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. Not affiliated with the Japan Guide Association.
Tour Itinerary
- 09:00 Met at the lobby of the Hotel. Mr. and Mrs. Soumya and Damen, who had arrived in Japan the previous day from New Delhi, India. They will visit Tokyo and Kyoto over 10 days. They said that for the four days following the guided day they would explore Tokyo on their own, so while providing helpful information for that, I guided them along the route we had decided upon based on prior contact. The order was Shinjuku Gyoen → Meiji Shrine → Imperial Palace → Sensoji Temple.
- 09:25-10:30 Guided them through Shinjuku Gyoen. After finishing, we walked out through the Shinjuku Gate and moved from Shinjuku-sanchome Station to Meiji-jingumae.
- 10:50-11:50 Guided them through Meiji Shrine. When we finished, it had gotten quite hot and they said "We're getting a little hungry," so we decided to save the Imperial Palace for later and head to Asakusa.
- 12:50-13:55 When we arrived in Asakusa, I asked "Would you like to go to a restaurant first?" and they said "First please show us the temple, then let's go to a restaurant," so I first guided them through Sensoji Temple.
- 13:45-14:30 I guided them through Kannon-dori, and when I asked what kind of restaurant they wanted to go to, they answered "Ramen," so we had lunch with ramen at Tanaka Soba shop. After finishing, we moved to Nijubashimae.
- 15:00-15:35 Guided them through the Imperial Palace Plaza and Nijubashi.
- 15:40-16:00 We moved from Nijubashimae Station to Shinjuku Station, and parted ways at the West Exit.
What Is a Private Tokyo Walking Tour Like in Summer? A Licensed Guide's Report
When I met the guests, I asked whether they were used to the heat, since they live in Asia, and they said they would be fine. However, the extreme heat in Japan over the past two summers has reached a different level, so to prevent heatstroke I made sure we drank plenty of water and took breaks sitting on benches from time to time. As a result, even though the time difference was only three and a half hours, when I was guiding under the blazing sun at the Imperial Palace at the end, one of the guests seemed a little tired. So I kept our time in front of the Imperial Palace short, and when I asked, they commented, "In our city we spend all our time in air-conditioned places, so this heat is honestly quite tough." As a guide, I feel it is better to worry perhaps a little too much to make sure no one gets heatstroke. As for lunch, guests from that region are very likely to want to visit an Indian restaurant, but this time the guests were unusual, saying, "While we're in Japan we won't go to Indian restaurants, because we love Japanese food." So we walked along Kannon-dori while I introduced a few restaurants, and then they said, "Today I'd like ramen." We went into a ramen shop, which turned out to be the right choice, as they were very happy and said it was delicious. Overall, they thoroughly enjoyed the tour.
Click here for more details: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Transportation cost per person
| No. | Transportation | Route | Fare |
| Section 1 | Subway | Shinjuku～Shinjuku-gyoemmae | 600JPY |
| Section 2 | Subway | Shinjuku-sanchome～Meiji-jingumae | 0JPY |
| Section 3 | Subway | Meiji-jingumae～Asakusa | 0JPY |
| Section 4 | Subway | Asakusa～Nijubashimae | 0JPY |
| Section 5 | Subway | Nijubashimae～Shinjuku | 0JPY |
| Total | 600JPY | ||
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.
Aug 1, 2025
8
898kendrap
Great first day in Tokyo!
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Asai, our tour guide, made our…
Aug 1, 2025
8
898kendrap
Great first day in Tokyo!
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Asai, our tour guide, made our first day in Tokyo so memorable and enjoyable! He shared his knowledge and love for the city as he showed us around. We now understand how to navigate the train system, and he even left us a list of how to explore other areas of the city by train. Our tour was a fun way to get acquainted with this amazing city!
Jul 14, 2025
Anette_V
Perfect
Viator review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Our guide Minoru Asai was very friendly and knowledgeable about culture,…
Jul 14, 2025
Anette_V
Perfect
Viator review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Our guide Minoru Asai was very friendly and knowledgeable about culture, history and
society. He picked and showed us more than We expected. Also he was good Company for
both me, my husbond and our son aged 22.
Jun 30, 2025
liammL2246HL
Amazing experience
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
We had an amazing private tour with Minoru Asai! We…
Jun 30, 2025
liammL2246HL
Amazing experience
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
We had an amazing private tour with Minoru Asai! We loved seeing all of the sights on the tour and Minoru was extremely knowledge about all things in Tokyo and else-wear in Japan. We were able to adjust the stops due to the heat (it was up to 35C!) and Minoru had great suggestions for things to check out. Highly recommend!
Jun 26, 2025
394milesd
Excellent guide making an excellent day in Tokyo
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
A perfect day, tailored…
Jun 26, 2025
394milesd
Excellent guide making an excellent day in Tokyo
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
A perfect day, tailored to our needs (and the weather) and delivered so attentively by our guide Minoru Asai. He was in contact in advance of the day to understand our interests, and advised us on practicalities and remained flexible throughout the day as required. His knowledge, and passion, for the history of Tokyo made the day! Could not have asked for more.