Hakone Customized Private Tour in 1 Day — Guide Akey

Private Hakone Tour on a Rainy Day: A Licensed Guide's Report

The weather in Hakone that day was poor with rain in the forecast, so, thinking that umbrellas would be unusable in Hakone due to strong winds, I purchased 300-yen and 100-yen rain ponchos in advance at a discount store and presented them as a gift. The temperature was also low, and since the guests mentioned during our discussion that they wanted to enjoy indoor activities, we talked about visiting various art museums, but since the locations were scattered, we decided to go to the POLA Museum of Art, which has a shuttle bus. At the same time, since there is a place where you can enjoy interesting hot springs while wearing a swimsuit, we decided to go to Yunessun, where the guests rented swimsuits and enjoyed themselves. During that time, I waited inside the Kowakien facility. We went to Tamura Ginkatsutei, a popular tonkatsu restaurant in Gora, and although we had to wait quite a while in line, since the guests liked tonkatsu, we had a late lunch there, then took the Hakone Cable Car and Ropeway to Owakudani for sightseeing, where I bought and presented black eggs as a gift. The POLA Museum of Art had many Impressionist works, and the guests also had an interesting experience in the special Yayoi Kusama room. At Yunessun, there were Japanese families with children enjoying themselves and other foreign tourists as well, so the guests enjoyed an experience at a popular spot that they could not have had under ordinary circumstances. The guests also seemed to quite enjoy the mountain railway and ropeway, even though visibility was poor due to clouds and rain.

Since the Hotel was located inconveniently in the mountains and could not be reached by public transportation, we had to take a taxi at our own expense from Gora Station. At the same time, it is difficult to cover the entire standard route for Hakone sightseeing in 6 hours. In particular, on a clear day the waiting time for the ropeway is a long 40 to 50 minutes, which takes even more time. On that day, due to the rain and cold, there were fewer tourists and we were able to board smoothly, but especially on crowded weekends during the peak season, 6 hours is not enough.

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Tour Report by Akey

Hello, new friends! I’m Akio Yasui. I was born in Kyoto City and graduated from Doshisha University in Kyoto and moved to Tokyo for working. I used to work for international companies as a marketing advertising specialist. I have been to fourty five different countries until now and been to all prefectures in Japan.
I have deep knowledge of both traditional and modern culture of Japan based on my experience in Kyoto, Tokyo and their surrounding areas such as Kamakura, Nikko, Nara, Osaka. I can design exclusive and the optinum itineray for you and guide you not only to ordinary tour courses but also casual or hidden locations. My task is making you enjoy Japan and like our culture and people. Let me guide you any where you want to visit and enjoy Japan together.