Tokyo Customized Full-Day Private Tour — Guide Lance

Title: What Can You See on a Full-Day Private Tour of Tokyo? A Licensed Guide's Report from Tsukiji to Meiji Shrine

The guests were a group visiting from Europe. Some of the guests were retired and enjoyed gardening and traveling, while others worked in various fields, and one had a strong physical condition from cycling and had no trouble walking for nearly ten hours.

The Thursday originally planned had a forecast of heavy rain, so we consulted via a messaging app and changed the tour to Friday.

However, on Friday the guests had a reservation to visit the Imperial Palace from 9:50 to 11:20, so we first saw Tsukiji in the morning, then I took them to Kikyomon Gate and waited at Wadakura Fountain Park.

After lunch, I explained Japanese history at the table in the restaurant. One of the guests asked, "During the period of national isolation, why did Japan allow trade with the Netherlands?" I answered, "Japan thought that Western nations were trying to colonize Japan through the spread of Christianity, but the Netherlands did not seek to spread it." Another of the guests said, "But later, didn't Japan itself colonize Korea?" I replied, "Japan was following the lead of Western colonialism." One of the guests asked, "Why did Perry demand that Japan open its country?" I answered, "The United States apparently needed a supply base for water for its whaling ships. Perhaps in truth they intended to make it a colony."

When I told the story of the Ako Roshi at the site of the Pine Corridor in the East Gardens, one of the guests said, "A similar episode appeared in the Netflix series 'Shogun.'"

At Nezu Shrine, I explained that the name "Ema" means "picture of a horse" in Japanese, and that in the old days live horses were dedicated, which surprised the guest with that name.

During a break at a coffee shop in Yanaka, one of the guests asked, "Is English your first foreign language?" I said, "Yes. What is your first foreign language?" and the guest told me, "British people are arrogant about languages and do not learn anything other than English."

Regarding the well of Kato Kiyomasa at Meiji Shrine, I said, "A young person looking for a job set a photo of the well as their phone wallpaper, and suddenly received a call and got the job." One of the guests then encouraged another to try it too. That person may also have been looking for a job.

However, since two of the guests took a photo together beneath the sacred camphor tree, it seems their marriage may also be near.

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Tour Report by Lance

I have been working as a tour guide once a week since 2024.
I grew up in Osaka and studied in Kyoto,
I have been working for the lvestock division of the national organization of agricultural cooperatives.
Japan depends on imports for most of its livestock feed ingredients.
I visited 10 countries on business and stayed in New Orleans working for a subsidiary company for 3 years.
I visited 10 other countries with my wife for sightseeing.
I also started writing Haiku, Japanese traditional poem, after retiring.
One of my favorite is ” Bundled up, you are like a Matryoshka.”
Looking forward to see you!