This is a private guided tour report by Japan Guide Agency (JGA Inc.), a network of 1,000+ government-licensed, English-speaking local guides across all 47 prefectures of Japan. Not affiliated with the Japan Guide Association.
Tour Itinerary
- 8:30 Guide (Kogure) arrives at Hotel Akihabara
- 8:45 Meet the guests at the hotel lobby, then conduct a briefing
- 8:55 Depart from Hotel Akihabara
- 9:03 Depart from Suehirocho Station, head to Asakusa via the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line
- 9:13 Arrive at Asakusa Station, walk toward Kaminarimon
- 9:15–10:25 Guide through Sensoji Temple and Nakamise Street
- (After guiding the observation deck on the 8F of the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center, explain and guide through Kaminarimon, Nakamise Street, Hozomon, the five-story pagoda, the giant straw sandal, omikuji, the incense burner, the purification fountain, the main hall, and Asakusa Shrine)
- 10:32 Depart from Asakusa Station, head to Shibuya Station via the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, transfer to the JR Yamanote Line at Shibuya Station and head to Harajuku Station
- 11:10 Arrive at Harajuku Station, walk toward Meiji Shrine
- 11:15–11:55 Guide through Meiji Shrine
- (Explain the first torii gate, the sake barrels, the wine barrels, the second torii gate, the waka poems, the main hall, ema, etc.)
- 12:00–12:15 Point out and explain Harajuku Takeshita Street and Omotesando
- 12:16 Depart from Harajuku Station, head to Shibuya Station via the JR Yamanote Line
- 12:20–12:40 Guide through the Shibuya Scramble Crossing and Hachiko
- 12:45–13:20 Lunch at Sushisei on Shibuya Dogenzaka
- 13:20–13:40 After the Tokyo sightseeing, assist the guests in purchasing their train tickets to Kusatsu and Shinkansen tickets to Osaka at the Midori-no-Madoguchi ticket office at Shibuya Station
- 13:40 The guests wish to visit Shibuya Takeshita Street again, so see them off at the JR Shibuya Station ticket gate and part ways. End of work
Title: What's a Private One-Day Tokyo Tour Like for First-Time Visitors? A Licensed Guide's Report
The guests were a group of long-time friends from North America who had known each other for over 20 years, joined by another member of the group. In our advance communication, the group had requested tickets to an anime event at Tokyo Big Sight in March, asking if it would be possible to purchase them before they sold out. I bought the tickets in advance and handed them over today, which delighted the group very much. The guests had arrived in Japan the day before, and today was their first Tokyo tour. Despite their long journey, they thoroughly enjoyed Senso-ji Temple, Meiji Shrine, and Shibuya, taking many photos at each location. On Nakamise Street in Asakusa, they bought ningyo-yaki and enjoyed eating it, and everyone drew omikuji fortunes (some drew good fortunes and some drew bad ones), which they enjoyed. They also purchased omamori charms at both Senso-ji Temple and Meiji Shrine. I explained the difference between temples and shrines, the respective methods of worship, and how to pass through a torii gate, and they learned about Japanese culture, customs, and traditions. Since they mentioned they liked sushi, I made a lunch reservation at a sushi restaurant on Dogenzaka in Shibuya, where everyone enjoyed the sushi and sashimi. After staying seven nights in Tokyo, they planned to go to Kusatsu and then on to Osaka, so today I took them to the ticket counter at Shibuya Station and assisted with purchasing their tickets. Everyone appeared to be very satisfied.
Click here for more details: Tokyo Customized Half-Day Tour with Licensed Local Guide
Transportation cost per person
| No. | Transportation | Route | Fare |
| Section 1 | Subway | Suehirocho – Asakusa – Shibuya～Shibuya – Harajuku – Shibuya | 740JPY |
| Total | 740JPY | ||
Hello and how do you do?
My name is Nobuo Kokure, and please call me Nobby for short, if you want.
Let me introduce myself. I was born in Hayama, a beach resort area, Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo. And I’m now living in Saginuma, Kawasaki city.
When I was a university student, I had the opportunities of doing a home stay with a family In U.S.A., Australia, and England, as a youth exchange student.
After graduation from the university, I started working at American Life Insurance Company, Japan (Alico, Japan), which is a group member company of AIG, now MetLife Insurance Company. I could have a chance to visit the head office and the field offices of U.S.A., Wilmington in Delaware, New York, Boston, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale in Florida, Los Angeles, while I was working for Alico, Japan (Now, MetLife Insurance company).
I had been working for MetLife Insurance Company for about 38 years, in total.
After retiring from the life insurance company, I started working as a tour guide, because I wanted to become a tour guide to introduce culture, history, and manners and customs of Japan in English. It’s so different between my previous job and the guide business, but I like guide business a lot.
I can meet so many people from all over the world and the guide business has been thriving after the pandemic.
I have implemented the tour over 240 times, introduced Japan to more than 4300 tourists from 53 countries.
Not only Tokyo, but I have experienced touring around Nikko, Kamakura, Mt. Fuji & Hakone area, Takayama, Kanazawa, Nagoya, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, and Hiroshima, etc. which are all very famous as a tourist spot in Japan.
If you go on a tour in Tokyo, you must see and visit Asakusa Sensoji Temple which is the oldest Buddhist Temple in Tokyo with histories and Nakamise Shopping Street where you can buy the souvenirs and try to taste Japanese sweets, such as doll cake which is the sponge cake in various shapes filled with red bean paste and Japanese powdered tea ice cream. Another my recommendation in Tokyo to visit is Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, and Shibuya. Meiji Shrine is one of the biggest shrines in Japan with quiet and peaceful atmosphere and magnificent site.
Harajuku and Shibuya are both fun to visit for shopping and experience the Shibuya Crossing.
I usually propose my tentative itinerary and ask if my plan is all right with the customer or not. My hobby is traveling around Japan and foreign countries and going to the gym for exercise.
I would like to work as a guide as long as possible if I’m in good health and my legs are strong, because I love this job.
I put my importance on the mind of OMOTENASHI which means sincere hospitality, though safety during the tour takes precedence, number one priority, before anything else.
I’m very looking forward to seeing you and touring with you in Japan soon.
Thank you!
Best regards,
Nobuo Kokure (Nobby)
Jul 20, 2026
JEFF_D
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Tokyo In A Day Tour with Nobuo
The excursion…
Jul 20, 2026
JEFF_D
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Tokyo In A Day Tour with Nobuo
The excursion was excellent! It was a great way to introduce us to the many amenities of Tokyo. It was so helpful to have our excellent guide, Nobuo. This guy was great! He communicated with us in the weeks leading up to the tour to find out what we wanted to see. Then, he formulated a plan to see as many of those items as possible within our allotted time. He made it a priority to utilize our time together that suited us best. When we met up, we knew what we were doing and we were ready to go. Nobuo made it very easy for us to find him at our meeting point. Nobuo’s generosity, knowledge, sense of humor and trivia (of which I got 100%!) made our time together unforgettable. It was hard to say goodbye. We will always have a friend in Japan. I would highly recommend Nobuo as your tour guide, if he is available.
Apr 18, 2026
Traveler10250323486
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
We had a great day with a Japanese guide who seemed like…
Apr 18, 2026
Traveler10250323486
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
We had a great day with a Japanese guide who seemed like an old friend.
Nobby (Nobuo) was prepared, showing up early and had copies to give us of the railway lines and phrases that we will use on the rest of our trip. He was very knowledgeable and felt like family very quickly. We changed some things on the fly and he didn’t skip a beat. He took us to shrines and a temple and showed us customs to respect the culture. He took us to a restaurant for lunch, where we had the best noodles we’ve ever eaten. We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with him and highly recommend taking a tour with him.
Sep 23, 2025
johnsL7185LE
Brilliant family day trip with Nobuo
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 4hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Nobuo Kokure is a wonderful guide.…
Sep 23, 2025
johnsL7185LE
Brilliant family day trip with Nobuo
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 4hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Nobuo Kokure is a wonderful guide. Very friendly, informative, kind, respectful and an all round great guy. Was very flexible with our itinerary, allowing us to change our plans on the day because one of our children wanted to go to a Hello Kitty shop, and the other to the One Piece shop. He graciously took it all in his stride. He also pre booked one of the best restaurants at the fish market because we all love sushi, and it didn’t disappoint. The whole family think Nobuo was fantastic. Couldn’t recommend him more. Thank you Nobuo.
Aug 4, 2025
leslie_w
Nobby was an awesome tour…
Viator review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Nobby was an awesome tour guide. Very…
Aug 4, 2025
leslie_w
Nobby was an awesome tour…
Viator review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Nobby was an awesome tour guide. Very informative and considerate, we saw a lot in six
hours in a very hot day. Highly recommend!