Apple Maps Gains AR Walking Directions in Tokyo, Japan

In iOS 15, Apple's Maps app includes the ability to use augmented reality walking directions in some big cities, and today we learn that Tokyo has become the latest place that you can use it.

japan tokyo ar walking directions maps
The AR mode can map walking directions onto the real world by using your iPhone's rear camera, making it easier to see where you need to go in built-up areas and reducing the need to look down at your smartphone as you move.

The feature's availability in Tokyo was discovered by Ata Distance, who also says other Japanese city maps may have been updated beyond Tokyo, but it's hard to know without being on the ground.

To initiate a walking route, ‌iPhone‌ users can raise their ‌device‌ and scan the buildings around them when prompted. The step-by-step directions will appear in the AR mode automatically, which should make it easier to get where you need to go, especially in situations where the directions are tricky.

According to Apple's feature availability page, AR walking directions are available in London, Los Angeles, Montréal, New York Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, Singapore, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, DC. Japan has yet to be added to the list.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
m4 macbook air pink

Apple Now Selling Refurbished M4 MacBook Air Models

Friday June 13, 2025 3:34 pm PDT by
Apple today added M4 MacBook Air models to its refurbished store in the United States, making the latest MacBook Air devices available at a discounted price for the first time since they launched earlier this year. Both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models are available, with Apple offering multiple capacities and configurations. The refurbished devices are discounted by approximately 15...

Top Rated Comments

MozMan68 Avatar
40 months ago
I tried this out in NYC last year and was pretty impressed. Of course, I couldn't stop watching it as I was walking which you're not really supposed to do..Hah.

Video HERE ('https://youtu.be/JRSWadtnPBQ')
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
elementalwingma Avatar
40 months ago
This really makes me miss Japan, really wanna go back soon.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yagmot Avatar
40 months ago

Do they work equally as well in English in Tokyo? Or Japanese in Toronto?

I suspect that I would want names of places, streets, etc. to be in both English and Japanese were I wandering round Tokyo. The English to understand, and the Japanese to compare with signs.
Most streets don't have names in Tokyo, so that's not really an issue. Apple maps (and Google, for that matter) already lists place names in English (romanized). I'll try out the AR walking thing later this weekend maybe.

Attachment Image
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lverg Avatar
40 months ago
Can’t wait to use this with AR glasses someday
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
svish Avatar
40 months ago
Good to see it being available in another city too. But want it to be available in many more cities. Hope that happens.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ipedro Avatar
40 months ago

I tried this out in NYC last year and was pretty impressed. Of course, I couldn't stop watching it as I was walking which you're not really supposed to do..Hah.

Video HERE ('https://youtu.be/JRSWadtnPBQ')
I accidentally came across this in New York when getting into Manhattan and looking for my hotel, AR came up. Most iOS users never see these features and it's surprising when they come up in an app you thought you were so familiar with and use every day in your home city.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)