Will take train from Shinjuku JR railway station or other station in the morning and stay in Nikko for five hours and come back to Shinjuku JR railway station in the evening.
Even though Shinjuku is the most commonly used station because of the convenient train schedules to and from Nikko, any other JR or Metro stations instead of Shinjuku station can be chosen with an additonal hour or two.
At your hotel in Tokyo or JR Shjinjuku station
Mausoleum for Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate which ruled Japan for almost three centuries. 55 architectures, 8 national treasures including Yomei-mon Gate & Main Hall.
Row of 70 stone statues of Jizo Bodhisattva who is protector of those journeying through the physical and spiritual realms
If you leave very early in the morning from JR Shinjuku station and include this 97 meter waterfall as an optional destination, you need to add additonal two to three hours in your itinerary.
Mausoleum of Iemitsu, Ieyasu’s grandson
At JR Shinjuku station
Can visit many UNESCO World Heritage Sites in an ancinent city of Nikko and experience the local history and delicacies.
The Nikko Toshogu Shrine was designed to accommodate large numbers of worshippers while at the same time exulting and commemorating the deity, and stressing timelessness. A unified style pervades all the architecture utilizing many buildings and decorative techniques, including lacquering, brightly colored painting, and decorative metal fittings.
guide fee for 9.5 hours,hours, hotel pick-up in Shinjuku area
transportation fee (you and guide), Spacia Nikko special express train round trip fro Shinjuku to Niiko costs 8,180 yen per person. Roud tripTaxi from Tobu Niikko station to Toshogu Shrine costs 2,500
yen. lunch, tea , entrance fee for Toshogu Shrine (1,300 yen per person. guide is free), $10 hotel pick-up fee if your hotel is not located in Shinjuku area. overtime guide fee $50 per hour, if applicable
Born and raised in Niigata prefecture, visit my mother and sister who live in Niigata city every month from Tokyo. Niigata has lots of attractions for tourists, including Yahiko Shrine/suspension cable car ride to the top of Mt. Yahiko, Northern Culture Museum where you can see the richest farmer's residence and garden, sake breweries with free sake tasting, castle towns like Shibata city or Murakami city, winter ski resorts with four meters of snow, delicious local sea food from Sea of Japan or from Sado Island/ fruits and brown edamame. It takes only two hours by Shinkansen train to reach Niigata from Tokyo.
Niigata prefecture and Niigata city each has a population of 2.3 Million and 0.8 Million, good sizes but much smaller than Tokyo, the biggest city area in the world. By experiencing both Tokyo on the Pacific Ocean side and Niigata on the Sea of Japan side, you can taste both modern gigantic city life/culture and traditional city/rural life/culture in Japan.
In addition to Greater Tokyo Area where I live, I will be happy to be your guide in any cities/areas on the Sea of Japan side as well.
My tour destinations outside Greater Tokyo area include Niigata-city, Nagaoka -city, Itoigawa-city, Sado island, Nagano city, Snow Resorts in Niigata and Nagano mountain areas, Yamagata city, Tsuruoka city, Sakata city, Kanazawa city, Oono city, Echizen city, Tsuruga city, Fukui city, Gokayama and Shirakawago which are World Heritage sites famous for Gassho-zukuri and Kyoto/Nara.
Only available on weekdays
Even though some minor works are still on-going, major portion of recent renovation project which begun in 2007 was finished recently. Now is the best time to see the restored lacquer, paint, and decorative metal fittings in their original vibrant colors.
Roud trip train ticket costs around 8,000 yen per person from Shinjuku. Even though we can walk, if we use bus between Nikko railway station and the Shrine, additional 500 yen per person, and taxi around 1300 yen per ride.
Nikko is 634 meters above sea level and temperature is cooler than in Tokyo.
The tour involves walking on slopes and stairs. Highly recommended to wear comfortable walking shoes.
It is best to visit Nikko on weekdays, especially during autumn color season.
Roud trip train ticket costs around 8,180 yen per person. Roud tripTaxi from Tobu Niikko station to Toshogu Shrine costs 2,500 yen.
We only had one day in Tokyo and had a long list of things we wanted to do. We were able to accomplish everything with the help of Yoshi! Yoshi did a great job answering all of our questions, putting together a great plan, and he took us to the best tempura restaurant we have ever been to! We highly recommend Yoshi as a guide!
It has been a pleasure to talk and walk with a very young people from Midwest as I was reminded of my younger days. You are such a nice couple that I am sure that both you and your husband will be able to visit Japan at your tenth, twentieth, even thirtieth wedding anniversaries.
An excellent customized tour with Yoshi San exploring the sights and sounds of this incredible city. Yoshi San is a delightful, wise, and affable guide that brings a wide range of perspectives in the culture, history, and modern day dynamics of Tokyo. We also enjoyed some wonderful meals as Yoshi San is a true foodie. I would highly recommend Yoshi San for a customized experience of Tokyo.
Thank you for using my guiding service for two consecutive days in Tokyo. I have really enjoyed the company of you, your wife and your friends who are all very intellectual, yet can taste the difference between authentic/good Japanese food and the average one. Hope you have a safe flight back to Vancouver
Thanks to Yoshi we had a perfect day touring Tokyo visiting places he tailor made for us. His lunchtime choice of restaurant was a special treat and so delicious. I highly recommend him to you.
Hi Barry san, It was a apleasure to walk, talk, eat and drink together with you, your wife and your friends. Now I know that healthy food is both tasty and filling. Rooibos tea you introduced to me will become one of my favorites. Please enjoy the rest of your stay in Japan.
Yoshi is a great guide. He is really knowledgeable about everything Tokyo and Japan. He is a great ambassador for his country. We spent a couple of days with him and he was so flexible as you need to be when traveling with children (6 and 9, boys) in our case. He was able to balance the sightseeing of the museums and gardens with interesting restaurants and cafes (the Ninja cafe is a must) and ways of getting around Tokyo. He also gave us tips on where to shop, museums and galleries to go to and things to do in Kyoto when we took a day trip there. We really valued his patience with us and all the stories and sharing. If you're going to Tokyo then get Yoshi to guide you when you're there and your trip will be even better than you hoped.
Hi Malcolm san, It is good to hear from you I enjoyed touring with you, beautiful wife and two lively boys. Your small boys handled Ninjya blow weapons as if they were real Ninjyas. Also you have brought good warm weather to Tokyo and therfore were able to see esrly Cherry blossoms. Hope to see your family sometime in the future again. Yoshi