Tokyo Customized Half-Day Tour — Guide Lance
October, 2025
This is a private guided tour report by Japan Guide Agency (JGA Inc.), a network of 1,000+ government-licensed, English-speaking local guides across all 47 prefectures of Japan.
Tour Itinerary
- 900 Hilton Odaiba ⇒ 920-1030 Tsukiji ⇒ 1050-1130 Asakusa ⇒ 1150-1240 Yanaka & Nezu ⇒ 1330 Hilton Odaiba
What Is a Private Taxi Day Tour of Tokyo Like? A Licensed Guide's Report on Tsukiji, Asakusa, and Yanaka
The guests were a group visiting from North America. They arrived by plane and had made a round trip to Mount Fuji the previous day. Tonight they were scheduled to board a cruise ship from Odaiba, bound for Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other destinations. We had arranged to meet on the first floor of the Hotel, but what I thought was the first floor was actually the second floor, so even though one of the guests contacted me to say they had arrived, I could not find them and got a little flustered — but another guest came to look for me. At Tsukiji, we were treated to a skewer of grilled wagyu sirloin at a shop. At Namiyoke Shrine, when I explained that the female lion head wore ohaguro (blackened teeth), one of the guests asked me about the ingredients of ohaguro 💦 (it is iron and tannin). In Asakusa, one of the guests bought two caps with the character for "dragon" written on them. When I was about to explain the Ako Roshi (the loyal retainers) at Kannonji Temple in Yanaka, the guests already knew about the Ako Roshi. The conversation turned to Japanese politics, and I mentioned that with the major defeat of the Liberal Democratic Party, Japan might see its first female prime minister. Since we could see the Fuji Television building in Odaiba where the Hotel was located, I talked about how the company president had been dismissed over a cover-up of a celebrity scandal. Today was a private chartered taxi tour, but the roads were congested all day, so it became a rather rushed tour.
Click here for more details: Tokyo Customized Half-Day Tour with Licensed Local Guide
I have been working as a tour guide once a week since 2024.
I grew up in Osaka and studied in Kyoto,
I have been working for the lvestock division of the national organization of agricultural cooperatives.
Japan depends on imports for most of its livestock feed ingredients.
I visited 10 countries on business and stayed in New Orleans working for a subsidiary company for 3 years.
I visited 10 other countries with my wife for sightseeing.
I also started writing Haiku, Japanese traditional poem, after retiring.
One of my favorite is ” Bundled up, you are like a Matryoshka.”
Looking forward to see you!
Sep 24, 2026
benoitlJ9021HN
Perfect guide tour in Tokyo
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Lance was very nice…
Sep 24, 2026
benoitlJ9021HN
Perfect guide tour in Tokyo
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Lance was very nice and helped us . to learn so much. His English is really good and he is extremely well prepared.
Sep 19, 2026
H1282JBkarinas
Great tour with Lance from Japan Guide Agency!
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo Customized Full-Day Private Tour with Licensed Guide
Lance our tour…
Sep 19, 2026
H1282JBkarinas
Great tour with Lance from Japan Guide Agency!
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo Customized Full-Day Private Tour with Licensed Guide
Lance our tour guide was fantastic. From the time we paired, we messaged on WhatsApp as he built our customizable tour day! He gave great suggestions and asked great questions to build a wonderful day.
The day itself was perfect. He met us at the hotel, and guided us fantastically. He had detailed history and facts to share and was well prepared to ensure that we had everything we needed.
Sep 10, 2026
Silver_F
amazing 8-hour walking tour with Lance!
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Lance was our…
Sep 10, 2026
Silver_F
amazing 8-hour walking tour with Lance!
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Lance was our amazing and thorough tour guide and already prepared an itinerary for us based on his recommendations and our preferences well before arrived in Japan.
On the day of the guided tour – there was a brief introduction on Japanese history – and became the common thread as he brought us through each site and guided us on the subways and introduced us to amazing small mom and pop & artisan shops we would have otherwise never found!
Lots of walking so make sure to wear super comfy shoes but 10/10 would do it again!
Learned so much in a short time and was able to spend the rest of days in Tokyo shopping and going to other places.
Thank you, Lance, for sharing with us your beautiful country! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Jul 4, 2026
317roxaneh
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Great time in Tokyo!
We had a great day with Lance! He…
Jul 4, 2026
317roxaneh
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Great time in Tokyo!
We had a great day with Lance! He had a good sense of humor and was so kind to meet us at our Air BnB, which was a bit out of the way. He gave us a great crash course on Japanese history before heading out on our adventure around Tokyo, visiting shrines, markets, a museum and garden. It was so helpful to have him with us navigating the train system, and he took us to an amazing sushi place for a lovely lunch. All in all, it was really fun and we were able to better appreciate the places we visited with him providing information and history along the way. Would definitely recommend!…