This is a small-group taxi tour for cruise ship passengers anchored in Shimizu Port. Although several bus tours might be offered for 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 area.
Check out what we are going to do.
Feel free to personalize this offer.
Shimizu Port (or JR Shizuoka Station or your hotel in Shizuoka City)
Shimizu Port (or JR Shizuoka Station or your hotel in Shizuoka City)
・At Kunozan Toshogu Shrine, which has been designated as a "National Treasure", you can see the venerable buildings and amazing carvings on them, and the guide explains the history of the shrine.
・If the weather is fine, you can enjoy the magnificent view of Mt. Fuji from Nihondaira as well as from Miho Pine Grove. (But please do not hold high expectations for viewing Mt. Fuji because we can not see it well when the weather is bad.)
・We will ride a cable car to Kunozan Toshogu. From the window of the cable car, you can look down at the dynamic landscape of Mt. Kuno and the wonderful view of the Pacific Ocean.
・This region, Shizuoka, is famous for the production of green tea leaves. So, on the way to the Pine Grove, we make a brief stop at Nihondaira Ocha Kaikan, where you can enjoy a cup of local green tea beside the tea field.
Guide fee, tour guide's transportation fees.
Taxi fare. (We mainly use taxis for transportation. I'll contact you via text message with an approximate price.)
Admission fee for Kunozan Toshogu: 500 yen per person.
Cable car fare (round trip): 1,100 yen per person.
(The guests don't need to pay for the tour guide's tickets.)
1. This tour has 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. Kunozan Toshogu Shrine has a relatively large number of stone steps in its compound, which may be a little demanding. The facilities at either end of the cable car also have a lot of steps. So please tell me beforehand if that's going to be a problem.
3. 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 JR Shizuoka Station or your hotel in Shizuoka City.
It seems to me that it completely depends on the person. Some people look exhausted while others say, "This is not that hard." To be precise, there are more than 100 stone steps in the shrine's precinct. They are not 100 consecutive steps but several sets of steps scattered around the precinct. And what should be noted is that you sometimes have to really step up to get to the next step. This particular layout of the steps may have come from the fact that a castle once stood there before Toshogu Shrine was constructed (Japanese castles were often designed so that intruders couldn't enter easily). I hope you will hold the railings and climb up the steps at your own pace.
We had a wonderful tour. Koji was an excellent tour guide, and we had a most enjoyable day. Unfortunately, it was cloudy, so we did not see Mt Fuji. Nevertheless both Koji and his driver made sure that we had an enjoyable time, making sure that we saw all we wanted to see. Thank you for a lovely day.
Dear Susan, I am glad you seem to have arrived back at home safely. Many thanks for your kind review! I am relieved you could find some sort of pleasure in the tour despite the weather. The driver and I also enjoyed the time with you two. Please take care, and send our regards to Phil. Thank you very much.
Koji kept in constant touch with me once we agreed to hire him. The issue, of course, was the best time to see Mt Fuji. As it happened we had a most glorious day. We were a group of 5 with varying physical limitations. Koji adapted to and kept watch over us and was so very knowledgeable about what we were viewing I feel so very fortunate to have selected Koji as our guide. 5 stars +++
Dear Marylin, Many thanks for taking my tour yesterday and writing the generous and wonderful review! It was a great pleasure for me to guide you five through the Shimizu area. Well, I am sorry some of you, especially your husband, couldn’t see all of Kunozan Toshogu Shrine (mainly because of its daunting stone steps), but I wish they could find enjoyment, in some form or another, in the tour. Thank you very much, and please take care for the rest of your trip.
Koji adjusted our tour during the cruise stop in Shimizu to take into account my disability. He was very knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful; we couldn't find a better guide. Everything was very well planned.
Dear Sir, Many thanks for writing the warm comment. It was an honor for me to guide you two. You might have thought that it was unfortunate Mt. Fuji was too shy to appear during the tour, but I hope you will think about it in a positive way: for example, now you have one reason to revisit Japan in the future! Please be well, and send my best regards to your wonderful wife Irene.
A wonderful day with an excellent guide and driver, despite rain. Koji greeted us with a supply of towels, handled our bulky umbrellas, stopped to purchase a poncho for my husband before we headed out. My husband was not able to negotiate stairs, but stayed with our driver while Koji and I explored Kunozan Toshogu Shrine (in more rain). Informative explanations with additional stops at a tea field and Miho Pine Grove made this day.
Dear Barbara, Thank you very much for taking my tour and writing the generous comment about it! Well, It was a rainy day, and we managed to see the traditional ceremony at the shrine and the legendary sword in the museum, but Mt. Fuji was always thickly covered with clouds. Nevertheless, I spent an enjoyable time with you and your husband, and I hope you could enjoy some aspects of the tour, too. I thanked the taxi driver for helping us a lot during the tour and will thank him again the next time I meet him. Please be well, and if possible, please visit Japan again some day in the future.