Tour Itinerary
- 0900 Hotel Ginza Premier (3 min from Shimbashi Station on the Ginza Line) meeting point. Meet the tour conductor and Amira at 0830 for prior coordination
- 0925 Commemorative photo in front of Tatsumi Yagura at the Imperial Palace Outer Garden
- 1015 Tokyo Tower (details below)
- 1210 Meiji Shrine, situation at the First Parking Lot, sake offering barrels, Grand Torii gate, main shrine
- 1340 Asakusa, Nakamise, Senso-ji Temple
- 1510 I alone return to the hotel by bus (described later)
Title: What Is a Private Bus Tour of Tokyo Like? A Licensed Guide's Report from Japan Guide Agency Body: The guests were a group visiting Japan from Africa. The group was organized around the founder of a travel company, and the other members formed a mixed party of several smaller groups. Since this was the first Japan-oriented tour the organizer had created, there were a great many questions on a wide range of topics from the very beginning. Today as well, I arrived early for a final meeting to confirm the details. The organizer had come to Japan in late April to do preliminary research in Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo. The guests had arrived in Osaka the previous week, toured Kyoto, arrived in Tokyo the day before, and had gone to Shibuya in the evening (according to the pre-tour meeting, I had originally been scheduled to guide them there after the bus tour, on my way home). It made things easier for me, though. When I asked whether purchasing tickets had gone smoothly, they said there was no problem, as everyone had been given a Welcome SUICA at Tokyo Station upon arrival the day before. To start, the departure ended up being nine people, with one person choosing to spend the day independently. On the bus, there was a lot of chatting, and even when I used the microphone to give explanations, they were not always listening closely. At the Imperial Palace, only a few people stepped out of line to take photos, but at Tokyo Tower it was quite difficult to keep everyone together, and I had to repeat my explanations several times. Furthermore, when we tried to go back down, a few of them started eating soft-serve ice cream, and then everyone began buying coffee and other items, and it became difficult to keep things organized. Once we finally went down, the group got stuck at the souvenir shop, resulting in a significant loss of time. In addition, several people who wanted to take photos from below went missing. Finally, after boarding the bus, one person said they wanted to move around freely from then on and asked to be dropped off by taxi, but upon seeing one running along the street right in front of us, they asked to be let off there and left the group. At Meiji Shrine, we skipped the planned rest at the forest terrace. However, here too, two of the guests said they absolutely wanted to go to the Tsukiji Outer Market and asked to be dropped off at the nearest subway station, so I let them off at Meiji-jingumae on the Chiyoda Line and explained how to get there via Hibiya. This too took time, and by the time we arrived in Asakusa, due to parking constraints, we only had one hour available. When I explained this to the organizer, they were determined to keep to the schedule, so we set a 20-minute free time, but half of the group did not gather at the meeting time. After consulting with the organizer, we decided that I would deliver the luggage remaining on the bus to the Hotel, while the organizer would lead the guests back by subway. While I was preparing this report, I received word that they had returned safely. Tomorrow's itinerary is packed with TeamLab Planets, go-karting, and more, so I can only hope they will be able to move as a group successfully. It seems that giving them SUICA cards and letting them move around on their own had an unintended effect.
Transportation cost per person
| No. | Transportation | Route | Fare |
| Section 1 | Other | Ginza～Ginza | 0JPY |
| Total | 0JPY | ||
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.
