Tour Itinerary
- 0900 Hotel Tokyo (5 min from JR Shinjuku Station) meeting point
- 0920 Koishikawa Korakuen Garden
- 1040 Imperial Palace Outer Garden, Tatsumi Yagura Turret, Gyoko-dori Avenue, Marunouchi Building pine piles, Tokyo Station
- 1140 Meiji Shrine visit, Takeshita Street
- 1250 Shibuya, Hachiko Statue, Scramble Crossing
- 1315 Disband in front of Starbucks
Title: What Can You See on a 4-Hour Private Tokyo Tour? A Licensed Guide's Report The guests were visitors from Oceania who had arrived two days earlier. The day before, they had joined a food tour around the Shinjuku area, including its narrow alleyway districts. Today was their first time riding the train, and since they planned to sightsee on their own for the following days, they wanted to learn how to use public transportation. After that, they would travel to various places by cruise ship. I handed them a subway route map and a JR route map (which I had made myself) and explained how to read the line colors and the symbol markings (alphabet letters). I then gave them a Tokyo Travel Guide and explained possible destinations for the coming days and how to get there. Since today was a 4-hour tour, we could not visit many places, so I planned an itinerary covering the representative sites of the Imperial Palace and Meiji Shrine. Koishikawa Korakuen, which I added in between, had rabbit-ear irises in full bloom, and the guests were delighted. At Meiji Shrine, we happened to come across a wedding ceremony, which also made for a wonderful experience. Originally, we were scheduled to part ways at Takeshita Street, but the guests wanted to go to Shibuya, so I guided them to the entrance of Takeshita Street, which they said they would visit separately, and then took them to Shibuya. After crossing the scramble intersection, since they wished to do some shopping, we parted ways there.
Click here for more details: Tokyo Customized Half-Day Tour with Licensed Local Guide
Transportation cost per person
| No. | Transportation | Route | Fare |
| Section 1 | Subway | Tochomae～Iidabashi | 220JPY |
| Section 2 | Subway | Iidabashi – Kasuga～Otemachi | 220JPY |
| Section 3 | Subway | Nijubashimae～Meiji-jingumae | 209JPY |
| Section 4 | Train | Harajuku～Shibuya | 146JPY |
| Total | 795JPY | ||
I had worked in the international business scene for over 40 years and traveled to North America and European countries over 1000 days.
After I retired from the business, I traveled to most of the major sightseeing spots in all 47 prefectures in Japan.
My guide is starting from a brief history of the site where I am going to guide. I usually add a briefing about Japanese culture based on religions, such as Shinto Shrine and Buddhist temples. A geographic background behind the history is also important.
My course includes 4 to 5 (in 6 hours) sites from the following depending on where I will pick the guests up;
– Senso ji Temple
– Kappabashi Kitchenware Market
– Tokyo Skytree
– Ueno Park
– Nezu Shrine
– Imperial Palace outer park
– Tokyo Central Station, Marunouchi historic district
– Tsukiji Fish Market
– Koishikawa Korakuen Garden
– Ginza
– Odaiba
– Hama Rikyu Garden
– Shinjuku Gyoen Garden
– Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
– Roppongi
– Meiji Shrine
– Harajuku & Takeshita Street
– Shibuya
– and Any of your interest.
I am happy to introduce Japanese Manga/Anime cultures such as Akihabara, Nakano Broadway and Ghibli related sites.
Travelling along the JR central line where guests can stopover at major animation studios (it is not accepted to visit the inside). The majority of animation studios such as TMS Entertainment, SUNRISE, A1 Pictures etc. are located in this area. Suginami Animation museum, Studio Ghibli and Ghibli Museum are also located.
Guests can feel old houses in the Spirited Away scene in the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum.
I can also provide a pilgrimage to the sacred place (shooting location) for the Shinkai Makoto animation movies such as Your name, Weathering with you, and Suzume.
Another interesting feature is to visit authentic Japanese style pub meals such as Yakitori, Karaage, and Sushi etc.
Asakusa Hoppy Street, Ameyoko Street, Yurakucho, Shimbashi, Shinjuku Golden gai, Shinjuku Omoide Yokocho are nice to visit.
A Sake tasting at Sake Cellar can be an option.
In addition to the above, I am available in the neighboring cities.
Kawagoe is an old town developed in the 17th century. It has very close relationship with the Edo central government. Kawagoe castle ruins, Kitain temple and 500 Buddha statues will welcome the guests.
These areas are renovated and provide an old days atmosphere.
Japanese style sweets food stands will fascinate the guests.
Kawagoe is about 1 – 1.5 train trip from Tokyo.
Kamakura is the first Samurai worriers government established in the late 12th century.
The Buddhism are introduced to Japan in the 6th century, and flourished at Nara and Kyoto later. A newer Buddhism sect such as Zen has well developed at Kamakura area.
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Gigantic Buddha statue at Kotokuin Temple and the flower temple Hasedera Temple are must-see.
Kamakura is about 1 – 1.5 train trip from Tokyo.
I am also happy to develop any other site the guests have interest.
Sep 24, 2026
Leslie_R
Good tour on first day
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Ted, our guide was…
Sep 24, 2026
Leslie_R
Good tour on first day
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Ted, our guide was terrific. He was well informed and took us all over Tokyo. He was very open to questions. Would recommend!
Jul 2, 2026
Susan M
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Family fun in Tokyo.
A wonderful day. Ted customized our tour…
Jul 2, 2026
Susan M
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Family fun in Tokyo.
A wonderful day. Ted customized our tour to suit our families interests. Definitely a great way to see Tokyo.
Jun 26, 2026
ann r
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Educational with kind, generous guide
My teenage sons and I learned…
Jun 26, 2026
ann r
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Educational with kind, generous guide
My teenage sons and I learned so much about Tokyo and Japan in a few hours. We were very fortunate to have such an excellent guide! We highly recommend Ted and appreciated his knowledgeable and thoughtful sightseeing tour of Tokyo. He planned a wonderful itinerary for us and made it all happen, with excellent pacing of breaks and good conversation.
Jun 14, 2026
141yunb
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Can’t believe all that we got to see in 6 hours
We…
Jun 14, 2026
141yunb
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Can’t believe all that we got to see in 6 hours
We had a fantastic time with Ted, our guide. He contacted us prior to the trip to customize an itinerary that would have things of interest to everyone in our group. He shared helpful history for each of the places we visited, from Tsukigi market, Harujuku district, to Meiji Shrine. He had great recommendations for other parts of our trip. He is an expert at navigating the Tokyo train system. This tour is family friendly, but also very active in terms of walking to cover all the places we got to visit. The tour with Ted is definitely a highlight of our trip, I would highly recommend.
