Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day — Guide Minoruasai
December, 2024
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
- 12:00 Met up at the lobby of the Hotel. Discussed the route for the day and decided on Meiji Shrine ⇒ Shinjuku Gyoen ⇒ Sensoji Temple, then began traveling by subway.
- 12:30-13:30 Guided them around Meiji Shrine. Upon finishing, they requested to have a light lunch, so we moved to Shinjuku Sanchome.
- 13:45-14:30 Lunch (Keika Ramen)
- 14:40-15:30 Guided them around the Japanese garden of Shinjuku Gyoen. (Entered from Shinjuku Gate and exited from Okido Gate)
- 16:10-17:30 Guided them around Sensoji Temple. After finishing, I was about to see them off to the hotel by subway, but since they had arrived late the previous night and were quite sleepy from jet lag, they decided to return by taxi, so I caught a taxi for them on Kokusai-dori, said goodbye, and finished my work.
Title: What Is a Private Tokyo Family Tour Focused on Japanese History Like? A Licensed Guide's Report
Body:
The guests were a group visiting from North America. They came to Japan to spend the year-end and New Year period in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Okinawa, meeting up in Tokyo with a member of the group who works in Okinawa. They had a strong interest in Japanese history, so I focused much of my guiding on explaining Japanese history.
Some of the group love mochi, so after finishing Nakamise, they each enjoyed four dango skewers on Kannon-dori and were delighted. The whole group also finished their Keika ramen completely and praised it as very delicious. It seems tonkotsu ramen is indeed popular.
One thing I felt during this tour is that for tours on the day of arrival in Japan or the following day, especially tours starting after 12:00, jet lag tends to hit strongly toward the end, and there are many cases where guests become very sleepy or complain of not feeling well. This is something we on our side cannot really solve, but based on my past experience, when a tour on the day after arrival begins around 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning, it finishes around 3:00 in the afternoon, so the tour can be enjoyably completed before the timing when jet lag hits hardest. In any case, when they got into the taxi, I received the kind words, "We had a wonderful time."
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 | Hibiya～Meiji-jingumae | 600JPY |
| Section 2 | Subway | Meiji-jingumae～Shinjuku-sanchome | 0JPY |
| Section 3 | Subway | Shinjuku-gyoemmae～Asakusa | 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.