Tokyo Night Photography Tour: Shinjuku, Shibuya & Golden Gai

4.97

(147 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I’ll be honest, I almost skipped the Tokyo by Night Photography Tour because I thought, how different could Shinjuku or Shibuya really look after sunset? Turns out — pretty different. Our guide, Kenji, met us in this tiny izakaya tucked behind a glowing sign I’d have walked past a hundred times. The place smelled like grilled fish and some kind of sweet soy sauce, and everyone seemed to know each other except us. Kenji slid us a drink (included — nice touch) and asked what kind of photos we wanted. Someone said “Blade Runner vibes” and he just grinned.

We wandered out into Shinjuku’s backstreets where the pavement was still slick from rain. Golden Gai is wild — these little bars stacked like crooked bookshelves, each one with its own weird theme. We couldn’t take photos inside most places (Kenji explained it’s about privacy), but outside? Neon reflections everywhere, people ducking under red lanterns, one old man singing to himself in the alley. I tried to snap a shot but my hands were shaking from excitement or maybe the cold — not sure which.

Later we hopped on the train to Shibuya (don’t forget your Suica card). The crossing there is just as chaotic as you’ve seen online but being in it feels different — all those footsteps and voices blending together. Kenji somehow found quiet corners for portraits even near Hachiko’s statue where crowds never thin out. He showed us how to use streetlights for softer shots; honestly, I didn’t expect to learn that much about night photography in just a few hours.

If you want that classic Tokyo skyline shot, you can choose the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observation deck instead of Shibuya at the end. I picked the scramble crossing because… well, when else? Either way, you get twenty edited photos sent after (mine made me look way cooler than I am). I still think about that first alleyway in Golden Gai — it felt like seeing Tokyo’s real face for a second before it turned away again.