Tokyo Evening: Kawasaki Factory Lights - Private Day Tour from Tokyo

On the shore of Tokyo Bay between Tokyo and Yokohama is a city that never switches off: the Kawasaki petrochemical zone, kilometres of towers, pipes, flare stacks and orange lights that Japanese photographers call kojo yakei, ‘factory night view’. It became a cult sight in the 2000s and there are boat tours in Japanese; there is no private evening tour in English, Urdu or Hindi. Now there is.

We collect you at your Tokyo hotel as the light goes and drive down to the bay. Your guide takes the van through the industrial island roads that the public can use – Chidoricho, Ogishima, the Higashi-Ogishima bridge – stopping at the viewpoints where the plants are closest: the pipe bridges over the canals, the Kawasaki Marien tower with its free 10th-floor observation deck, the parks at the end of the islands where the whole zone lies across the water. Bring a tripod if you have one; your guide knows the spots where the steam and the lights line up.

Then we cross the Tama River to Haneda. Jonanjima Seaside Park is at the end of the runway: the planes come in over the water and pass a few hundred feet above you every two minutes, lit against the sky, with the airport and the bay behind. Dinner, if you want it, is at a ramen shop the pilots use in Kamata, before we drop you back at your hotel.

What you pay is what you pay

The price is one fixed amount for your whole group: the private van, fuel, tolls, parking and your driver-guide for the day. There are no per-person supplements and no booking fees. The Marien observation deck is free. Dinner is optional and paid by each guest on the day.

Good to know

The lights are on every night of the year; the view is best in cold clear months from November to February when the steam shows. Photography from public roads and parks is allowed; the plants themselves are not entered. This tour is not suitable for very young children as it is late and involves standing outdoors.