Free English audio guides for Tokyo and Kyoto
Quick answer: Kyochika has 14 English audio guides you can play in your browser — 10 in Tokyo and 4 in Kyoto. No app and no sign-up: open the page, put in your earphones and tap play. Your first 3 guides are free; after that a 7-day pass unlocks all of them. Each guide stops after every spot, keeps playing with the screen off, and comes with the full transcript and sources.
Sharing one pair of earphones? The audio is mono, so each of you hears everything with one earbud.
Tokyo (10)
- East Gardens of the Imperial Palace🎧 English audio guide · 12 tracksThe East Gardens stand on the site of the Honmaru, Ninomaru and Sannomaru of Edo Castle, home of the Tokugawa shoguns. Free entry, no reservation needed. Walk from Ote-mon gate with this audio guide in your earphones.
- Senso-ji Temple, Asakusa🎧 English audio guide · 10 tracksSenso-ji is the oldest temple in Tokyo, founded on a legend from the year 628. Walk from Kaminarimon up Nakamise to the main hall with this free audio guide in your earphones: stories, legends and things to look for at each stop.
- Meiji Jingu Shrine🎧 English audio guide · 10 tracksMeiji Jingu is a Shinto shrine founded in 1920 for Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, inside a man-made forest of about 100,000 donated trees. Walk from the Harajuku gate to the main shrine with this free audio guide in your earphones: stories, legends and things to look for at each stop.
- Tsukiji Outer Market🎧 English audio guide · 10 tracksTsukiji Outer Market is a food district of around 460 shops near Ginza that stayed in Tsukiji when the inner market moved to Toyosu in 2018. Walk from Namiyoke-dori to Tsukiji Hongwanji with this free audio guide in your earphones: stories, legends and things to look for at each stop.
- Tokyo National Museum, Ueno🎧 English audio guide · 10 tracksThe Tokyo National Museum is Japan's oldest museum, which grew out of an exhibition held in 1872 and opened in Ueno in 1882. Walk from the main gate through the Honkan to the Horyuji Treasures gallery with this free audio guide in your earphones: stories, hidden spots and things to look for at each stop.
- Shibuya Scramble Crossing, Hachiko and SHIBUYA SKY🎧 English audio guide · 10 tracksThe crossing outside Shibuya Station, where up to about 3,000 people cross from every direction on a single green light, with the statue of the faithful dog Hachi beside it and SHIBUYA SKY 229 m above. See the same crossing from three heights, the street, a station walkway and the rooftop, with this free audio guide in your earphones.
- Zojoji Temple and Tokyo Tower🎧 English audio guide · 10 tracksZojoji, founded in 1393, is the family temple of the Tokugawa shoguns, and Tokyo Tower rises right behind it. Walk from the Daimon gate through the temple to the tower with this free audio guide in your earphones: stories, legends and things to look for at each stop.
- Ueno Park🎧 English audio guide · 10 tracksWelcome to Ueno Park, where the story of modern Tokyo comes alive. Follow this free self-guided walking tour from the Park Exit of Ueno Station to the Saigo Takamori statue, the historic temple grounds, Shinobazu Pond, the museums, and Ueno Zoo. Learn how the home of powerful shoguns became a battlefield, then one of Japan's first public parks. The park is free to explore, but admission to museums, the zoo, and certain shrine areas may cost extra.
- Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden🎧 English audio guide · 11 tracksShinjuku Gyoen is a 58.3-hectare garden where a feudal lord's estate became an experiment farm, an imperial garden and, in 1949, a park for everyone. Walk it with this free audio guide in your earphones: stories, history and things to look for at each stop.
- Hama-rikyu Gardens🎧 English audio guide · 11 tracksHama-rikyu Gardens is an Edo-period shogun's garden with a pond fed by seawater from Tokyo Bay and two surviving duck hunting sites, right below the Shiodome skyscrapers. Walk it with this free audio guide in your earphones: stories, history and things to look for at each stop.
Kyoto (4)
- Kiyomizu-dera🎧 English audio guide · 9 tracksA Walk Through Time with Pochika and Pochikichi. Pochika, visiting from Tokyo, and her Kyoto brother Pochikichi walk you through, telling you where to look and what stood here centuries ago.
- Fushimi Inari Taisha🎧 English audio guide · 9 tracksThrough the Gates of Time with Pochika and Pochikichi. Pochika, visiting from Tokyo, and her Kyoto brother Pochikichi walk you through, telling you where to look and what stood here centuries ago.
- Kinkaku-ji🎧 English audio guide · 9 tracksThe Golden Pavilion and Its Hidden Stories. Pochika, visiting from Tokyo, and her Kyoto brother Pochikichi walk you through, telling you where to look and what stood here centuries ago.
- Arashiyama🎧 English audio guide · 9 tracksBamboo, Poetry, and a Bridge Across Time. Pochika, visiting from Tokyo, and her Kyoto brother Pochikichi walk you through, telling you where to look and what stood here centuries ago.