Tokyo Customized Private Tour by Car — Guide Lance
December, 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.
Tour Itinerary
- 1.9.00 Intercontinental Tokyo Bay
- 2.9.25-10.00 Imperial Garden From Otemon Gate to Hirakawamon Gate
- 3.10.30-11.10 Asakusa From Kaminarimon Gate to Nitenmon Gate
- 4.11.25-12.20 Ueno Park
- 5.12.30 -14.00 Ramen (Rokurinsha)
- 6.14.30-15.30 Meiji Jingu
- 7.16.00 Intercontinental Tokyo Bay
Title: What Is a Private Minibus Tour of Tokyo Like for a Group? A Licensed Guide's Report
This was a private chartered minibus tour for a group of guests visiting from North America. During the ride, I explained Japanese history and information about our destinations. With a small number of guests, I can proceed while chatting, but with a larger group the guide needs to keep talking continuously, so at times I ran out of topics, and some guests looked at their smartphones even while I was speaking. I taught them some simple Japanese, talked about the origins of kanji, hiragana, and katakana, shared some of my own English mistakes, and did my best to keep them from getting bored. Ueno Toshogu Shrine has more than 250 stone lanterns, and one of the guests asked, "Do you ever light these?" I was also asked, "Why does the five-story pagoda have five stories?" and I answered, "Because odd numbers are considered lucky numbers. There are also three-story pagodas." (Looking it up later, I learned that the five roofs symbolize earth, water, fire, wind, and sky.) Along the way, the bus we were waiting to meet arrived 20 minutes late, and there was a 40-minute wait at a ramen restaurant, so we ended up returning one hour past the scheduled time, resulting in an extension fee of 6,600 yen. The guests were very endearing, coming to hug me many times and asking to hold hands. We all headed to the hotel singing Christmas songs, and at the end I said, "It's time to say 'Sayonara'" as we parted ways.
Click here for more details: Tokyo Customized Private Tour by Car with Licensed Guide
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!
Sep 24, 2026
benoitlJ9021HN
Perfect guide tour in Tokyo
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Lance was very nice…
Sep 24, 2026
benoitlJ9021HN
Perfect guide tour in Tokyo
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Lance was very nice and helped us . to learn so much. His English is really good and he is extremely well prepared.
Sep 19, 2026
H1282JBkarinas
Great tour with Lance from Japan Guide Agency!
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo Customized Full-Day Private Tour with Licensed Guide
Lance our tour…
Sep 19, 2026
H1282JBkarinas
Great tour with Lance from Japan Guide Agency!
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo Customized Full-Day Private Tour with Licensed Guide
Lance our tour guide was fantastic. From the time we paired, we messaged on WhatsApp as he built our customizable tour day! He gave great suggestions and asked great questions to build a wonderful day.
The day itself was perfect. He met us at the hotel, and guided us fantastically. He had detailed history and facts to share and was well prepared to ensure that we had everything we needed.
Sep 10, 2026
Silver_F
amazing 8-hour walking tour with Lance!
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Lance was our…
Sep 10, 2026
Silver_F
amazing 8-hour walking tour with Lance!
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Lance was our amazing and thorough tour guide and already prepared an itinerary for us based on his recommendations and our preferences well before arrived in Japan.
On the day of the guided tour – there was a brief introduction on Japanese history – and became the common thread as he brought us through each site and guided us on the subways and introduced us to amazing small mom and pop & artisan shops we would have otherwise never found!
Lots of walking so make sure to wear super comfy shoes but 10/10 would do it again!
Learned so much in a short time and was able to spend the rest of days in Tokyo shopping and going to other places.
Thank you, Lance, for sharing with us your beautiful country! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Jul 4, 2026
317roxaneh
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Great time in Tokyo!
We had a great day with Lance! He…
Jul 4, 2026
317roxaneh
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Great time in Tokyo!
We had a great day with Lance! He had a good sense of humor and was so kind to meet us at our Air BnB, which was a bit out of the way. He gave us a great crash course on Japanese history before heading out on our adventure around Tokyo, visiting shrines, markets, a museum and garden. It was so helpful to have him with us navigating the train system, and he took us to an amazing sushi place for a lovely lunch. All in all, it was really fun and we were able to better appreciate the places we visited with him providing information and history along the way. Would definitely recommend!…