Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day — Guide Minoruasai

Title: What's a Private Walking Tour from Ueno to Asakusa, the Imperial Palace, and Ginza Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

We met at the entrance of the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno, just as the guests had finished their visit. Since there had been no advance communication about where they wanted to go, we discussed it, and the guests requested: "We'd like to see many temples," "We'd like to visit Senso-ji Temple, Meiji Shrine, and the Shibuya Scramble Crossing, and we've already eaten, so no need for lunch." Given that, since Ueno Kaneiji Temple was only an 8-minute walk away, I asked, "There's Kaneiji Temple very nearby, which also has the burial grounds of the Tokugawa family. Would you like to visit it before going to Senso-ji?" The guests replied, "By all means," so we walked to Kaneiji and I guided them around the area of the main hall (Konpon Chudo).

After the tour there, when I tried to hail a taxi, the guests called an Uber, and it turned out they had no Japanese yen. Since there is a convenience store directly across from a hotel near Senso-ji, we moved there to use the ATM. However, the guests could not recall their PIN code, so I received some US dollars in cash from the group and handed over 6,000 yen from my own funds. I was a bit worried about how they would manage afterward, but I felt somewhat relieved when I learned that one of the guests had a bank card at the hotel whose PIN they would remember.

After finishing the tour of Senso-ji, although the guests had initially said they didn't need lunch, they said, "We've gotten hungry, so something light," and we had a light lunch at a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant near the Asakusa subway station. They were delighted, saying it was very delicious.

However, since we were running behind schedule, and Meiji Shrine closes at 4:00 p.m., we would only have about 30 minutes there, so I suggested going to the Imperial Palace instead, and the guests agreed. We headed to the Imperial Palace Outer Garden. After guiding them to the statue of Kusunoki Masashige, I said, "Now let's head to Shibuya," but the guests asked, "How close is Ginza from here?" When I explained, "It's no more than about a 15-minute walk," they said, "Then we'd like to go to Ginza," so we decided to go there. Along the way, I guided them through the Shinji Pond garden in Hibiya Park, which they enjoyed very much.

While resting on a bench there, I asked in detail about the purpose of this visit to Japan, and I learned that the main purpose of the trip was to be invited to lecture at a university in Niigata. So I asked, "Have you purchased your Shinkansen tickets?" and the reply was, "We'll be traveling tomorrow evening, so we'll buy them then." I said, "Tomorrow is the last day of a three-day weekend, and a great many people will be traveling, so it would be safer to buy them today. If you don't mind, shall I help you purchase them?" They said, "Oh, it's a three-day weekend? Then yes, please," so since it was also on the way to Ginza, we stopped at Yurakucho Station and I helped them purchase the Joetsu Shinkansen tickets.

Then they said, "We'd like to go to the biggest department store in Ginza," so we went to Ginza Mitsukoshi, and before parting, I guided them through the food floor on B2, which they were very pleased with. They also told me an interesting story: "In the US, there aren't many department stores with such a large selection of prepared foods, but once Macy's in New York set up a corner like this aimed at single people, and it was a huge hit, because a flood of customers rushed to it (laughs)."

After that, they planned to explore Ginza on their own and then head to their hotel in Ariake by Uber, so we parted ways. I changed the route considerably to match their requests along the way, but they were very pleased. Also, even though they had only just arrived in Japan the day before, they walked energetically without giving in to jet lag, and they were guests who made guiding a real joy.

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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.