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
- 10:00 Meeting point: Hyatt Regency Yokohama
- 10:10 Depart Nihon-odori Station
- (Minatomirai Line)
- Arrive Motomachi-Chukagai Station
- 10:20 Depart Yamashita-cho Bus Stop
- (Yokohama City Bus)
- 10:45 Arrive Sankeien-mae Bus Stop
- Sankeien Sankeien
- 12:00 Depart Sankeien-mae Bus Stop
- (Yokohama City Bus)
- 12:25 Sakuragicho Station-mae Bus Stop
- Sakuragicho Yokohama Air Cabin
- 12:45 Arrive Minatomirai
- Minatomirai Break: Cafe
- Red Brick Warehouse
- Yokohama Cosmo World
- 13:45 Depart Minatomirai Station
- (Minatomirai Line)
- 14:00 Arrive Nihon-odori Station
- 14:00 Dismissal: Hyatt Regency Yokohama
Can You Do a Private Walking Tour of Yokohama Before a Cruise? A Licensed Guide's Report
The guests were a group visiting Japan from North America, together with another group of relatives visiting from North America. It was everyone's first visit to Japan.
The guests had arrived at Narita Airport the previous day and taken a taxi to their Hotel. The other group had arrived a week earlier, visiting Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka before coming to Yokohama the previous night.
The main purpose of this visit was for everyone to board a cruise ship departing from Yokohama Port the day after next for a voyage around Japan. After returning to Yokohama Port, they planned to fly home.
The guests were to join a food tour in Chinatown this evening, and planned to visit DisneySea the following day.
Today, as a warm-up, their request was to "take a casual stroll around Yokohama and enjoy the atmosphere."
It was a tour under cloudy skies but in hot and humid weather.
First, in line with their wishes, we headed to Sankeien Garden.
I explained about "the history of Yokohama," "the Meiji Restoration and the opening of Yokohama Port," and related topics.
We strolled leisurely through the garden. We climbed the small hill with the three-story pagoda and took commemorative photos there as well.
"Japanese gardens really are wonderful," they said. They spotted carp and turtles in the garden's pond and took photos.
There was also a question: "Why do you keep carp and turtles?"
After this, we returned to central Yokohama and first went to Sakuragicho Station.
At the request of some of the guests, we went to the Yokohama Air Cabin.
"We could really see what Yokohama Port looks like," they said.
After this, we walked to the Red Brick Warehouse district and strolled leisurely inside. They bought some small items as souvenirs.
We then walked further to Yokohama Cosmoworld, where everyone rode the Ferris wheel for a full loop.
There were comments and questions such as, "The city is so clean and there's no litter on the streets. This level of cleanliness is unimaginable in North America," and "We don't see any homeless people. In North America, homelessness is a major problem."
I saw them off to the entrance of their Hotel, and we parted ways.
Click here for more details: Yokohama Customized Half-Day Tour with Licensed Local Guide
Transportation cost per person
| No. | Transportation | Route | Fare |
| Section 1 | Train | Nihon-odori～Motomachi-Chukagai | 200JPY |
| Section 2 | Other | Yamashita-cho Bus Stop～Sankeien-mae Bus Stop | 220JPY |
| Section 3 | Other | Sankeien-mae Bus Stop～Sakuragicho Station-mae Bus Stop | 220JPY |
| Section 4 | Train | Minatomirai～Nihon-odori | 200JPY |
| Total | 840JPY | ||
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.
Jul 21, 2026
Christelle_G
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Excellent tour guide
Masa san is extremely knowledgeable and…
Jul 21, 2026
Christelle_G
Viator review: Tokyo Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Excellent tour guide
Masa san is extremely knowledgeable and lovely company. My 13-yr-old daughter and I had a great day walking around the sites we had picked with him. He tooks his time to explain all the history and then kindly walked us to the spot of our next booking as it was quite confusing. I would very highly recommend him. Of all the tours we did in Tokyo Masa Sam was my favourite tour guide.
Jul 1, 2026
97TexAg
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 8hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Amazing day in Tokyo
Masa was our tour guide. Masa was an…
Jul 1, 2026
97TexAg
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 8hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Amazing day in Tokyo
Masa was our tour guide. Masa was an amazing tour guide that communicated extremely well ahead of time about the sites we would like to see in Tokyo, picked us up and dropped us off at our hotel, was very friendly and well prepared and finally but most importantly made our day in Tokyo very memorable.
We went to the Buddhist temple in Asakusa, Meiji Shinto Temple, imperial Palace, Shinjuku Gyoen National Gatden, and Shibuya Crossing. All were great and amazing suggestions by Masa.
Would highly recommend this tour as it was a private tour guide for a full day and provided discretion on which 5-6 sites you want to see. Also highly recommend our tour guide Masa who was a wealth of knowledge and very friendly and charming.
15/10 would do again.
Jun 2, 2026
Tagare S
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Great tour and guide!
This is a great tour, and our…
Jun 2, 2026
Tagare S
Tripadvisor review: Tokyo 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Great tour and guide!
This is a great tour, and our guide, Masa was really great. Although it was raining, he had no
hesitations in completing his tour and showing us great places around Tokyo. If you are still
on the fence about this, please don’t, you won’t regret it. Thank you, Masa!
Jun 1, 2026
Lisa_A
Viator review: Private Tokyo Tour with Licensed Guide & Vehicle (Max 15 persons)
Adler Family Tour
Our tour with Masa was…
Jun 1, 2026
Lisa_A
Viator review: Private Tokyo Tour with Licensed Guide & Vehicle (Max 15 persons)
Adler Family Tour
Our tour with Masa was incredible and filled with interesting facts and history, he gave us incredible insight on each location. We loved that we were able to choose 3-4 sites from a large selection and really spend enough time at each spot. Masa was kind and knowledgable and even helped us with a restaurant reservation for later in the evening when were unable to find one.