Tokyo: Akasaka-mitsuke Station & Otemachi Station — Guide Masa

Title: What Is a Private One-Day Walking Tour of Tokyo Like? A Licensed Guide's Report on Rikugien, Asakusa, and the Imperial Palace East Gardens

The guests were two visiting groups of friends from North America. It was everyone's first visit to Japan.

They had arrived at Haneda Airport the previous night on a direct flight and taken a taxi to their Hotel.

The day before, they had explored the area around their Hotel and enjoyed teppanyaki for dinner.

This time, they were on a trip of about two weeks in Japan. They would stay in Tokyo for four days, then take the Shinkansen to Kanazawa, and further visit Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima. After returning to Tokyo, they planned to continue on to another destination for about four days of vacation before returning home.

Today, their wish was to "take a general walk around the city and get a feel for the transportation, atmosphere, and overall situation."

The tour took place under cloudy skies, and partway through it turned to light rain.

Since they wanted to buy a "Suica Card," we first stopped at the Ekitabi Concierge at Ueno Station on the way.

After completing the purchase, we first went to Rikugien in Komagome.

I explained "the origins and current state of Rikugien."

The weeping cherry trees had completely turned to green leaves, but the azaleas were in full bloom.

They said, "The Japanese garden is wonderful. The view is superb."

We moved on to Asakusa.

We started from the front of Kaminarimon Gate. I explained "Sensoji Temple and the history from Edo to Tokyo," "what the five-story pagoda is for," "what Buddhism is," and "the differences between Buddhism and Shinto."

We took commemorative photos at Kaminarimon and various other spots, and strolled slowly through the crowded Nakamise shopping street.

There were questions such as "What are Japan's major religions?" "How many Buddhists are there in Japan?" "Besides Buddhism, what other religions do people believe in?" and "How many Christians are there?"

There was also a question: "We see many people wearing kimono within the temple grounds. Why is that? Are they all Japanese?"

We moved to the Imperial Palace East Gardens.

I explained "the history of Japan from Edo to Meiji," "the Meiji Restoration," "why Edo Castle became the Imperial Palace," "the history of the Imperial Family," "World War II and the air raids on Tokyo," and "how the stone walls were built."

There were questions and comments such as "Does the current Emperor of Japan hold any political power?" "Who will be the next Emperor?" and "Can a woman become Emperor?"

They said, "The pine trees are wonderful."

There were comments and questions such as "It's so quiet on the trains. No one is speaking loudly," "The city is clean with no litter on the ground," and "It's surprising that the public restrooms are clean and free."

We parted ways at Akasaka-mitsuke Station.

Click here for more details: Tokyo Early Morning Customized Tour with Licensed Guide

Tour Report by Masa

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.