Tokyo in One Day: eyoko — Guide Danda

What Is a Private Tokyo Walking Tour of Asakusa and Ueno Like in Summer? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were a group of friends visiting from Oceania. I had informed them in advance about the heat, but it seems it was even more intense than they had imagined, and although we chose shaded routes and walked carefully, they were completely worn out by the end. Originally we had planned to visit Akihabara at the end, but because matters related to the JR Pass at Tokyo Station turned out to be complicated and took a lot of time, we ended up visiting only two places, Asakusa and Ueno. There were many questionable points about the arrangements made by the travel agency, and combined with the fact that the guests had interpreted the "valid for 7 days" pass as meaning 7 days of use rather than 7 consecutive days, we ended up spending more than an hour at the counter. However, the staff were extremely kind and handled everything politely with constant smiles, so the guests praised them as "wonderful" and were delighted, saying, "Thank you for bringing us here. We could never have done this on our own." After that, since they wanted to buy bento before boarding the Shinkansen, I showed them the underground food area of the department store, introduced the ticket gate for the Tokaido Shinkansen, and only then were we finally able to move on to the actual sightseeing guide work. In Asakusa I often use a certain restaurant for lunch, and since both the first and second floors were filled only with foreign visitors, one of the guests asked, "Is it always like this here?" I answered, "I think it's just that Japanese people aren't going out because it's so hot." The reaction afterward was, "That makes sense. Of course." After lunch we headed to Ueno Park, and although we mainly walked in the shade, the heat was still severe, so at a shaded spot just before Ueno Toshogu Shrine, the guests asked to rest a little on a stone, and we took a short break. They were most moved of all that day by the beauty of the rows of stone lanterns at Ueno Toshogu Shrine, but at the crucial Karamon gate in front of the main hall, we were in direct sunlight and the temperature was at its peak, so with a "It's too hot, let's go," we quickly retreated. In the morning I had given them some salt-charge candy and cooling body sheets as a precaution against heatstroke, and they liked them so much that they bought more along the way. On the train back from Ueno to Tokyo Station near the end, the sight of some of the guests sitting with towels wrapped around their necks and holding handheld fans was striking in a way, truly capturing the image of foreign tourists overwhelmed by Japan's heat. One of the guests sitting across from me with me laughingly said, "Should we take a photo?" When I guided them to the Keiyo Line platform at Tokyo Station, they said, "Thank you for today. It was fun," but there was visible fatigue on their faces, so I hoped they would get plenty of rest at their hotel and carry on well from the next day onward. (I apologize that the photos came out backlit.)

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Tour Report by Danda

Nice to meet you. I am delighted to introduce myself. My nickname is Danda. I live in Saitama prefecture next to Tokyo, but I was brought up in Kanazawa, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Japan. My favorite things are bonsai and hiking. Also, I have been a big fun of history and sumo since my childhood. As for the guide, I have enjoyed making communication with foreign visitors since 2019. I have taken more than 30 private groups to not only major scenic spots but also their favorite places such as tea ceremony, maid cafe, sumo tournament, bonsai village, fire ritual and so on. I can arrange the original tour based on your requests and curiosity. It will be only for you. I look forward to meeting you soon. Thank you.