Tokyo Private Tours

Ian C.

5 / 5

Apr 6, 2026

Learn Japanese while touring Shinjuku, Harajuku and Shibuya

Apr 6, 2026

Tokyo

6 hours

“The BEST Tokyo Family Tour Day 2 of 3: Getting lost on the Yamanote Line”

This is a review of our second day in Tokyo with Dan. I turned up the planning dial to 11 with this day’s experience. Dan and I spent a majority of our pre-trip messaging discussing this day and how it should play out. The idea was to take the Yamanote Train Line which circumnavigates Tokyo for a full day of sightseeing and experiencing daily Japanese life. Casually taking stops at random neighborhoods and visiting attractions near each train station. We had nearly 7 to 8 train stops spanning activities and attractions such as Nezu Shrine, Rikugien Garden, Ikebukuro Sunshine City, Shin-Okubo Korea Town, and views of Rainbow Bridge to name a few. Literally attempting to get lost riding the Yamanote line around Tokyo city exploring off the beaten path. Well you can plan a pretty picnic but you can’t predict the weather LOL! That gorgeous tour day that Dan and I spent soooo much time planning went down the tubes when we started the day shopping for custom embroidered Onitsuka Tiger shoes. That distraction took up nearly four hours. Dan was awesome enough to go with the flow and adjust on the fly. We fit in a tour of Tsukiji fish market while waiting for our opportunity to purchase shoes. Mind you this wasn’t on the elaborate Yamanote plan. Dan also didn’t mind entertaining our kids while they endured the wait. We salvaged the day with a train ride out to Ikebukuro for Pokemon and Anime shopping for the kids. Time flew as always. And even though we had something epic planned; it didn’t mean we didn’t have an epic time with Dan. The tour was filled as always with fun facts and uncontrollable laughs throughout the day. I realized a family holiday may not be so much about hitting all the planned activities/attractions but more so the times in between spent in each others presence making memories which ever way they may come. We may have lost the day’s plans but we found much needed quality time as a family. All thanks to Dan, Tokyo’s BEST family tour guide.

Ian C.

5 / 5

Apr 6, 2026

Learn Japanese while touring Shinjuku, Harajuku and Shibuya

Apr 6, 2026

Tokyo

6 hours

“The BEST Tokyo Family Tour, Day 1 of 3: A Tokyo Introduction”

No tour guide can be the best at everything, that being said; if you’re traveling in Tokyo with young children from a western culture that have an allergic reaction to proper behavior and have to attend anonymous meetings for their ever growing addiction to silliness…then Dan is the perfect family tour guide for you!!! I was sold from his intro video, but do reach out and you will notice he is more than pleasurable to work with. Dan can assist you with curating a custom experience or develop a hands off stress free excursion for the whole family to enjoy or anything in between. This review spans 3 separate tour days I booked with Dan during mid-March 2026. I review each day and this was day 1: A Tokyo Introduction. Dan met us in a park near our accommodation. The introduction to the family was like reuniting with the fun uncle we haven’t seen in years. We hit it off in an instant. If you know the Australian children’s cartoon “Bluey”, then you would recognize the uncanny similarities Bluey’s dad (Bandit Heeler) has with Dan. Bandit is playful, patient, nurturing, and very endearing. He enjoys joining in play while teaching with humor and gentle discipline. I would say Bandit is the star of the kids show not Bluey but I digress…Dan is a real life Bandit Heeler. Day 1 was a proper introduction to Tokyo, Japan. Dan taught us all about etiquette, use of prepaid train cards and convenience stores, visited Asakusa Temple and Nakamise market. All the while giving us time along the way to shop and learn about Japanese history and culture. Time flew because of all the fun we were having interacting with locals and sightseeing all the intriguing peculiarities that make Tokyo unlike anywhere else in the world. Not to mention shopping to our hearts desire as we made our way thru the tour. Our tour ended with Dan helping us find our activity for the evening which was the Samurai Ninja Museum in Asakusa. The first day started with a bang and the family were all spent.

“A journey starts with a single step ”

Our journey had 16,000 of them. Shinya met us at our hotel and explained our itinerary in detail. The labyrinth like subway system was effortlessly dealt with and we travelled under and over ground on the clean and efficient trains. Shinya created a bespoke tour for us and explained the history of each area in detail. Getting to some areas early was key to beat the crowds for which we were grateful as later in the day there were crowds of people everywhere. Fortunately, Sundays means that the main road is closed to traffic and we could move unencumbered. Akihabara is definitely a must-see. We got back to the hotel after 9 hours with smiles, memories and tired feet. Recommended.