What Is a Private One-Day Hakone Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

① The guests had requested many places they wished to visit, so it was challenging to plan an efficient route. In addition to the course we actually covered above, there was also a request to visit the Hakone Open-Air Museum, but since that was simply not feasible, I clearly explained this when I met the guests in the morning. (However, even during the tour, they repeatedly expressed their wish to visit that museum.)

② Since the guests had made an advance reservation for a marquetry (yosegi-zaiku) hands-on workshop at 13:00, I worked backward from that time to plan the route. On the other hand, if the workshop started at 13:00, they would not be able to catch the 13:50 pirate ship (I had confirmed in advance that the workshop takes about one hour), so I negotiated with the local operator to have the workshop start at 12:30. (Since the next pirate ship departed at 15:00, which would have made our return to Hakone-Yumoto even later, I paced the tour to hurry along as appropriate.)

③ I experienced firsthand what people call "overtourism." The area was packed with foreign tourists during the year-end and New Year holidays, and the ropeway from Togendai had a line of nearly 30 minutes, during which I had a hard time keeping the guests reassured.

④ [Request] Having guided Hakone twice before, I feel that six hours is not enough to cover Hakone thoroughly. Therefore, I think it might be worth considering setting the working hours for Hakone at eight hours and increasing the guide fee accordingly to an amount such as 25,000 yen. Alternatively, is it acceptable to coldly tell guests midway through the itinerary, "Our time is up here," and part ways? As a guide with limited experience, I considered that unreasonable, so I stayed with the guests until they changed their Romancecar tickets at Hakone-Yumoto Station.

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Tour Report by Asushi

Hi my name is A-sushi. Welcome to Japan!
I’ve been working in the telecom, and international cooperation fields for more than 35 years in Japan and overseas including 3 Southeast Asian countries and Morocco. I became a licensed tour guide last year after returning back from Morocco.
Japan is full of yummy food and interesting culture, about which I’d like to show you around. I am looking forward to seeing you soon!

Bonjour, je m’appelle A-sushi. Bienvenue au Japon !
J’ai travaillé dans le domaine des télécommunications et de la coopération internationale pendant plus de 35 ans, au Japon et à l’étranger, notamment dans trois pays d’Asie du Sud-Est et au Maroc. Je suis devenu guide touristique agréé l’année dernière après mon retour du Maroc.
Le Japon regorge de plats délicieux et de cultures intéressantes, que j’aimerais vous faire découvrir. J’ai hâte de vous voir bientôt !