Tokyo in One Day: Kawaguchiko Station & Enter Tokyo — Guide Sam

Title: What's a Private Day Trip from Tokyo to Mount Fuji Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were a group of four visiting from North America. They said they usually walk a lot, about 25,000 steps every day, so walking around the Mount Fuji area was no problem for them. I had been prepared for a very long line at Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine, but it was more crowded than lined up, with no real queue forming, so the guests were able to take photos and come back down quickly.

Since this took less time than expected, we decided on the spot to visit Narusawa Ice Cave, which had been one of their requests. Some of the guests were quite large, so I imagine the narrow passages felt even tighter for them, but they were very excited.

We took a taxi to a restaurant and enjoyed roast beef, a wagyu beef sandwich, and strawberry shaved ice. We then passed Kawaguchiko Station to visit Lake Kawaguchi before heading back and boarding the Fuji Excursion train for the return trip. After arriving at Shinjuku Station, we picked up their luggage at a hotel near the station and tried to issue their tickets to Kyoto, but the guests had forgotten their password and were becoming anxious. I looked into various options in Japanese and found that at the JR Central counter (Tokyo Station), tickets could be issued with a signature even without the password. On the train from Shinjuku Station to Tokyo Station, they seemed to remember their password, and we tried the ticket machine at Tokyo Station, but it displayed "Please inquire at the counter." In the end, it turned out that having taken a screenshot of the ticketing QR code was the problem (it apparently expires within a few dozen minutes), so at the counter they showed the updated QR code, received the tickets with a signature, and I was able to see them safely onto the Shinkansen.

Click here for more details: Mt. Fuji Day Trip from Tokyo in 1 Day with Licensed Guide

Tour Report by Sam

Hi, I’m Sam.
I am happy to welcome you all to Japan.

Since I was a child, my parents welcomed many international students into our home and I had many opportunities to interact with them. My mother is a translator, and I have always seen her guiding foreigners around Japan, so it was natural for me to start doing the same.

I am good at guiding people to popular places such as Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku, and Asakusa, as well as photogenic spots in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Since I was a child, I’ve watched anime like Pokémon and played Nintendo games, and I still buy around 100 manga comic books a month. I love shopping in Akihabara! I currently live in Urayasu City, Chiba, so close that I can see fireworks from Disneyland from my house every night.

Please feel free to ask me anything!