Kanagawa in Half a Day: Nihon-odori & Motomachi-Chukagai — Guide Masa

Can You Take a Private Yokohama Tour Between Cruise Departures? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were visitors from North America, and this was their first time in Japan. The guests were travel companions who had met about twenty years earlier on a cruise, hit it off, and had since regularly enjoyed cruise trips together. The main purpose of this visit to Japan was a cruise circling Japan aboard the Diamond Princess. As of this morning, they had completed the first ten-day leg of the around-Japan cruise, and they planned to board the second ten-day leg departing this afternoon. After that, they intended to stay in Tokyo for a few days before flying home.

Regarding the first leg of the cruise, they said that Nagasaki and Kanazawa had left especially strong impressions. They said, "In Nagasaki, I learned about the atomic bombing for the first time and was shocked. It was never taught in school." They also said they were pleased to have seen cherry blossoms at various ports of call.

The tour took place under pleasant, clear weather, though it was occasionally quite windy. One of the guests had a knee problem and walked slowly, and mentioned a preference to use elevators whenever possible rather than stairs or escalators, so we proceeded at a slow pace.

We first went to the Yokohama Landmark Tower for a panoramic view of Yokohama. I explained the history of Yokohama and the Meiji Restoration and the developments around that time. The comment was, "This is a pleasant port town."

After that, we moved to the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse. However, few shops were open, which was a bit disappointing. The flower beds in the plaza were a favorite, and they were photographed many times.

From there we moved west and strolled through Yamashita Park and inside the Hotel New Grand. The Hikawa Maru seemed to be a favorite, photographed repeatedly from many angles.

We entered a large discount store near the entrance of Harbor View Park, where, for some reason, wine was purchased (with the remark that "buying wine on the ship is very expensive").

We then moved to Motomachi Chinatown, which was fairly crowded with tourists and groups of students. However, the guests said, "It's nice to see Chinatown, but I don't want Chinese food. I'd like to eat Japanese food somewhere," so we moved to the area near Kannai Station and had a light lunch at a set-meal restaurant. One guest ordered a grilled atka mackerel set meal, and the other ordered a tempura set meal, and both said it was very delicious.

One guest commented, "For some reason, the buffet on the cruise ship has few Japanese dishes. That seems strange since about half of the passengers are Japanese."

There were also questions and comments such as, "The streets are so clean and there's no litter. Is someone cleaning them?" "Why are there no trash cans on the streets?" and "Unlike in North America, no one throws trash out onto the streets."

I saw them off at the entrance of the Osanbashi Pier, and we parted ways.

Click here for more details: Yokohama Customized Half-Day Tour with Licensed Local 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.