Monkey Adventure Kart Shinagawa — Attraction in Tokyo

My friends and I arrived around 3:45pm on a Monday afternoon (11/4/24) for a 90 min 4pm ride. We were promptly greeted. If you follow them on Instagram, they will cover the cost of instance, otherwise it’s a “small fee.” After showing out international driving license and passport, we were allowed to go upstairs. They have costumes you can put on during your ride along with a locker for your items. One friend was a minion, the other gengar, and I was evolved eevee.

After choosing and putting on the costume, we received a safety and instruction briefing prior to our adventure by Brandon. Brandon was very thorough! Jake is one of the staff helping get the karts set up and is from ATL but been here in Japan for 12 years. Ren is another tour guide and is from WA state. I appreciated that the staff were non-natives for the sole purpose of having ease with communication.

Notes: You must have an international driving license if you don’t live locally. This can be obtained by going to AAA in the USA for $20-$30. I’m not entirely sure if you can get it here in Japan if you forgot. While you can bring your phone, you can ONLY use them at stoplights. It’s very illegal to do it while driving and they will cancel the ride for you. If a cop sees you, you’ll be fingerprinted, given a dangerous driving record, and be banned from returning to Japan. This was highly stressed as it has happened before. The guide will take pictures along the way as well. The pictures cost money, however. You can rent an action camera for ¥3500, which we didn’t do.

Following the tour, I asked what Ren what sets their company apart from other companies. He stated that other carts have one generic/identical carts whereas their carts have different themes, which is accurate. Ren stated that Jake wraps all their carts, which is pretty cool.

Dislikes: Some of the karts lacked consistency with the headlights. My kart and one of my friends had old or maybe original headlights and the other had newer, LED like ones. It was daylight when we started but turned nighttime. It seemed as if the headlight wasn’t even one and I definitely could couldn’t see my friend (with dull headlight) behind me in my rearview mirrors, which was a little concerning. On the other hand, the city itself had sufficient lighting to not pose any immediate safety concerns. Nonetheless, I want to ensure I’m seen by other drivers. Somehow we returned back to the shop a few minutes prior to the other group who left before us. I’d say we were shorted about 10 minutes which isn’t a huge deal, per se, but it matters. While the experience was great, the question that remains is if it was worth the price (~$160) for 90 minutes. There are other tours available that are cheaper on Klook. While I cannot attest to the quality of others, it’s left to be determined.

Likes: 1.My friends had done this same attraction last year and had the same tour guide. We were able to get a tailored route, which was awesome. Speed. Some areas along the route had traffic such as the busy areas around Shibuya Crossing, but we were able to navigate through areas where we could put the petal to the metal 😎 Aside from headlights, the carts themselves were nicely wrapped and comfortable. My cart, which was camouflaged, had fast acceleration along with great maneuverability and handling. Our tour guide, Ren, took a decent amount of photos that turned out awesome. We each also got a print out photo to keep as well. In Japan, tipping isn’t customary. Although a tip was mentioned at the end, it was made clear that it was optional and I didn’t feel pressured or hassled to do so. Thus, we did give one because it was an enjoyable experience. This is day 5 of my 8 day trip to Japan and I can say it was by far the best attraction I’ve done.

Overall, if I could give half stars, it would be a 4.5. Ware my dislikes enough to bring it to 4 stars, no. I would...

I’m honestly really upset with my experience here. The whole process felt really rushed and our instructor did not let us ask questions until he finished his spiel (they were running behind on schedule and it was very obvious). We were travelling with a larger group and said multiple times which order we wanted to be in based on driving experience. I told the instructor that I was the least experienced driver and that I felt anxious. They did not check the go karts before letting us onto the streets. MY GO KART SHUT DOWN TWICE in the middle of the busy tokyo streets and they had to switch it out with a new go kart 15 minutes into the ride. I kept asking them if I was doing anything wrong and they ignored me?? I felt anxious the entire ride since my previous go kart shut down twice in the middle of the road If you are running a business like this make sure you check if the go karts are actually charged before you send tourists out on the streets. and to ask for a tip on top of that is crazy. it’s my fault for falling for this tourist trap but if you do decide to do the go karts make sure you go to a different location and have them DOUBLE check if your go kart is properly charged. That is...

We’ve got a disappointing experience with Monkey kart.

We purchased tickets for visiting the karting online. The requirements on the website stated a driver's license and age restrictions. When visiting the office, we presented a driver's license (document issued in another Asian country) and tickets, but nevertheless we were denied the service, arguing that only an international driver's license is required. We were upset and asked for a refund for the purchased tickets, but we were told to contact the website where we purchased the tickets. The website's tech support told us that the refund depends on the company providing the service. I contacted the karting office and asked for a refund within two months, to which I was told that they would return the funds after a certain period of time, when the transaction was processed. We have not received a refund even after two years. I consider such a business policy...