Tokyo: Tameike-Sanno Station & Shibuya Station — Guide Masa

What's a Full-Day Private Tour of Tokyo and Nearby Neighborhoods Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were a group visiting Japan from North America, involved in grape and wine farming. It was the first visit to Japan for everyone in the group.

They had arrived at Haneda Airport the previous day and taken a taxi to their hotel. The night before, they had explored the area around the hotel.

This time they were on a longer trip to Japan. After staying in Tokyo, they planned to travel around Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Wakayama (a seaside inn), and Hiroshima, before returning to Tokyo and heading home.

Their request was: "First, we would like to see only the main spots in Tokyo. In addition, we would like to visit a town near Tokyo that tourists don't often go to." Some of the guests were smokers and asked to be taken to places where smoking was permitted from time to time.

It was a tour under dreary weather, with rain coming and going.

First, we went to Asakusa. As always, it was very crowded.

We started from in front of Kaminarimon Gate. I explained about "Senso-ji Temple and the history from Edo to Tokyo," "what the five-story pagoda is for," "what Buddhism is," and "the difference between Buddhism and Shinto."

We took commemorative photos at various spots, including Kaminarimon Gate and in front of the five-story pagoda. We strolled slowly along the Nakamise shopping street.

There were questions such as "What are the main religions in Japan?", "How many Buddhists are there in Japan?", and "Besides Buddhism, what other religions do people believe in?" One of the guests mentioned visiting temples when returning to Asia.

We moved to Harajuku.

I explained about "Shinto," "torii gates," "the Meiji Emperor," "why sake barrels are displayed," and "why wine barrels are displayed."

There were questions such as "What kind of religion is Shinto?", "It's completely different from Senso-ji," and "How do Buddhism and Shinto differ?"

After a break at the cafe terrace at Meiji Shrine, we also strolled along Takeshita Street.

We moved to Shinjuku Gyoen.

The guests said they liked Japanese gardens, so we strolled slowly through the grounds. They commented, "Japanese gardens really are wonderful. The pine trees in particular are amazing."

We went into the streets of Shinjuku.

I explained about "the origins of Shinjuku," "the difference between the east and west sides," and "the history of Kabukicho."

We strolled in turn through "Omoide Yokocho," "Kabukicho," and "Shinjuku Golden Gai."

They seemed to like a "cat billboard" and photographed it eagerly. They commented that "some litter was scattered about."

At Shinjuku Golden Gai, almost all the shops were closed, but several groups of tourists were strolling around.

Since they wanted to reserve round-trip Shinkansen tickets to Kyoto, we went to the JR-EAST Travel Service Center at Shinjuku Station.

From here, we moved to Kichijoji (following the request, "We'd like to walk around a small town in the suburbs rather than the city center.").

We strolled through "Harmonica Yokocho," "Iseya," "Inokashira Park," and other spots.

We returned to Shibuya and strolled around the Scramble Crossing and the Hachiko statue.

There were comments and questions such as "The city is clean and there's no litter on the streets," and "Why aren't there trash cans on the streets?"

We saw them off at Tameike-Sanno Station and parted ways.

Click here for more details: Tokyo Customized Full-Day 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.