Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day — Guide Minoruasai

What Can You See on a Private Tokyo Walking Tour of Nihonbashi, Ryogoku, and Yanaka? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were visitors from North America who had recently married. They had held a wedding ceremony in North America and planned to hold another one abroad later, and since neither of them had ever been to Japan, they were spending ten days in Tokyo and Kyoto before continuing on. From the second day after this tour through the fifth day, they had signed up for several tours such as a guided food-tasting walk and also planned to visit various parts of the city on their own, so I asked which places they would be visiting during those days and basically guided them to places not already included, which resulted in an itinerary of Nihonbashi → Ryogoku → Yanaka.

While viewing the replica scroll display of the "Kidai Shoran" beneath the Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi Main Store, I explained the society and economic activities of the Edo period, and it was wonderful that one of the guests was greatly delighted by it. Ibasen in Nihonbashi is a shop that opened in 1590, and since there are various exhibits related to their family business of Japanese folding fans and ukiyo-e publishing throughout the building, I took them there, and both of them were pleased, saying it was "very beautiful." At the Bunmeido Nihonbashi Main Store we had castella, which was also a good choice. As for the Bank of Japan Head Office behind Mitsukoshi, since one of the guests has a background in finance, I asked, "Would you like to see it? It's just around the back," and they said, "By all means," so I took them there.

At the Hokkaido ramen shop in Ueno, one of the guests finished the whole bowl and said it was very delicious, which was great. They also enjoy gyoza and ordered and ate some. They were not especially interested in Yanaka Ginza itself, but they were very fond of the residential neighborhood around Nezu. When we parted, their overall impression was, "We learned so much about Japan. Thank you very much," so I feel they enjoyed themselves.

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Tour Report by MINORUASAI

I acquired national guide license in 2014, and I have been doing guide work full fledged since 2016. In my career before starting guide work, I was a business man and made more than 1,000 business trips both abroad and in Japan, and that experience is my foundation as a guide because I came to know so many places both abroad and in Japan. I have been taking care of both group and individual tourists, and the number of foreign guests I have taken care is close to 2,500 so far. I am based in Tokyo, but I can cover guide work in many prefectures throughout Japan. When I take care of foreign guests, my major concern is to listen attentively to them, find out what they want to know and do in Japan, and give them appropriate guiding in accordance with what I heard from my guests. I would like to provide tailor made tour as much as possible for every precious guest who kindly chose Japan as the tour destination.