Ian C.

5 / 5

Apr 6, 2026

Tokyo With Kids

Apr 6, 2026

Tokyo

4 hours

“The BEST Tokyo Family Tour Day 3 of 3: “We should’ve hired a tour guide””

Our third and final day touring Tokyo with Dan as our awesome guide. This day is how getting around with a guide is ideally supposed to go; of which Dan curated his greatest hits for a family to experience in Japan. It took me till the third tour day to realize it’s best to leave the tour planning to the professionals. The running inside joke since the first tour day, being every time we get lost or sidetracked, someone openly proclaims to the group “we should’ve hired a tour guide” lol including Dan haha! Thank God for Dan! What an epic way to end the last day of tours! We spent the morning exploring Shinjuku-Shibuya-Harajuku areas. Godzilla over-watching Kabukicho, Shibuya scramble, and Taito Game Center were some highlights. The wife got to cross off a bucket list item when we had a picnic lunch beneath blooming cherry blossom trees. Then we spent the afternoon learning about the Meiji Shrine where I got to add a shrine blessing stamp to my Goshuin-cho book. The grand finale was Takeshita Street in Harajuku where we had cotton candy and got cuddly with agreeably cute Capybaras. It was tough especially for the kids to say goodbye but all great tours must come to an end. We could not thank Dan enough for all of the great times. It truly felt like it was family showing us around Tokyo. Dan made sure we were less offensive and only mildly irritating to the locals lol He was especially great at communicating for us when language became a barrier. Of course the best part was the never ending amount of jokes, free association rants, and fake fun facts that add fun color to the most boring of attractions. If you are planning to take your spouse and kids to Tokyo, I highly recommend giving Dan a call. He truly is great and loves bringing Japan to families in a very special way. Dan will always be a part of our plans when visiting Japan in the future. Cheers mate!!! From my family to yours, our deepest gratitude and warmest wishes. Mahalo nui, Aloha!

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.