For Travellers Who Want a Quiet Countryside Ride Away From Central Tokyo
Leave the crowds of central Tokyo behind and ride around Lake Tama, a 100-year-old reservoir about 50 minutes from Shinjuku.
We meet at Musashi-Yamato Station and walk 3 minutes to a local bike shop. Choose an electric-assist bike or a standard city bike. Your guide adjusts the saddle and goes over the safety points with you.
The ride follows the car-free path around the lake, about 12 km on paved surfaces. We cross the dam to see the domed intake tower, built in the 1920s and the lake's best-known landmark. Then we ride along the wooded north shore and come back along the south shore, stopping often for photos. With an e-bike, the gentle slopes are easy. If you would like a shorter ride, just tell your guide on the day and we will do a half loop.
This part of Tokyo is tea country. The area grows Sayama tea, one of Japan's well-known green teas, and you will ride past rows of tea bushes. We finish at Kouemon, a Sayama tea maker founded in 1780 that still makes its own tea next to its fields. In its café, you relax with matcha and Japanese sweets, and you can ask your guide anything about life in the Tokyo suburbs.
We then return the bikes and walk back to the station. Small group: maximum 4 participants.
