Tokyo Customized Half-Day Tour — Guide tack

Title: What's a Private Day Tour of Tokyo's Imperial Palace and Tsukiji Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

Initially, communication indicated that the guest's hotel was in Shinjuku, but on the night before the tour there was a correction to a hotel in the bay area. Since I thought this was outside the Tokyo area, I contacted the office for instructions. The suggestion was to have the guests come to Tokyo Station, but as I had not been able to communicate directly with the guests (the reason is explained below), I went to the hotel for the time being (9:00).

At the hotel, I asked whether the guests were staying there, but the answer was no. While keeping in touch with the office and waiting, they appeared, and we met without trouble (9:30). It seems the person who booked the tour and the person who booked the hotel were different.

In any case, since we had not been able to discuss the destinations, I asked them to choose from Tsukiji, the Imperial Palace, Asakusa, and Meiji Shrine, and in the end we decided on the Imperial Palace (East Gardens plus Chidorigafuchi) followed by Tsukiji. The guests were a group from North America. They were a generation much younger than me.

They were very friendly and understood jokes, but I could not figure out why they had declined direct email communication with the guide. One misunderstanding on my part was that I had not assumed they were from North America. The guest's phone number I received began with 77. If they were from North America, I would have expected it as +1 77, so I misunderstood. As a result, both the messaging app and SMS attempts failed. It would be helpful if Japan Guide Agency (JGA Inc.) could let us know the guest's country in advance when it is known.

Before leaving the hotel, we stopped at a nearby convenience store to obtain cash. In the end, we departed the hotel at 10:00. After that, since they were energetic, they walked well. They seemed to like the Imperial Palace buildings and the Japanese garden. Cherry blossoms were also one of their goals, so we went to Chidorigafuchi. The peak bloom had passed, but we could see the petals floating on the water, which I think was nice.

Since we spent quite a lot of time, we reached Tsukiji after 1:30, but the guests had time to enjoy several kinds of food. By then it was 2:00, so I gave advice for their return trip and ended the tour.

In addition, they understood that the destination was outside the area, and I received in cash the JR fare between Tokyo and the bay area, as well as the route bus fare from the station to the hotel.

That is all.

Click here for more details: Tokyo Customized Half-Day Tour with Licensed Local Guide

Tour Report by tack

I have ten years guiding experience in Tokyo area. Historical spot such as Imperial palace, Japanese gardens, Buddhist temples,Shinto shrines and Fish market are my familiar tourism places.Usually I take my guest to these spot using public transportation and walk around there. Also I manage a hiking tour to Tama erea (west part of Tokyo) such as Mt.Takao, Okutama gorge, you will find that Tokyo has rich nature too. I would like to guide small group of 4 poeple max. because I want to talk to each one sufficiently. Just FYI, I had lived in the US and have engineering background. Let me guide you!