This is a small-group taxi tour for cruise ship passengers anchored in Shimizu Port. Although several bus tours might be offered to them on the ship, some people still prefer flexibility of a small group. If you are traveling by land, a taxi can also pick you up in the Shizuoka City or Fuji City areas.
Shimizu Port (or a JR station or your hotel in Shizuoka City or Fuji City)
Shimizu Port (or a JR station or your hotel in Shizuoka City or Fuji City)
・It takes about 60 minutes from Shimizu Port by car to reach the main area of the tour. Since we get very close to Mt. Fuji, we can see it prominently in front of us if the weather is fine. (But please do not hold high expectations for viewing Mt. Fuji because we can not see it well when the weather is bad.)
・At Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha, the guide will tell you how this beautiful World Heritage shrine has been closely related to Mt. Fuji since ancient times.
・Shiraito Falls is also one of the highlights of this area. Mt. Fuji's ground water gushes out from the rock layers, which is a wonderful sight to see.
・If you are interested in sake (Japanese rice wine) or Japanese-style green tea, it is possible for me to book either a free brewery tour, including free tasting, at a sake brewery, or a casual-style tea-drinking session at a green tea farm.
・Lake Tanuki is also optional. If the weather is fine, you might have a chance to see the famous "postcard-like" view of Mt. Fuji and its reflection on the lake.
・If it rains and Mt. Fuji is barely visible, one of my recommendations would be a visit to the Mt. Fuji World Heritage Centre, Shizuoka, where you can learn Mt. Fuji's fascinating history and simulate climbing it.
Guide fee, tour guide's transportation fees.
・Taxi fare. (We use a chartered taxi for transportation. I'll contact you via text message with an approximate price.)
・Expressway tolls. (We use the Tomei Expressway for part of our trip.)
・Food or drink the guests might buy on the way.
Please refrain from resorting to the "direct booking." I hope you will book after we reach an agreement over the total price (including the taxi fare) through the exchange of text messages.
1. This tour have a 4-guest maximum capacity. But, if you are a group of 5 or 6 and are interested in this itinerary, please contact me anyway and I will see if it's possible.
2. This is a 5.5-hour tour, but we need to drive for almost an hour to reach the main area of the tour, and the roads in Fuji City are likely to be congested (especially in the evenings). That is why sometimes it may be a little difficult for a taxi driver to adjust the tour time and finish the tour exactly in 5 hours. So please allow for a little extra time due to the traffic conditions, in which case I will not charge you any extra fees. If you definitely need to keep the tour time to 5.5 hours, please mention that to me beforehand so I can adjust the schedule accordingly.
3. As to a visit to a sake brewery or a green tea farm, please note that, since these facilities are family-run businesses or rather small-scale companies, the booking is subject to change at the last moment.
4. Please refrain from resorting to the "direct booking." I hope you will book after we reach an agreement over the itinerary and the total price (including the taxi fare) through the exchange of text messages.
Not necessarily. If you are traveling by land, I can also pick you up (or drop you off) at a JR station or your hotel in Shizuoka City or Fuji City.
This tour is basically for cruise ship passengers, and we need to avoid the risk of being late for the ship's departure. So I strongly recommend we use the Tomei Expressway between Shimizu IC and Fuji IC. The fare is around 1400 yen (about 13 USD as of August 2018) in total.
Most of the time, you walk on flat roads on this tour, but I am concerned about one part: If you want to get much closer to the Shiraito Waterfalls, you need to walk down a considerable number of stone steps (which means you need to climb up the same steps afterwards), and there are no elevators or paths. So please tell me beforehand if that's going to be a problem (you can see the particular falls without going down the many steps, but it is from a distance of about 250 meters).
Thank you for taking me on the Ukiyo-e Tour of Kanbara, Yui and up Satta Toge. I was especially pleased we saw Fuji-san clearly. I appreciated your guiding style. I found you organised, considerate and knowledgeable. I enjoyed the experience and your company. The tour is a highlight of my 3 week vacation in Japan. I would recommend it to people with an interest in the Edo period and Hiroshige's "53 Stations on the Tokaido" ukiyo-e.
Dear Neville-san, Many thanks for your warm comment! I also thank you for telling me a lot of interesting things during the tour. I thought that your idea of following Hiroshige's footsteps though the small towns of Yui and Kanbara was very interesting, and it actually rekindled my interest in the historical Tokaido Road. Well, of the 53 shuku (old post stations), you have visited two so far. How about exploring other interesting shuku sites next time? I will continue to study, and by the time you revisit Japan, I should be ready.
very accommodating and understanding. knowledgeable and well organized. easy to get along with. highly recommend.
Dear Larry, Many thanks for your review! It was good that the weather was fine, and I also enjoyed the time with you two. Please take care, and send my regard to cheryl. Thank you very much!
Koji was very knowledgeable on the area. He arranged a private driver for us which was very reasonable . He was prompt, courteous and flexible to our needs. He answered all our questions with more than expected . The time together went very quickly. I would highly recommend him and when I return will use him again.
Dear Rosanne, What an honor to me to receive such a good comment from you! It was a joy for us to welcome you two in this best season of the year. I hope that you can go back to your home country safe and sound and look forward to seeing you again.
We had a great day with Koji and Tetsu. Koji was extremely well organized and ensured that we saw a number of beautiful sites in the area. Tetsu is an excellent driver, communicated well with us and contributed greatly to our very positive day. Koji speaks very good English, had many relevant and important pieces of information and history to share with us and willingly answered all of our questions. He had a microphone in the van which was extremely helpful and appreciated. Our day was made more special by Mt.Fuji appearing and staying in clear view all day! Thank you Koji and Tetsu for giving us such a wonderful day and for ensuring that Mt.Fuji was so visible.????
Dear Marc, Many thanks for taking my tour today and writing the wonderful review! We also enjoyed spending time with you four. Thank you for asking us a lot of questions and giving us your feedback about the places you visited in Japan. Please enjoy the visit to Tokyo tomorrow. (I will convey your words to Tetsu the driver. He'll be glad.)