This tour is for the tourists who have just arrived in Japan and would like to explore Tokyo on the first day of your trip. See the typical major sites like Meijijingu Shrine, Tokyo Tower, Tsukiji Wholesale Market, Imperial Palace and Asakusa, while travelling across the city from the west to the east. Also learn about some tips for strolling Tokyo by yourselves, such as transportation, reservation, dinning and shopping, unique tourist sites and so on, according to your requests and interests.
At your hotel
Any hotel you are staying at. Additional transportation costs are needed.
Visit one of the most famous shrines in Japan, where the spirit of Meiji Emperor (enthroned 1867~1912) is enshrined.
Highlights:
1. Learn about Meiji Emperor and Meiji era
2. Experience Shinto's rituals like washing hands, prayer, writing wishes on Ema tablet, etc.
3. Learn about Shinto's events such as wedding, festivals, new year day, etc.
4. Stroll around the sacred and tranquil precinct of the shrine.
Visit the landmark tower in Tokyo, which used to serve as a broadcast antenna and is now an attractive tourist site.
Highlights:
1. Command the bird's-eye view of Tokyo and learn about the geography and history of the city
2. Look at the places directly below like temples, graveyards, schools and so on
3. Enjoy the unique designs of the skyscrapers like Toranomon Hills, Roppongi Hills, etc.
4. See the distant views such as Mt. Fuji, Hakone, Tokyo Bay and Yokohama
Go to Tsukiji Wholesale Market
Enjoy lunch at the outer retail market, where professional cooks and restaurant owners come to purchase fresh ingredients. There are many kinds of restaurants and street food shops lined along narrow and busy shopping streets.
Visit East Garden of Imperial Palace (Tue, Wed, Thurs) / Kokyo Gaien National Garden (Mon, Fri)
Highlights
1. Learn about the history of Emperors and the present situation of the Imperial Family
2. See some remains of Edo castle, like the watch tower, the foundation of the donjon, etc.
3. Learn about Tokugawa Shogunate (1600~1868), such as unique Shoguns among them
4. Stroll around Japanese gardens to enjoy the change of the seasons by flowers and trees
End the day with Asakusa district in downtown Tokyo
Highlights:
1. Visit Sensouji Temple, the oldest temple in Tokyo and see the beautiful architecture and sculptures like the big red paper lantern, the statues of the God of Wind and Fire, the Five-Storied Pagoda etc.
2. Experience some rituals of Buddhism, prayer, drawing fortune telling, incense burning etc.
3. Stroll Nakamise shopping street and other side streets to enjoy shopping and eating at a variety of small shops along the streets
Choose the ending point up to your convenience. In case of dropping off at your hotel, additional costs are needed. If you want to explore Asakusa more and have dinner there, end the tour at Asakusa.
At your hotel or Asakusa Subway Station
Learn some Tips of Travelling in Tokyo (This tour is for the tourists who have just arrived in Japan and want to explore Tokyo more by yourselves after joining this tour. Below are the lists of the information my former tourists wanted to know.)
1. Transportation=Showing how to use subways (the most convenient way of moving around Tokyo) and purchase and refund train passes
Also download a route search application
2. Money Exchange=Showing the places where you can exchange your money into yen other than airports
3. Weights and measures=Showing the easy way to change your system of weights and measures into Japanese system, such as miles-kilometers, foots-meters, Fahrenheit-Centigrade etc.
4. Other interesting sites=Introducing museums, gardens, skyscrapers, shopping malls and so forth, depending on your requests
5. Reservation=How to book tickets of popular unique sites which need reservation in advance, such as Harry Potter Studio Tour, Kabuki plays, TeamLab Planets, Ninja cafe and so on (If you want, I will do it for you before your arrival)
6. Dinning=Introducing reasonable and delicious Japanese food restaurants and taverns, enjoying foods like sushi, shabushabu, tempura, traditional party meals etc.
7. Shopping=Recommending shops for your souvenirs like things Japanese, kitchen utensils, stationaries, sake and whisky, sweets and so on, also stores which sell all kinds of inexpensive and useful goods according to your requests
8. Japanese culture and history=Giving the knowledge of the brief history of Japan through the chronological table in order to make your tour more interesting
9. Japanese phrases=Teaching easy Japanese phrases and words which are useful during your trip in Japan
10. Japanese Manners and customs=Letting you know some manners and do's and don'ts in Japan
11. Emergency=Advising what to do or where to go in case of injuries, illnesses, and natural disasters, also the places you should not visit
guide fee
guide's transportation fee
guide's admission fee
transportation fee
entrance fee
I have changed the day when I am available.
1. This tour involves a lot of walking, so make sure to wear comfortable shoes.
2. The order of the visiting places can be changed depending on the weather and the season. On Monday and Friday, East Garden of Imperial Palace is closed, so
3. If you have any food you cannot eat, like raw fish, meat, please let me know in advance.
4. If you have any requests or questions, I am happy to hear from before your arrival.
Although one member of our Family is able to speak a basic level of Japanese, he had never been to Tokyo before. So having a private guide was the top reason why we booked this tour. Haruo was very responsive, both before and during the tour. Before our arrival, contacting us and confirming the sites we wanted to see. The morning of, we confused our start time to an earlier time and Haruo left his home early to get to us. He picked us up at the train station by our accommodations, which we greatly appreciated. We chose Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Tokyo Tower, lunch in the Shopping Mall at Ginza, Asakusa Sensoji Temple and Sumida river cruise. Unfortunately, the Garden was closed the day of our tour, so we went to see the giant Shinjuku 3D cat billboard! Since we chose attractions that were not close to each other, Haruo had to navigate the trains and subways for us, which even for a local can be confusing. Our Family has food issues - and Haruo spoke with the staff at the restaurant we chose on our behalf to ensure we could eat there without issue. And we did and it was a lovely lunch! One recommendation would be to select attractions that are closer to each other than we did. Especially if you haven't recovered from jet lag! I would highly recommend Haruo and this tour!
Dear Sharon Thank you for heartwarming review though I made some mistakes and confused you during the tour. This encourages me to improve my future tour. Take care of yourselves and enjoy the rest of summer. Haruo
We really enjoyed traveling to Kamakura and Yokosuka with Horuo. It was generally overcast (with a bit of rain) so we were often alone at some of the most popular tourist destinations in the area, and we were able to generally avoid the crowds with Haruo. Travel was very easy for us, and we learned a lot about Japan's history while on our adventures with him. Haruo is very knowledgeable about about the locations he took us to, and was able to bring each bridge and path to life with background we would have otherwise been oblivious to - stories of royalty, faith, assassination plot, wars, peace, and daily life for residents throughout history. There is so much we would have otherwise missed without Haruo, and we are deeply appreciative that we were able to share our travels with him.
Dear Trevis Thank you very much for your heartwarming review. This encourages me to improve my guiding. I was also very happy to have a tour with you. Please take care of yourselves. Best Regards Haruo
Haruo is a fantastic guide and educator who helped us get our bearings on our first day in Tokyo. While on an amazing tour of the imperial gardens (and an indoor 'open air' style Edo museum) we learned about the history of Tokyo and its people, we learned about basic etiquette (tipping, bowing, etc), and how to find what we would need during our 2 week stay. We learned the basics about Shintoism, a few important phrases, we got to try some really unique (and tasty) food, and he took some really great photos of us!
I'm sure you had spent a great time in your whole tour in Japan. Please take care of yourselves. Thank you again. Haruo
Haruo was a great choice for our first day in Tokyo. We knew we'd be wiped from the prior day of flying mentally, so setting up a tour with Haruo explaining all the ins and outs of shrines and how to use the subway was so helpful to get us started, plus we hit up a bunch of the big sites. Lots of history and info, more than happy to be flexible for the sights we wanted to see vs what we were not as interested in. Great guy, great tour, highly recommend!
Dear Elisa and Charles Thank you so much for your kind review. That encourages me to improve my tour from now on. It is not you but me that learned a lot about the culture of your country. Especially, talking about your hometown Seatle made me remember sweet memories of my trip and want to come back there. I believe you had a great time after our tour. Thank you again and take care of yourselves. Best Regards, Haruo