Tour Itinerary
- 1000 Hotel Tokyu (directly connected to Shibuya Station on the Inokashira Line) meet up; buy SUICA at Shibuya Station
- 1045 Harajuku; visit Meiji Shrine; Takeshita Street
- 1250 Imperial Palace Outer Garden; Tatsumi Yagura turret; Gyoko-dori Avenue; Marunouchi; Marunouchi Building pine pilings; Tokyo Station
- 1410 Akihabara
- 1450 Asakusa; lunch at Fuji Soba; Nakamise; Senso-ji Temple; Asakusa Shrine
- 1615 disband at Nitenmon Gate
Can You Do a Private One-Day Tour of Tokyo Focused on Learning Public Transport? A Licensed Guide's Report The guests were a group visiting from North America. Some of the guests had visited Japan several times before, while others were visiting for the first time. They had arrived at Haneda the previous night and had already crossed the Shibuya Scramble Crossing. They planned to stay in Tokyo for a few days and then travel to Kyoto. The request was to use this single day to become comfortable with using public transportation. After arriving at the Hotel, the group struggled because the SUICA app would not work. The problem seemed to be that they were trying to link every card to a single credit card. Since a child SUICA had to be purchased anyway, we decided that the others who could otherwise use the app would also purchase physical SUICA cards. This cost us about 20 minutes. At the SUICA gate at Shibuya Station, everyone tapped in one right after another, so some of the cards did not register an entry record. At the next station, Meiji-jingumae, some were rejected, and we had to return to the JR window to settle it. This cost another 20 minutes. At Tokyo Station, one smartphone app only had the Shibuya entry record, so the settlement took additional time. In the end, I explained that they should tap the SUICA calmly and avoid double-tapping, and not force their way through until they confirmed the green light and the sound. At Suehirocho Station, everyone was finally able to enter without trouble, and we were also able to exit smoothly at Asakusa. This was the first time I had ever had such a difficult experience up to this point. With the group's needs, timing for restrooms and snacks was also quite tricky, so we ended up having a late lunch at a soba shop in Asakusa, but it seemed they were satisfied with it. Since they wanted to do various shopping along Nakamise, we decided to part ways at Nitenmon.
Click here for more details: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Transportation cost per person
| No. | Transportation | Route | Fare |
| Section 1 | Train | Shibuya～Harajuku | 146JPY |
| Section 2 | Train | Meiji-jingumae～Nijubashimae | 209JPY |
| Section 3 | Train | Tokyo～Akihabara | 146JPY |
| Section 4 | Subway | Suehirocho～Asakusa | 178JPY |
| Total | 679JPY | ||
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.
