Kanagawa: Odawara Station & Shiunso — Guide Masa

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

The guests were a group visiting Japan from Asia. One of the guests had visited Japan several times before, while the others were visiting for the first time. One of the guests runs a travel-related business, and this time the purpose was to stay in Japan for an extended period to explore travel tour opportunities from their home country to Japan, planning to carefully visit various areas west of Tokyo, while the rest of the group would be staying for a shorter period.

Tonight they would stay one night in Hakone, and the next day travel from Odawara to Kyoto by Shinkansen. The route this time was arranged according to the guests' wishes.

Unfortunately, it rained all day during the tour, so we were unable to see Mount Fuji.

I met the guests at Odawara Station, where they had arrived by Romancecar.

First, we took the Hakone Tozan Railway via Hakone-Yumoto Station to the Hakone Open-Air Museum. Although one of the guests mentioned not being particularly interested in art, they said they wanted to see it just once, so we made a quick loop around the grounds.

After that, we transferred from the mountain railway to the cable car and then the ropeway to reach Owakudani. There was a question about whether it was an active volcano.

The guests commented that the main purpose of this Hakone trip had been to view Mount Fuji, so it was extremely disappointing. They took many photos of various spots with a mirrorless camera.

They mentioned having heard about the black eggs before, so we sampled them at a café in the valley.

We descended by ropeway to Togendai and boarded the pirate ship. Despite the rain, they took photos from the deck.

After arriving at Moto-Hakone Port, we walked to Hakone Shrine. As they collect goshuin (temple/shrine seals), they received a commemorative seal in their goshuin book.

We had a light lunch at a bakery and café in Hakone.

After this, at the guests' strong request, we took the Hakone Tozan Bus to Amazake Chaya. Despite the rain, the shop was full of visitors from overseas.

They sampled amazake, miso konnyaku, and tokoroten. They said they really liked the complimentary warm barley tea.

From here, we took the Hakone Tozan Bus back to Hakone-Yumoto, then rode the Hakone Tozan Railway one stop to Tonosawa Station. From there we walked to tonight's accommodation.

After confirming the check-in at the hotel, we parted ways.

The guests commented that the town was orderly and clean with no litter on the ground, that everyone was polite, that everywhere felt safe, and that the trains were quiet with no one making noise.

They also said that Tokyo's public transportation is extremely well developed and wonderful, that it runs on time, and that they would feel confident sending travelers here.

Click here for more details: Hakone Full-Day Customized Private Tour with Licensed Guide

Tour Report by Masa

Guiding career:
Guide work started in July 2022. A guide focused on FIT compliance.
FY2022 results: 17 cases, FY2023 results: 97
Destinations: Various places in Tokyo, Hakone, Kamakura and Nikko
As a recent group travel record, in October 2023, we have a track record of guiding a group of 33 people from Singapore to Narita Airport transfer plus sightseeing in Tokyo.
Self-introduction:
In the past, I was stationed in Canada, the United States, and Mexico as an expatriate of a Japanese bank for over 11 years.
Since I have been mainly involved in the financing business in the United States for a long time, I think I am able to provide interpretation and translation services related to business and finance.
I am a certified CPA in the United States.
In addition, for three years from April 2016, I will be engaged in Japanese-English translation work (part-time), and I can also handle translation work.
Although I don’t have a qualification in Spanish, but I think I can handle day to day conversation in Spanish without any problems.
My hobby is trekking and from time to time, take a walk around mountains near Tokyo like Mt. Takao, Tanzawa, etc. I think it is possible to provide tourist information here as well.
Since April 2015, I have been working as a Tokyo Metropolitan Tourism Volunteer and Tokyo Metropolitan Disaster Prevention Volunteer.
One more, I have a separate house near Asuka Village, Nara prefecture, and I stay there for a total of about 30 days every year and have been enjoying sightseeing personally in the vicinity. Therefore, I think in the Kansai region, especially in Nara, Asuka, Yoshino, Koyasan, Kumano Kodo, etc., where I think I will be able to tour guide with confidence.