Tokyo in Half a Day: Suitengumae & Shibuya — Guide Masa
September, 2025
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
- 8:00 Meeting place: MIMARU TOKYO NIHOMBASHI SUITENGUMAE
- 8:10 Depart Suitengumae Station
- (Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line)
- 8:30 Arrive Otemachi Station
- Tokyo Station Tabi Concierge
- 9:00 Depart Tokyo Station
- (Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line)
- Akasaka-mitsuke Station
- (Tokyo Metro Ginza Line)
- Omote-sando Station
- (Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line)
- 9:30 Arrive Meiji-jingumae Station
- Harajuku Takeshita Street
- Cat Street
- Omotesando
- 10:30 Meiji-jingumae Station
- (Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line)
- Omote-sando Station
- (Tokyo Metro Ginza Line)
- 10:40 Arrive Shibuya Station
- Shibuya Scramble Crossing
- Hachiko Statue
- Shibuya Center Street
- Shibuya PARCO
- 11:30 Depart Shibuya Station
- (Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line)
- 12:00 Arrive Suitengumae Station
- 12:00 Disband: Suitengumae Station
Title: What's a Family-Style Private Tokyo Shopping Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report
The guests were a group visiting Japan for the first time from Oceania. This was a 14-day trip to Japan, with 4 days in Tokyo, followed by Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Hida-Takayama, before returning to Tokyo and heading home. They arrived at Narita Airport last night via Singapore and took a taxi to their accommodation. The day before, they had strolled around the area near their hotel. Their requests were to learn how to use public transportation in Tokyo, and to focus the day mainly on shopping.
It was a tour under cloudy skies in hot and humid weather. First, since they wanted to buy Suica cards, we went to Tokyo Station. After that, at the request of the group, we moved to Harajuku. Skipping Meiji Shrine, we went straight to Takeshita Street. It was still early morning, so many shops had not yet opened, but we took our time strolling. They especially seemed to like places such as the "PIG CAFÉ." We also strolled along Cat Street. They said they would come back again another day. We also walked along Omotesando.
From there, we moved to Shibuya. First, we looked down on Scramble Square from the entrance of the Keio Inokashira Line platform and took photos, then actually crossed the intersection. They asked questions such as, "Why do so many people gather here?" and "Why did it become so famous?" We also took photos in front of the Hachiko statue. They eagerly photographed the 3D panda billboard. After that, we strolled through Center Gai. We visited Shibuya PARCO and the Pokemon Center, and then went to "Mandarake" as well.
They made comments and asked questions such as, "Everyone in Japan is quiet and polite," "The city is clean and there is no litter on the streets," and "Why are there no trash cans on the streets?" As they wanted to return to their hotel once, I saw them off to Suitengumae Station, and we parted ways.
Click here for more details: Tokyo Customized Half-Day Tour with Licensed Local Guide
Transportation cost per person
| No. | Transportation | Route | Fare |
| Section 1 | Train | Suitengumae～Otemachi (Tokyo) | 180JPY |
| Section 2 | Train | Tokyo～Meiji-jingumae | 210JPY |
| Section 3 | Train | Meiji-jingumae～Shibuya | 180JPY |
| Section 4 | Train | Shibuya～Suitengumae | 210JPY |
| Total | 780JPY | ||
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.
Jul 21, 2026
Christelle_G
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Excellent tour guide
Masa san is extremely knowledgeable and…
Jul 21, 2026
Christelle_G
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Excellent tour guide
Masa san is extremely knowledgeable and lovely company. My 13-yr-old daughter and I had a great day walking around the sites we had picked with him. He tooks his time to explain all the history and then kindly walked us to the spot of our next booking as it was quite confusing. I would very highly recommend him. Of all the tours we did in Tokyo Masa Sam was my favourite tour guide.
Jul 1, 2026
97TexAg
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 8hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Amazing day in Tokyo
Masa was our tour guide. Masa was an…
Jul 1, 2026
97TexAg
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 8hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Amazing day in Tokyo
Masa was our tour guide. Masa was an amazing tour guide that communicated extremely well ahead of time about the sites we would like to see in Tokyo, picked us up and dropped us off at our hotel, was very friendly and well prepared and finally but most importantly made our day in Tokyo very memorable.
We went to the Buddhist temple in Asakusa, Meiji Shinto Temple, imperial Palace, Shinjuku Gyoen National Gatden, and Shibuya Crossing. All were great and amazing suggestions by Masa.
Would highly recommend this tour as it was a private tour guide for a full day and provided discretion on which 5-6 sites you want to see. Also highly recommend our tour guide Masa who was a wealth of knowledge and very friendly and charming.
15/10 would do again.
Jun 2, 2026
Tagare S
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Great tour and guide!
This is a great tour, and our…
Jun 2, 2026
Tagare S
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Great tour and guide!
This is a great tour, and our guide, Masa was really great. Although it was raining, he had no
hesitations in completing his tour and showing us great places around Tokyo. If you are still
on the fence about this, please don’t, you won’t regret it. Thank you, Masa!
Jun 1, 2026
Lisa_A
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Our tour with Masa was…
Jun 1, 2026
Lisa_A
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Adler Family Tour
Our tour with Masa was incredible and filled with interesting facts and history, he gave us incredible insight on each location. We loved that we were able to choose 3-4 sites from a large selection and really spend enough time at each spot. Masa was kind and knowledgable and even helped us with a restaurant reservation for later in the evening when were unable to find one.