-eat part starts only after the set wagyu is finished. Our night food tours compare the three.

What does a bar tour cost once you start drinking?

That depends on how much of the drinking the fare already covers. On the Ueno crawl, the alcohol is in the fare. On the Roppongi pub crawl, the $24.70 fare covers a welcome shot at each bar, shots between venues and club entry, and your own drinks come at discounts of up to half the bar price.

On the custom night, $84.50 covers the first round and two dishes. From the second venue on, you pay for food, drinks and entry, and your guide's share too. On the students' night, $42 covers your hosts and the guide's karaoke room, and you buy your own drinks and any club entry. Our bar night tours set the four side by side.

What does a JDM tour cost by car?

Shared drives to the car meet cost $79.56 to $146.26 a person. Several include fuel and expressway tolls, and one includes parking as well. A named car, like a Skyline R34 or an R35, costs more on the drives that offer one.

The private GT-R costs $1,007.56 for a party of up to two, which is $503.78 each, and it gives you about two hours at the meet instead of one. Food and drinks are extra on every drive, and the JDM car tours list what each one covers.

What does a photographer's fare buy?

On the photo walk, $117.01 buys two and a half hours with a photographer-guide, one drink and 20 edited photos of you. The train between Shinjuku and Shibuya is yours to pay. On the private shoots, $97.51 to $102.38 buys an hour and a set of edited photos: at least 20 each on the Kabukicho shoot, 35 or more at the scramble.

Raw files are not part of it on any shoot that says. Our night photography tours compare the shoots.

What is the cheapest way to spend the night?

Without a tour, you can spend almost nothing: the observatory in Nishi-Shinjuku is free until 22:00, the temple grounds at Asakusa are lit and open until about 23:00, and the Shibuya scramble costs only the train fare to reach it. With a guide, the pachinko walk is $20.80 and the backstreets walk $21.75, with a drink from a vending machine.

The cheapest night out in the bars is the Roppongi pub crawl at $24.70, though your own drinks come on top. For the most in one fare, the Ueno crawl at $107.26 covers dinner and the drinks together, so you know the whole cost before you go.

Do you tip in Tokyo?

Tipping is not expected in Japan. One car-meet listing says so outright, one walk calls tips optional, and none puts a tip in the fare. If your guide was excellent, a thank-you and a good review count for more than cash.

What costs extra on the night?

• Drinks on the pub crawl, the students' night and the custom night after the first round.
• Game money on the pachinko walk: you spend what you choose.
• Deck tickets where a drive stops at a tower, from 1,500 yen for an adult on the lattice tower's Main Deck.
• Overtime on the customizable drive, at 7,000 yen an hour.
• Train fares to the start, and between districts on the photo walk.
• A taxi if you stay out after the trains stop.

Cash or card on the night?

The fare is paid when you book, so cash is only for what you buy on the night. Carry yen on a bar tour, because some small bars take cash only. The sumo venue in Ginza is the opposite: it takes no cash at all.

Can you cancel, and what if it rains?

Every fare here refunds in full if you cancel at least 24 hours before the start. If an operator calls a tour off for bad weather, you get a new date or your money back. One car-meet drive does not cancel for rain at all, so if you would rather stay in, cancel yourself at least a day ahead.

What does a group of four spend?

Fares for four people, computed from the captured prices, before drinks and extras:

• Ueno taverns crawl: $429.04
• Roppongi pub crawl, before drinks: $98.80
• Customizable private drive: $318.52
• Driver-guided night drive: $488.18
• Car meet with hotel pickup: $412.08
• Night photo walk: $468.04

For four, the customizable drive is the cheapest way to be driven round the lit city, and the pub crawl is the cheapest night out, until the drinks start.

Every fare, and what it covers

The main evenings, with the fare, how it is priced, and the line between what is covered and what is not.

Our night tours compared weighs these by what the evening is like rather than by price.

Frequently asked questions

From the lowest fare to a private car

Tokyo Shinjuku Night Tour with Pachinko Gaming Experience

Ninety minutes in Kabukicho and the lane of food stalls by the tracks, with a guide who explains a first game of pachinko. The game money you spend is extra.

From $20 per person

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Ginza VIP A5 Rank Wagyu Tour: All-You-Can-Eat Wagyu &Sake Tasting

A 5:00pm start at Shimbashi Station's North Exit, then sake and all-you-can-eat A5 wagyu at a table in Ginza. Not for vegetarians, and not for children under six.

From $214 per person

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Tokyo/Yokohama: Tokyo city Private Night Tour with Pickup

Four hours by car for up to three, with pickup and drop-off at your hotel in Tokyo or Yokohama and the stops you choose. No alcohol is allowed in the vehicle.

From $244 per group (up to 3)

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