Tokyo in One Day: Nihon-odori Station & Yokohama Station — Guide Masa

Can You Do a Slow-Paced Private Day Tour of Tokyo from Yokohama? A Licensed Guide's Report on Asakusa, Shinjuku, Harajuku, and Shibuya

The guests were visitors from North America, making their first trip to Japan. They had arrived at Haneda Airport the previous evening on a connecting flight and taken a taxi to their hotel. In the evening they had strolled around the streets near the hotel.

The main purpose of this visit to Japan was a cruise around Japan departing from Yokohama Port the day after next. After returning to port, they planned to fly home from Haneda again.

As the guests were recovering from illness, they requested a "slow-walking" tour.

The following day, they planned to visit Tokyo DisneySea to buy souvenirs.

Although it was cloudy, we were not caught in any rain during the tour.

We first traveled from Yokohama by train, changing lines, to Asakusa. It coincided with the commuting rush, and the guests seemed overwhelmed by the crowds.

Even early in the morning it was busy, with many groups of tourists and school excursion students.

We started in front of Kaminarimon Gate. I explained "Sensoji Temple and the history from Edo to Tokyo," "what the five-story pagoda is for," "what Buddhism is," and "the difference between Buddhism and Shinto."

We took commemorative photos in front of Kaminarimon Gate and the five-story pagoda.

There were questions such as "How many Buddhists are there in Japan?" and "Besides Buddhism, what other religions do people believe in?"

From here, we moved to Shinjuku.

I explained "the history of Shinjuku," "the difference between the East and West exits," and "the history of Omoide Yokocho."

The guests commented, "It resembles Times Square or downtown New York," and "It doesn't seem very clean."

Since one of the guests preferred no meat or raw fish and wanted only cooked fish, especially salmon, we managed to find an izakaya, went in, and had lunch.

We moved to Harajuku, first visiting Meiji Shrine. I asked, "It will be quite a walk to the main hall, is that all right?" and they replied, "That's fine."

I explained "about Shinto," "about torii gates," "about Emperor Meiji," "about the Japanese Imperial family," and "why barrels of sake and wine are displayed here."

There were questions such as "What are the main religions of Japan?", "When and why did Shinto originate?", and "How do Buddhism and Shinto differ?"

We came across a wedding procession and photographed it many times.

We took a short break at Forest Terrace Meiji Jingu.

Then on to Shibuya.

First, we took photos looking down at Scramble Square from the entrance of the Keio Inokashira Line platform, then actually crossed the intersection. There was a question, "Why do so many people gather here?"

After taking photos in front of the Hachiko statue, we strolled through Center Gai.

The guests commented and asked, "There's no litter on the streets and it's so clean. Does no one throw away trash?", "It's so quiet inside the subway," and "Why are there no trash cans in the streets?"

Finally, I saw them off at Nihon-odori Station, where we parted ways.

Click here for more details: Tokyo in 1 Day from Yokohama: Private Tour, Licensed Guide

Tour Report by Masa

Guiding career:
Guide work started in July 2022. A guide focused on FIT compliance.
FY2022 results: 17 cases, FY2023 results: 97
Destinations: Various places in Tokyo, Hakone, Kamakura and Nikko
As a recent group travel record, in October 2023, we have a track record of guiding a group of 33 people from Singapore to Narita Airport transfer plus sightseeing in Tokyo.
Self-introduction:
In the past, I was stationed in Canada, the United States, and Mexico as an expatriate of a Japanese bank for over 11 years.
Since I have been mainly involved in the financing business in the United States for a long time, I think I am able to provide interpretation and translation services related to business and finance.
I am a certified CPA in the United States.
In addition, for three years from April 2016, I will be engaged in Japanese-English translation work (part-time), and I can also handle translation work.
Although I don’t have a qualification in Spanish, but I think I can handle day to day conversation in Spanish without any problems.
My hobby is trekking and from time to time, take a walk around mountains near Tokyo like Mt. Takao, Tanzawa, etc. I think it is possible to provide tourist information here as well.
Since April 2015, I have been working as a Tokyo Metropolitan Tourism Volunteer and Tokyo Metropolitan Disaster Prevention Volunteer.
One more, I have a separate house near Asuka Village, Nara prefecture, and I stay there for a total of about 30 days every year and have been enjoying sightseeing personally in the vicinity. Therefore, I think in the Kansai region, especially in Nara, Asuka, Yoshino, Koyasan, Kumano Kodo, etc., where I think I will be able to tour guide with confidence.