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
- 8:40 Guide (Kogure) arrives at Hotel
- 8:50 Meet the customers at the Hotel lobby
- 9:00 Hotel, walk to Asakusa Station
- 9:10〜9:15 Explain Senso-ji Temple, Kaminarimon Gate, and Nakamise Street in front of Senso-ji's Kaminarimon Gate
- 9:20 Depart from Asakusa Station, head to Shibuya Station on the Ginza subway line
- 9:55 Arrive at Shibuya Station
- 9:55 〜10:20 Guide around Shibuya (Hachiko, Scramble Crossing)
- 10:25 Depart Shibuya Station, head to Harajuku Station on the JR Yamanote Line
- 10:27 Arrive at Harajuku Station
- 10:30 〜10:55 Guide along Harajuku Takeshita Street
- 10:55 〜11:05 Guide along Omotesando
- 11:05 Depart Harajuku Station, head to Tocho-mae Station via Yoyogi Station
- 11:15 Arrive at Oedo Line Tocho-mae Station
- 11:20 〜11:50 Guide around the Metropolitan Government Building North Tower Observatory
- 12:06 Depart Tocho-mae Station, head to Shinjuku-nishiguchi Station on the Oedo Line
- 12:07 Arrive at Shinjuku-nishiguchi Station
- 12:10 〜12:30 Guide along Shinjuku Kabukicho Godzilla Road
- 12:30 〜13:10 Lunch at Kabukicho Hall (ramen)
- 13:10 〜13:30 Guide around the Kabukicho area
- 13:35 Depart Shinjuku Station, head to Nippori Station on the JR Yamanote Line
- 13:56 Arrive at Nippori Station, walk to Yanaka
- 14:05〜14:45 Guide on foot through Yanaka Ginza, the Tsuiji Wall, etc., and after the tour, walk to Nippori Station
- 14:54 Depart Nippori Station, head to Ueno Station on the JR Yamanote Line
- 14:58 Arrive at JR Ueno Station
- 15:00 Since the customers will return to the Hotel, guide them to the Ginza Line platform at Ueno Station and say goodbye.
- End of work
What's a Full-Day Private Tokyo Tour Beyond Temples and Shrines Like? A Licensed Guide's Report
The guests came from North America and were on a five-week trip that had taken them through other parts of Asia before arriving in Japan, where they traveled through the Kansai region and Hiroshima before reaching Tokyo. Since they would be returning home the following day, today was their final Tokyo tour, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. In our correspondence beforehand, they mentioned that they had already visited many temples and shrines, so they asked me to plan something different. I arranged an itinerary that included Takeshita Street in Harajuku, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku, Godzilla Road in Kabukicho, and Yanaka. They took many photos at each location and were delighted to sense how completely different the atmospheres of Takeshita Street, Godzilla Road, and Yanaka were, even within the same city of Tokyo. They also seemed to greatly enjoy the ramen I introduced them to for lunch on the second floor of a hall in Kabukicho, which served regional ramen from various parts of Japan.
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 | Asakusa〜Shibuya〜Harajuku〜Yoyogi〜Tocho-mae〜Shinjuku-nishiguchi～Shinjuku〜Nippori〜Ueno | 1,280JPY |
| Total | 1,280JPY | ||
Hello and how do you do?
My name is Nobuo Kokure, and please call me Nobby for short, if you want.
Let me introduce myself. I was born in Hayama, a beach resort area, Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo. And I’m now living in Saginuma, Kawasaki city.
When I was a university student, I had the opportunities of doing a home stay with a family In U.S.A., Australia, and England, as a youth exchange student.
After graduation from the university, I started working at American Life Insurance Company, Japan (Alico, Japan), which is a group member company of AIG, now MetLife Insurance Company. I could have a chance to visit the head office and the field offices of U.S.A., Wilmington in Delaware, New York, Boston, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale in Florida, Los Angeles, while I was working for Alico, Japan (Now, MetLife Insurance company).
I had been working for MetLife Insurance Company for about 38 years, in total.
After retiring from the life insurance company, I started working as a tour guide, because I wanted to become a tour guide to introduce culture, history, and manners and customs of Japan in English. It’s so different between my previous job and the guide business, but I like guide business a lot.
I can meet so many people from all over the world and the guide business has been thriving after the pandemic.
I have implemented the tour over 240 times, introduced Japan to more than 4300 tourists from 53 countries.
Not only Tokyo, but I have experienced touring around Nikko, Kamakura, Mt. Fuji & Hakone area, Takayama, Kanazawa, Nagoya, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, and Hiroshima, etc. which are all very famous as a tourist spot in Japan.
If you go on a tour in Tokyo, you must see and visit Asakusa Sensoji Temple which is the oldest Buddhist Temple in Tokyo with histories and Nakamise Shopping Street where you can buy the souvenirs and try to taste Japanese sweets, such as doll cake which is the sponge cake in various shapes filled with red bean paste and Japanese powdered tea ice cream. Another my recommendation in Tokyo to visit is Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, and Shibuya. Meiji Shrine is one of the biggest shrines in Japan with quiet and peaceful atmosphere and magnificent site.
Harajuku and Shibuya are both fun to visit for shopping and experience the Shibuya Crossing.
I usually propose my tentative itinerary and ask if my plan is all right with the customer or not. My hobby is traveling around Japan and foreign countries and going to the gym for exercise.
I would like to work as a guide as long as possible if I’m in good health and my legs are strong, because I love this job.
I put my importance on the mind of OMOTENASHI which means sincere hospitality, though safety during the tour takes precedence, number one priority, before anything else.
I’m very looking forward to seeing you and touring with you in Japan soon.
Thank you!
Best regards,
Nobuo Kokure (Nobby)
Jul 20, 2026
JEFF_D
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Tokyo In A Day Tour with Nobuo
The excursion…
Jul 20, 2026
JEFF_D
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Tokyo In A Day Tour with Nobuo
The excursion was excellent! It was a great way to introduce us to the many amenities of Tokyo. It was so helpful to have our excellent guide, Nobuo. This guy was great! He communicated with us in the weeks leading up to the tour to find out what we wanted to see. Then, he formulated a plan to see as many of those items as possible within our allotted time. He made it a priority to utilize our time together that suited us best. When we met up, we knew what we were doing and we were ready to go. Nobuo made it very easy for us to find him at our meeting point. Nobuo’s generosity, knowledge, sense of humor and trivia (of which I got 100%!) made our time together unforgettable. It was hard to say goodbye. We will always have a friend in Japan. I would highly recommend Nobuo as your tour guide, if he is available.
Apr 18, 2026
Traveler10250323486
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
We had a great day with a Japanese guide who seemed like…
Apr 18, 2026
Traveler10250323486
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
We had a great day with a Japanese guide who seemed like an old friend.
Nobby (Nobuo) was prepared, showing up early and had copies to give us of the railway lines and phrases that we will use on the rest of our trip. He was very knowledgeable and felt like family very quickly. We changed some things on the fly and he didn’t skip a beat. He took us to shrines and a temple and showed us customs to respect the culture. He took us to a restaurant for lunch, where we had the best noodles we’ve ever eaten. We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with him and highly recommend taking a tour with him.
Sep 23, 2025
johnsL7185LE
Brilliant family day trip with Nobuo
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 4hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Nobuo Kokure is a wonderful guide.…
Sep 23, 2025
johnsL7185LE
Brilliant family day trip with Nobuo
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 4hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Nobuo Kokure is a wonderful guide. Very friendly, informative, kind, respectful and an all round great guy. Was very flexible with our itinerary, allowing us to change our plans on the day because one of our children wanted to go to a Hello Kitty shop, and the other to the One Piece shop. He graciously took it all in his stride. He also pre booked one of the best restaurants at the fish market because we all love sushi, and it didn’t disappoint. The whole family think Nobuo was fantastic. Couldn’t recommend him more. Thank you Nobuo.
Aug 4, 2025
leslie_w
Nobby was an awesome tour…
Viator review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Nobby was an awesome tour guide. Very…
Aug 4, 2025
leslie_w
Nobby was an awesome tour…
Viator review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Nobby was an awesome tour guide. Very informative and considerate, we saw a lot in six
hours in a very hot day. Highly recommend!