Tokyo in One Day: Asakusa Station & Shibuya Station — Guide Masa

What's a Private Full-Day Tokyo Sightseeing Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report on Shinjuku, Meiji Shrine, and Shibuya

The guests were visitors from Europe, both visiting Japan for the first time. (The booking indicated one person, but the group that appeared consisted of guests.) They had arrived at Narita Airport the previous night and taken a taxi to their Hotel. This was a two-week trip to Japan, with four days in Tokyo, followed by Hakone, Hida-Takayama, Toyama, Kanazawa, Kyoto, and Osaka, before flying home from Kansai Airport. This was a booking arranged through an agency.

They said, "We'd like to see the main spots in the city as much as time allows," and "From tomorrow, we plan to explore other parts of Tokyo on our own." The tour took place under cloudy weather, with a little rain in the latter half.

We met at the Hotel. First, the guests requested, "We'd like to buy a Suica card," "We'd like to exchange our JR Pass for tickets and make Shinkansen reservations," and "We'd also like to convert our Romancecar reservation to Hakone into tickets."

We first went to the travel concierge at Ueno Station. There we activated the JR Pass and reserved Shinkansen seats, and also purchased a Welcome Suica card.

From there, we headed to Komagome (the Imperial Palace had originally been requested, but it was closed that day, so we changed plans). I explained the history of Rikugien Garden. The guests said, "It's wonderful to see such a beautiful Japanese garden," and "If you have other gardens to recommend, please let us know."

Next, we moved to Shinjuku and first went to the Odakyu Tourist Center. At the counter, the guests said they should have a Romancecar reservation, but the Odakyu staff said only a Hakone Free Pass had been reserved, and there was some confusion and a bit of a dispute. It was temporarily settled when they said they would check with the agency that evening. It also came to light that there was a mistake in the reservation dates for the Shinkansen and trains for "Hakone–Odawara–Nagoya–Hida-Takayama." We changed the reserved seats at the ticket office in Shinjuku Station.

From there, the tour finally began. I explained the origins and history of Shinjuku, and the differences between the east and west sides of the station. We walked around Kabukicho, the Godzilla Head, and Golden Gai. Since they said they really wanted to eat okonomiyaki, we went to an okonomiyaki restaurant in Kabukicho. They remarked, "This area feels different from other neighborhoods."

We moved to Harajuku and visited Meiji Shrine. I explained Shinto, torii gates, Emperor Meiji, and why wine barrels are displayed there. There were questions such as "What kind of teaching is Shinto?", "When did Shinto originate?", and "How many shrines are there in Japan?" We took a break for a while at Forest Terrace Meiji Jingu.

Then we moved to Shibuya. First, we took photos looking down at Scramble Square from the Keio Inokashira Line platform, and then actually crossed the scramble crossing. There was a question of "Why do so many people gather here?" We also took photos in front of the Hachiko statue. There were comments and questions such as "Tokyo feels like a clean and safe city," and "Why are there no trash cans on the streets?"

Since they said they weren't sure how to use the subway and wanted to be taken to Asakusa, I escorted them to Asakusa and we parted ways there.

Comment: Regarding the Shinkansen and other reservations, the guests said the agency had told them the guide would take care of things if they ran into trouble. As a result, I ended up having to cover minor miscommunications and agency errors, and I was unsure how far I should go. Since there was a possibility of being pressed with "the guide's responsibility" if things weren't handled smoothly, I found it challenging to manage.

Click here for more details: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide

Tour Report by Masa

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.