Guide · Tokyo Bay

Tokyo Bay cruise at night: dinner boats, restaurant ships, small boats

A Tokyo Bay cruise is the skyline trip: Rainbow Bridge lit up, Odaiba across the water and Tokyo Tower behind. Here is what each kind of boat offers after dark, from a yakatabune dinner to a small sunset boat.

Check availabilityfrom $102 · free cancellation possible

Editorial team, yakatabunedinnercruise.comUpdated October 22, 20266-minute read35 sources

This guide's tour Tokyo Bay: Traditional Japanese Yakatabune Dinner Cruise 4.7 (285 reviews) 3 hours from$119per person Check availabilityFree cancellation up to 11 days before

Quick answer

01Longest dinner: Three hours from the Funasei pier in Shinagawa.
02Bridge lights: From about 30 minutes after sunset to midnight.¹
03Short and cheap: A 1-hour small boat for up to 7 guests.
04Meeting place: Boats gather off Odaiba as night falls.²
05Big ships: Restaurant ships sail from Hinode pier.³

Why the bay is the night trip

Tokyo Bay is where the city shows its modern skyline, and it looks best after dark. Rainbow Bridge is lit from about 30 minutes after sunset until midnight, its towers in cool white from April to October and warm white from November to March, with cable lights that change between white, green and coral pink.¹ ⁴ Tokyo Updates adds that the colours of its illumination change depending on the day.⁵

The bridge itself is a landmark of the port: 798 m long, opened in 1993, with an expressway above and roads, a walkway and the Yurikamome line below.⁶ ⁷ Beyond it, the Tokyo Gate Bridge, completed in 2012 and 2,618 m long, marks the entry to the bay.⁸

As night sets in, many yakatabune converge near Odaiba, the artificial island of malls and hotels opposite the city.² Japan Up Close adds that in December dozens of boats ply the bay at nightfall for the fireworks over Odaiba.⁹ A Tokyo Bay night cruise is, in short, a trip to that meeting point. The bay is also where the city's two towers line up with the water, Tokyo Tower to the west and Skytree up the river.

An evening on the bay

From sunset to midnight lights

Sunset

Boats set sail

In summer, just as the sun goes down.¹⁰
About 30 min later

Rainbow Bridge lights up

Its towers and cables switch on for the night.¹
Nightfall

Gathering off Odaiba

Many yakatabune converge near the island.²
On deck

Photos of the skyline

Bridge, Odaiba and Tokyo Tower.¹¹
Midnight

Bridge lights off

Long after the dinner boats are home.¹

The three-hour yakatabune dinner from Shinagawa

The cruise this page recommends is the long one. It boards at the Funasei pier in Shinagawa City, lasts 3 hours and lists Tokyo Bay and the Sumida River as its route, with views of Tokyo Skytree and Rainbow Bridge from the top deck. Dinner is a multi-dish Japanese meal, and all-you-can-drink is included. It is the longest Tokyo Bay dinner cruise among the listings on this site.

Departure is between 5:00 PM and 6:30 PM, set by the date and the weather and sent by email once confirmed; check-in closes 30 minutes before, and latecomers are not refunded. Depending on the boat, you take off your shoes and wear the slippers provided, and some boats have sunken hori-gotatsu seating without chairs.

Funasei says its fleet is 7 yakatabune with capacities from 20 to 120, and that each has an exterior or upper deck.¹² ¹³ The listing has 285 reviews and a 4.71 rating, and free cancellation runs until 11 days before.

Bridges on the bay

Length of the bay's landmark bridges, in metres

Rainbow Bridge from the Cabinet Office's Highlighting Japan; Tokyo Gate Bridge from Tokyo Updates.⁶ ⁸

Bay options

Night and sunset trips on Tokyo Bay

Option	Length	Food	Boards at
Yakatabune dinner	3 hrs	Dinner, free-flow drinks	Funasei, Shinagawa
Odaiba route	1.5 hrs	Sukiyaki or tea	Varies by option
Small sunset boat	1 hr	Bring your own	Tokyo Water Taxi
Restaurant ship	Varies	Ship restaurant	Hinode pier

From the GetYourGuide listings and the restaurant ship operator's own page.³

Pick your boat

Long dinner, short cruise or a small boat

Longest evening

Tokyo Bay dinner

From Shinagawa

Length: 3 hours
Drinks: All-you-can-drink
Price: from $119

See this cruise

Tokyo Bay Day/Night Cruise: Sukiyaki, Show & Odaiba Route

Most reviewed

Odaiba route cruise

Day or night

Length: 1.5 hours
Guide: English
Price: from $63

See this cruise

Tokyo: Sunset Boat Cruise with Local Guide on Private Boat

Lowest price

Sunset small boat

Up to 7 guests

Length: 1 hour
Meal: Bring your own
Price: from $51

See this cruise

Decision helper

Which Tokyo Bay trip is yours?

Choose by time, food and budget

I want a long dinner I want a show and a hot pot I want sunset photos cheaply I want a chair and a big ship I want river and bay together

The Shinagawa cruise

Three hours on the bay and river with all-you-can-drink.

An Etchujima cruise

Sukiyaki, a shamisen performance and a dance show on board.

The small boat

One hour past the bridge and towers, from $51.

A restaurant ship

They sail from Hinode pier for lunch, sunset and dinner.³

Our Asakusa cruise

Down the Sumida to the bay and back in 2.5 hours.

From around 30 minutes after sunset until midnight, the entire surface of the main towers and the undersides of the bridge beams are illuminated

Cabinet Office, Government of Japan (Highlighting Japan)Source 1

Shorter cruises from Etchujima

If a long dinner is more than you want, the Etchujima cruises are the compact version. The Odaiba-route cruise passes Rainbow Bridge, the Statue of Liberty replica in Odaiba and Tokyo Tower in 1.5 hours to 100 minutes, with sukiyaki at night or a tea ceremony by day. It has a live guide in English and 1,244 reviews, the most of any cruise on this site.

A sister listing runs from Etchujima Pier past Rainbow Bridge and Eitai Bridge, with a dance show, a live shamisen performance, sukiyaki and unlimited soft drinks, and options that add a Tokyo Tower ticket. Both mention the Tokyo Aqua Symphony fountain show near Odaiba, a performance of water, music and light.

These cruises allow free cancellation up to 24 hours before and let you reserve now and pay later. The catch is that you share tables, take off your shoes, and board whichever of the two boats the day's traffic assigns.

Map

Piers, bridges and towers on the yakatabune routes

The Sumida River from Asakusa down to Kachidoki, then Tokyo Bay with Rainbow Bridge and the Shinagawa pier, and Yokohama's harbour.

Map of the Sumida River from Sakurabashi and Asakusa down to Kachidoki Bridge, with the Azumabashi, Ryogoku and Etchujima piers and Tokyo Skytree — Sumida River

Map of inner Tokyo Bay with Rainbow Bridge, Odaiba Seaside Park, Hinode pier, Tokyo Tower and the Funasei pier in Kitashinagawa — Tokyo Bay

Map of Yokohama harbour with Pukari Pier at Minato Mirai and the Yokohama Bay Bridge — Yokohama

1
Azumabashi pier
A shared pier at Azumabashi 1-23, about 5 minutes on foot from Asakusa station; the site's cruise boards here.¹⁴ ¹⁵
In Google Maps ↗
2
Tokyo Skytree
The 634 m tower that boats on the Sumida route stop to look at near Sakurabashi.¹⁶ ¹⁷
In Google Maps ↗
3
Sakurabashi
The footbridge where the first fireworks venue of the Sumida festival begins.¹⁸
In Google Maps ↗
4
Ryogoku pier
Beside the Ryogoku Kokugikan sumo arena, about 3 minutes from the west exit of JR Ryogoku station.¹⁹ ²⁰
In Google Maps ↗
5
Kiyosu Bridge
Built in the mid-1920s and modelled on a German suspension bridge.²¹ ²²
In Google Maps ↗
6
Eitai Bridge
First built of timber in the late 1600s; the present bridge dates from the mid-1920s.²² ²¹
In Google Maps ↗
7
Etchujima pier
A shared pier about 3 minutes from exit 1 of Etchujima station on the JR Keiyo line.²³
In Google Maps ↗
8
Kachidoki Bridge
The movable bridge completed in 1940, an Important Cultural Property.²⁴
In Google Maps ↗
9
Rainbow Bridge
798 m long and lit from about 30 minutes after sunset until midnight.⁶ ¹
In Google Maps ↗
10
Odaiba Seaside Park
Where many yakatabune gather after dark, off the artificial island of Odaiba.² ²⁵
In Google Maps ↗
11
Hinode Pier
The pier of the big restaurant ships, 1 minute from Hinode station on the Yurikamome.³ ²⁶
In Google Maps ↗
12
Tokyo Tower
The 333 m tower seen from the bay side of most routes.²⁷ ¹¹
In Google Maps ↗
13
Funasei pier
The Shinagawa pier at 1-16-8 Kitashinagawa, about 10 minutes from Kita-Shinagawa station.²⁸
In Google Maps ↗
14
Yokohama Pukari Pier
Where a Yokohama shared yakatabune boards for a 2-hour cruise.²⁹
In Google Maps ↗
15
Yokohama Bay Bridge
Seen lit at night from the boats in the Port of Yokohama.³⁰
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

Before a night on the bay

Book

Check the cancellation window
Note the departure window and check-in time
Expect shared tables on shared cruises

Bring

A jacket for the deck
Easy shoes; some boats ask you to remove them
An umbrella for the walk to the pier

Cost calculator

Price a bay cruise for your group

Enter your group size to compare the bay options.

Bay dinner3 hoursfrom $119 Odaiba route1.5 hoursfrom $63 Sunset small boat1 hourfrom $51

People 2

Total from$238

per head from $119

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Every total takes the cheapest GetYourGuide price of that cruise times the number of guests, converted at the ECB's daily rate; the booking page holds the final figure.

Video

Tokyo Bay Night Cruise - Eric Vlog Time #27

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A Tokyo Bay sunset cruise on a small boat

For a quick trip at dusk, a small private boat runs 1-hour cruises from the Tokyo Water Taxi office past Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Skytree, Rainbow Bridge and the Statue of Liberty replica, with a live guide in English. Groups are limited to 7 participants, and the listing has 51 reviews and a 4.87 rating.

There is no dinner on this Tokyo Bay sunset cruise. Instead, guests may bring their own drinks in plastic bottles or cans, not glass, and a light meal, and there is an indoor space on board. At from $51, it is the lowest starting price of the bay options on this page.

It pairs well with a dinner ashore. Watch the light fade over the bay, then eat in Odaiba or back in the city, where the lit bridge stays in view from the waterfront. If you want the meal on the water, though, it is not the right boat, and one of the yakatabune dinners above is the better choice.

Restaurant ships and day cruises

The bay is also home to the large restaurant ships. Sealine Tokyo's Symphony ships run lunch, afternoon, sunset and dinner cruises from Hinode pier, on a route that passes under both Rainbow Bridge and the Tokyo Gate Bridge.³ Hinode pier is a minute's walk from Hinode station on the Yurikamome, and boarding procedures close 30 minutes before sailing.²⁶

Their kitchens cook French, Italian and buffet menus from seasonal ingredients, a very different evening from a tatami cabin on a yakatabune.³¹ A Tokyo city day tour sold on GetYourGuide includes a 50-minute bay cruise on one of them, between a buffet lunch and Tokyo Tower.

If your heart is set on the Japanese room, the low table and tempura from the boat's kitchen, choose a yakatabune.³² ³³ If you want a chair, a French or Italian menu and a big ship, a restaurant ship is the better match.³¹ Either way, the bay itself is the same water, with the same bridges and lights.

Timing a Tokyo Bay night cruise

Plan around the sunset. In summer, dinner cruises set sail just as the sun is setting, so the first part of the evening is golden light on the water.¹⁰ Rainbow Bridge switches on about 30 minutes after sunset and stays lit until midnight, so any evening cruise sees it lit for the second half.¹ If your evening is flexible, ask at booking when the boat is due back, so you can plan the trip home.

Day length swings a lot through the year. By our calculation central Tokyo has about 14.6 hours of daylight at mid-June and about 9.8 hours at mid-December, so a 6 PM departure is in daylight in June and in full darkness in December.³⁴ For the skyline at night, any month works; for a sunset on board, aim for the warmer months.

Weather can change plans. The Shinagawa cruise sails in rain but not in an earthquake, a tsunami or a storm, and its route can change. Japan Meteorological Agency normals show typhoons approaching the Kanto region mostly from August to October, with September the peak at 1.2 a year.³⁵

Which bay cruise to book

For a full Tokyo Bay dinner cruise with time to eat, drink and go up on deck, book the three-hour Shinagawa cruise. It is the longest of the listings here and includes all-you-can-drink.

For a short, sociable evening with music and a hot pot, an Etchujima cruise fits a shorter evening, and its starting price is about half that of the long dinner. For a sunset and the skyline without a meal, the small boat is quick and has the lowest starting price.

And if you want the river as much as the bay, the Asakusa cruise this site is built around runs down the Sumida to Tokyo Bay, past Rainbow Bridge and Odaiba, and back for a stop at Tokyo Skytree in 2.5 hours. It covers both waters in one booking.

Your night on the river