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. Not affiliated with the Japan Guide Association.
Tour Itinerary
- 9:30 Meeting place: Hotel Premier International, Asakusa
- 9:40 Depart Asakusa Station
- (Tokyo Metro Ginza Line)
- Ueno Station
- (JR Yamanote Line)
- 10:00 Arrive Nippori Station
- Nippori Yanaka Ginza
- Yanaka Cemetery
- 11:00 Depart Sendagi Station
- (Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line)
- 11:10 Arrive Nezu Station
- Nezu Nezu Shrine
- Break: Coffee shop
- 12:00 Depart Nezu Station
- (Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line)
- Otemachi Station
- (Tokyo Metro Tozai Line)
- Nihonbashi Station
- (Tokyo Metro Ginza Line)
- 12:30 Arrive Tawaramachi Station
- Tawaramachi Kappabashi Kitchenware Street
- 13:20 Depart Tawaramachi Station
- (Tokyo Metro Ginza Line)
- 13:30 Arrive Asakusa Station
- 13:30 Disband: Asakusa Station
Title: What's a Rainy-Day Private Walking Tour of Yanaka, Nezu, and Kappabashi in Tokyo Like? A Licensed Guide's Report
The guests were a group visiting Japan for the first time from North America. About a week before this tour, they had arrived at Haneda Airport and immediately traveled to Sapporo, spending a week in Hokkaido, where they enjoyed the autumn foliage, hot springs, and fresh seafood. They came to Tokyo the day before and strolled around the Asakusa area the previous evening. They planned to stay in Tokyo until the following day and return home the day after that.
This was a tour held in rainy weather.
We first headed to the Yanaka-Nezu-Sendagi area. The guests had requested to see "the old streetscapes of Tokyo." They were all very fond of cats and mentioned that they had learned about the Yanaka-Nezu-Sendagi area through social media. We strolled slowly through the streets, and they purchased a stuffed-cat toy, saying, "We love this kind of townscape." We also took our time walking through Yanaka Cemetery.
We then moved to Nezu Shrine. Within the grounds, many families were visiting for the Shichi-Go-San ceremony. I explained about Shinto, torii gates, the history of Edo and Tokyo, and Inari shrines. There were questions such as "What kind of religion is Shinto?" and "Why did Shinto arise?" Everyone bought omikuji fortunes, drawing "great blessing" and "small blessing." We took a break at a coffee shop along the way.
Next we moved to the Kappabashi kitchenware street. Their goals were kitchen knives and plastic food samples. They browsed each shop slowly, checking the items again and again, and each person purchased a knife and food sample they liked. They said, "We've achieved the goal of our trip to Japan."
They also made comments and asked questions such as "The city is so clean and there's no litter," "We don't see any homeless people," and "Why are there no trash cans on the streets?" I saw them off at Asakusa Station, and we parted ways.
Click here for more details: Kappabashi Knife & Kitchen Town Tour with Licensed Guide
Transportation cost per person
| No. | Transportation | Route | Fare |
| Section 1 | Train | Asakusa～Ueno | 180JPY |
| Section 2 | Train | Ueno～Nippori | 150JPY |
| Section 3 | Train | Sendagi～Nezu | 180JPY |
| Section 4 | Train | Nezu～Tawaramachi (Tokyo) | 210JPY |
| Section 5 | Train | Tawaramachi (Tokyo)～Asakusa | 180JPY |
| Total | 900JPY | ||
Guiding career:
Guide work started in July 2022. A guide focused on FIT compliance.
FY2022 results: 17 cases, FY2023 results: 97
Destinations: Various places in Tokyo, Hakone, Kamakura and Nikko
As a recent group travel record, in October 2023, we have a track record of guiding a group of 33 people from Singapore to Narita Airport transfer plus sightseeing in Tokyo.
Self-introduction:
In the past, I was stationed in Canada, the United States, and Mexico as an expatriate of a Japanese bank for over 11 years.
Since I have been mainly involved in the financing business in the United States for a long time, I think I am able to provide interpretation and translation services related to business and finance.
I am a certified CPA in the United States.
In addition, for three years from April 2016, I will be engaged in Japanese-English translation work (part-time), and I can also handle translation work.
Although I don’t have a qualification in Spanish, but I think I can handle day to day conversation in Spanish without any problems.
My hobby is trekking and from time to time, take a walk around mountains near Tokyo like Mt. Takao, Tanzawa, etc. I think it is possible to provide tourist information here as well.
Since April 2015, I have been working as a Tokyo Metropolitan Tourism Volunteer and Tokyo Metropolitan Disaster Prevention Volunteer.
One more, I have a separate house near Asuka Village, Nara prefecture, and I stay there for a total of about 30 days every year and have been enjoying sightseeing personally in the vicinity. Therefore, I think in the Kansai region, especially in Nara, Asuka, Yoshino, Koyasan, Kumano Kodo, etc., where I think I will be able to tour guide with confidence.
Jul 21, 2026
Christelle_G
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Excellent tour guide
Masa san is extremely knowledgeable and…
Jul 21, 2026
Christelle_G
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Excellent tour guide
Masa san is extremely knowledgeable and lovely company. My 13-yr-old daughter and I had a great day walking around the sites we had picked with him. He tooks his time to explain all the history and then kindly walked us to the spot of our next booking as it was quite confusing. I would very highly recommend him. Of all the tours we did in Tokyo Masa Sam was my favourite tour guide.
Jul 1, 2026
97TexAg
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 8hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Amazing day in Tokyo
Masa was our tour guide. Masa was an…
Jul 1, 2026
97TexAg
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 8hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Amazing day in Tokyo
Masa was our tour guide. Masa was an amazing tour guide that communicated extremely well ahead of time about the sites we would like to see in Tokyo, picked us up and dropped us off at our hotel, was very friendly and well prepared and finally but most importantly made our day in Tokyo very memorable.
We went to the Buddhist temple in Asakusa, Meiji Shinto Temple, imperial Palace, Shinjuku Gyoen National Gatden, and Shibuya Crossing. All were great and amazing suggestions by Masa.
Would highly recommend this tour as it was a private tour guide for a full day and provided discretion on which 5-6 sites you want to see. Also highly recommend our tour guide Masa who was a wealth of knowledge and very friendly and charming.
15/10 would do again.
Jun 2, 2026
Tagare S
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Great tour and guide!
This is a great tour, and our…
Jun 2, 2026
Tagare S
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Great tour and guide!
This is a great tour, and our guide, Masa was really great. Although it was raining, he had no
hesitations in completing his tour and showing us great places around Tokyo. If you are still
on the fence about this, please don’t, you won’t regret it. Thank you, Masa!
Jun 1, 2026
Lisa_A
Viator review: Private Tokyo Tour with Licensed Guide & Vehicle (Max 15 persons)
Adler Family Tour
Our tour with Masa was…
Jun 1, 2026
Lisa_A
Viator review: Private Tokyo Tour with Licensed Guide & Vehicle (Max 15 persons)
Adler Family Tour
Our tour with Masa was incredible and filled with interesting facts and history, he gave us incredible insight on each location. We loved that we were able to choose 3-4 sites from a large selection and really spend enough time at each spot. Masa was kind and knowledgable and even helped us with a restaurant reservation for later in the evening when were unable to find one.