20Minimum age on the bar tours, with no exception for families
13 or 15Dishes on the Traveling Tokyo tour, depending on which part of the listing you read
West and eastExits of Shinjuku Station where the tours meet
Thirteen dishes or fifteen
The dish count in a tour title is a selling point, and it is not always consistent. Traveling Tokyo’s Shinjuku tour carries 15 dishes in its title and lists 13 in the description. Japan Guide Star promises 15 dishes and two drinks across four eateries. Ninja Food Tours counts more than 14 tastings across three to four izakaya. Read the number as a measure of variety rather than of how full you will be: reviewers of the Japan Guide Star tour and of the bar-hopping tour mention that portions felt small for the price.
Where the tours meet
Shinjuku Station has several exits on opposite sides of the tracks, and the tours do not meet at the same one. Traveling Tokyo gathers at the AOKI sign next to Starbucks at the west exit (Nishiguchi) and finishes near the southeast exit. The bar-hopping tour with free-flow drinks meets at a black pillar next to Uniqlo, also on the west side. Japan Guide Star starts at the police box at the East Exit. The izakaya crawl meets at Nishishinjuku 1-2-8, at the entrance to Omoide Yokocho. Leave time to find the right exit, because the bar-hopping tour treats a late arrival as a no-show and does not refund it.
What the cheaper crawl leaves out
The Shinjuku Local Bar & Izakaya Crawl of Travel Japan Together pays for the guide and nothing else. You order and pay at every stop, and the operator asks you to bring cash. What you spend on top depends on how much you eat and drink. Tours with food in the ticket cost more up front and tell you in advance what you will get.
The age-20 rule on Shinjuku tours
The legal drinking age in Japan is 20, and the bar tours do not make exceptions for teenagers travelling with their parents. The izakaya crawl and the bar-hopping tour with free-flow drinks take guests aged 20 and over only. Japan Guide Star is the Shinjuku tour that welcomes under-20s, with soft drinks in place of alcohol. Traveling Tokyo, Ninja Food Tours and the omakase tour do not state an age rule in the listing details we checked, so ask the operator before you book with a teenager.
Vegetarian or with allergies
Shinjuku food tours are built around what the eateries serve that night, and that leaves little room for diets. Japan Guide Star says strict diets are hard to accommodate. The operator of the bar-hopping and omakase tours gives no allergy guarantee and describes the vegetarian choice as limited. Ninja Food Tours takes dietary requests if they arrive at least a week before the tour. Dashi made from fish is part of many dishes and soy sauce usually contains wheat, so a vegetarian or gluten-free evening is hard to arrange on a walk like this. The diet overview on our home page lists the tours and classes that can adapt.
Stairs, basements and WhatsApp
The eateries in these alleys are small, and some sit in basements or up narrow stairs; Traveling Tokyo mentions both on its listing. If anyone in your group has trouble with steps, ask the operator about the route. Traveling Tokyo and Travel Japan Together contact guests through WhatsApp, so check that it works on your phone in Japan.
