The character of the city changes after the sun departs for the day. Even the most familiar areas can seem quite new after hours—just because you’ve explored a place during the day, that doesn’t mean you know what it’s going to be like at night.
My fascination with wandering through the city first took hold in the nighttime. Back when I was working full time at an English school, I had Saturdays off, but worked a split shift on Fridays. By the time I finished for the day, I’d been up since 5:45 and at work until 21:15. Naturally, I was exhausted, especially that late in the week, but that was all the more fuel for my determination to do something with what I had left of the night.
Often, I’d either get off the train early or take the train to a completely new station within 5-6km of my apartment and just drift my way home though the sleeping city.
Though night tours have a lot in common with my standard walking tours, there are a few key differences.
First, the group must be fully committed to stealth when necessary—when meandering through residential areas late at night, we cannot be noisy. Period.
Second, many businesses will be closed. This is usually a minor practical consideration, but may be relevant. Depending on how late we go, nearly everything besides convenience stores may be shuttered for the night.
Third, we have the option to do something a bit more radical than usual. Specifically, we can pull an all-nighter and wander over a longer distance.
Overall, these basically work like my standard daytime walking tours.
In most cases, we begin at or near dusk (specific times vary by the season), usually near a major station. This gives us the opportunity to establish a standard of comparison and to take in any night life that might be present in the area. From there, we can wander off in any direction we choose, employing a range of strategies to navigate through the city.
We will wrap up in time for you to get back to your accommodations and for me to get back to Saitama. Tours will wrap by about 23:00 at the latest (later than that risks missing the last train).
We will go late, but probably not especially late. Unless you want to. Which brings us to:
This is where things get especially interesting, though a more serious commitment is necessary. In general, the trains in Tokyo stop running by about midnight, and don’t start up again until around 5:00 AM.
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