Tokyo in One Day: Tour Sensoji Temple and Nakamise — Guide Nobby

September, 2026

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

  • 8:30 Guide (Kogure) arrives at the hotel
  • 9:00 Meet the guests in the hotel lobby
  • 9:05 Depart the hotel, walk to Akasaka-mitsuke Station
  • 9:26 Depart Akasaka-mitsuke Station, take the subway Ginza Line to Asakusa Station
  • 9:52 Arrive at Asakusa Station, walk to the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center
  • 10:00-10:10 Tour the 8F observation deck of the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center
  • 10:10-11:10 Tour Sensoji Temple and Nakamise Street
  • *Guide through Kaminarimon Gate, Nakamise Street, Hozomon Gate, Five-Story Pagoda, Owaraji (giant straw sandals), Omikuji (fortune slips), incense burner, purification fountain, main hall, Asakusa Shrine, and a matcha ice cream shop
  • 11:20 Depart Asakusa Station, take the Toei Asakusa Line via Ningyocho Station and transfer to the subway Hibiya Line to Tsukiji Station
  • 11:38 Arrive at Tsukiji Station, walk past the side of Tsukiji Honganji Temple toward Tsukiji Market
  • 11:50-12:30 Lunch at Tsukijiya Sushi restaurant (reserved in advance)
  • 12:30-12:40 Stroll through Tsukiji Market
  • 12:40 Depart Tsukiji Market, walk to Ginza
  • 12:55-13:20 Tour Ginza
  • *Guide through the Mitsukoshi department store basement, Kyukyodo, Nissan showroom window, pedestrian paradise, etc.
  • 13:24 Depart Ginza Station, take the subway Ginza Line to Ueno Station
  • 13:35 Arrive at subway Ueno Station, walk to JR Ueno Station
  • 13:43 Depart JR Ueno Station, take the JR Yamanote Line to Nippori Station
  • 13:47 Arrive at Nippori Station, walk to Yanaka
  • 13:55-14:30 Tour Yanaka
  • *Guide through Yanaka Yuyake Dandan (Sunset Steps), Yanaka Ginza, and the Kannonji Temple Tsuiji wall
  • 14:34 Depart Nippori Station, take the JR Yamanote Line to Nishi-Nippori Station
  • 14:35 Arrive at Nishi-Nippori Station, transfer to the subway Chiyoda Line
  • 14:43 Depart Nishi-Nippori Station, take the subway Chiyoda Line to Akasaka Station
  • 15:02 Arrive at Akasaka Station, walk to the hotel
  • 15:10 Arrive at the hotel, greet the guests and finish the work

What Does a Private Tokyo Tour of Asakusa, Tsukiji, Ginza, and Yanaka Look Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guest, visiting Japan for the first time, thoroughly enjoyed today's tour, which came right after a typhoon had passed. Through email correspondence beforehand, we decided on a tour of Senso-ji Temple, Tsukiji Market, Ginza, and Yanaka, and the guest took many photos at each location. At Senso-ji Temple, the guest enjoyed drawing an omikuji fortune. The guest also learned about the differences between temples and shrines, the different ways of worship at each, and how to pass through a torii gate at a shrine. At Tsukiji Market, the guest enjoyed some delicious sushi. At Kyukyodo in Ginza, the guest purchased a goshuincho stamp book. Yanaka is an area that suffered relatively little damage from the Great Kanto Earthquake and the war, and the guest was fond of the Tsuiji-bei wall at Kannon-ji Temple and took photos of it. When I asked which place visited today was the favorite, the answer was that Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa was the most favored.

Incidentally, when I was staying in Oceania as an exchange student during my school days, it turned out the guest had been born in a hospital in the same region, and I felt a curious sense of connection. We were able to have many enjoyable conversations about the differences in climate and lifestyle between the guest's home region and Japan.

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Transportation cost per person

No.TransportationRouteFare
Section 1SubwayAkasaka-mitsuke～Asakusa210JPY
Section 2SubwayAsakusa～Tsukiji290JPY
Section 3SubwayGinza～Ueno180JPY
Section 4TrainUeno～Nippori160JPY
Section 5TrainNippori～Nishi-Nippori160JPY
Section 6SubwayNishi-Nippori～Akasaka (Tokyo)210JPY
Total1,210JPY

Tour Report by Nobby

Hello and how do you do?
My name is Nobuo Kokure, and please call me Nobby for short, if you want.
Let me introduce myself. I was born in Hayama, a beach resort area, Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo. And I’m now living in Saginuma, Kawasaki city.
When I was a university student, I had the opportunities of doing a home stay with a family In U.S.A., Australia, and England, as a youth exchange student.
After graduation from the university, I started working at American Life Insurance Company, Japan (Alico, Japan), which is a group member company of AIG, now MetLife Insurance Company. I could have a chance to visit the head office and the field offices of U.S.A., Wilmington in Delaware, New York, Boston, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale in Florida, Los Angeles, while I was working for Alico, Japan (Now, MetLife Insurance company).
I had been working for MetLife Insurance Company for about 38 years, in total.
After retiring from the life insurance company, I started working as a tour guide, because I wanted to become a tour guide to introduce culture, history, and manners and customs of Japan in English. It’s so different between my previous job and the guide business, but I like guide business a lot.
I can meet so many people from all over the world and the guide business has been thriving after the pandemic.
I have implemented the tour over 240 times, introduced Japan to more than 4300 tourists from 53 countries.

Not only Tokyo, but I have experienced touring around Nikko, Kamakura, Mt. Fuji & Hakone area, Takayama, Kanazawa, Nagoya, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, and Hiroshima, etc. which are all very famous as a tourist spot in Japan.
If you go on a tour in Tokyo, you must see and visit Asakusa Sensoji Temple which is the oldest Buddhist Temple in Tokyo with histories and Nakamise Shopping Street where you can buy the souvenirs and try to taste Japanese sweets, such as doll cake which is the sponge cake in various shapes filled with red bean paste and Japanese powdered tea ice cream. Another my recommendation in Tokyo to visit is Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, and Shibuya. Meiji Shrine is one of the biggest shrines in Japan with quiet and peaceful atmosphere and magnificent site.
Harajuku and Shibuya are both fun to visit for shopping and experience the Shibuya Crossing.
I usually propose my tentative itinerary and ask if my plan is all right with the customer or not. My hobby is traveling around Japan and foreign countries and going to the gym for exercise.
I would like to work as a guide as long as possible if I’m in good health and my legs are strong, because I love this job.
I put my importance on the mind of OMOTENASHI which means sincere hospitality, though safety during the tour takes precedence, number one priority, before anything else.

I’m very looking forward to seeing you and touring with you in Japan soon.
Thank you!

Best regards,

Nobuo Kokure (Nobby)

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Sep 29, 2026
jeffbM3390PI
Nuobo was awesome as our Tokyo tour guide.
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Jeff…

Sep 25, 2026
skipcooney
Customized private tour of Tokyo
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Nobby was very flexible…

Sep 22, 2026
duncans746
Great guide!
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Nobuo was fantastic, very knowledgeable and shaped…

Sep 13, 2026
Culture25230012656
Very knowledgeable
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
I enjoy every step of the tour.…