Tokyo is a fantastic city with so many places to visit.
The city has it’s own history, culture, art, food and religion, and you will know better when you have a guide.
If you are interested in specific area like street food, Japanese architecture and garden, tea ceremony experience, animal cafes, anime figures or wearing kimono, I can help you.
This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!
Meeting Point
At your hotel in Tokyo
Meeting point
At your hotel or anyplace you’d like
You can choose some of the popular spots below if you don’t have particular area of interest
Sample Itinerary
09:00 Pick up at your hotel
09:30 Destination #1
11:00 Destination #2
12:30 Destination #3
13:00 End tour at your hotel or anyplace you’d like
Asakusa (Sensoji Temple and Nakamise Shopping Street)
Also known as Asakusa Temple, Sensoji Temple is one of the most popular tourist sites in Tokyo which dates back from the year 645. To reach the temple, you go in via an iconic gate called Kaminarimon. You also pass by a series of shops in a street called Nakamise.
Tsukiji (Outer Market)
Tsukiji Fish Market is the old and historical area which supports people's stomach. You can see and eat a variety of local food on the streets in Tsukiji, become familiar with the town.
Ginza (high-end shopping street)
Ginza is one of the highest-end shopping district in Japan. European luxury brand shops, department stores, and high-class restaurants are there. Kabukiza theater dedicated to Kabuki is just five minutes from the central area of Ginza.
Harajyuku (Meiji Jingu Shrine, Omotesando and Takeshita Streets)
Meiji-Jingu Shrine was built in 1920 to commemorate Emperor Meiji who changed Japan into a democratic industrialized country after a series of long feudal period. It is one of the most popular Shinto shrines in Japan where you will feel a special sacred Japanese atmosphere. Omotesando and Takeshita Streets are famous shopping streets especially for young girls.
Shinjuku (National Park, observatory deck, local food and Kabukicho)
Shinjuku is always exciting and have many faces. We can visit the beautiful Shinjuku Gyoen garden (admission ¥500), sophisticated department stores, a historical shrine, narrow back streets of bars and pubs and famous nightclub streets.
Akihabara (hobby district)
Akihabara is Japan’s largest electric appliance shopping district with its concentration of more than 600 stores selling exclusively electronic products. The recent trend of “otaku culture” has led to the introduction of animation-related establishments including “maid cafes,” where waitresses are dressed in anime characters’ costumes.
Odaiba (Tokyo’s newest area with futuristic architectures)
Odaiba is a reclaimed island made in Tokyo bay. You can see many futuristic buildings, the Rainbow Bridge, beach and big Gundam statue from the window of Yurikamome (a monorail that connects Shimbashi Station to Toyosu). The fantastic TeamLab Planets digital museum (admission ¥3200) is located here.
Shibamata (Taishakuten Temple and old street)
Shibamata Taishakuten Temple is famous for its beautiful Japanese garden (admission ¥400). The shopping street between the station and the temple have many food, souvenior and folkcraft shops and restaurants. The whole area shows the atmosphere of traditional busy downtown in 1960’s.
Imperial Palace
You cannot see the Imperial Palace directly but from the Palace Outer Garden you can get a view of the Nijubashi double bridge with white Fushimi-yagura watchtower. There are several gates that date back to the Edo period.
Yanaka & Nezu
The Yanaka, Nezu, and Sendagi areas are called “Yanesen”. The stairs leading to Yanaka Ginza Shopping Street is famous as a spot to see Japanese people’s real life. The areas have atmosphere of good old days of Tokyo downtown in 1960’ and also known as a religious town because they have many local temples, shrines and graveyards. There are small shops selling Japanese traditional kitchen items and souvenirs, and sweets shops and stalls basing on a concept of Japanese traditional colors.
End tour at your hotel or anyplace you’d like
Ending Point
Any place you’d like
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This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.
Guide fee, Hotel pick-up
Your transportation fee (about 1,500 yen per person), Lunch for you and guide (about 1,500 yen per person), Entrance fee for you and guide (if any)
This is a flexible tour you can pick up places to visit upon your wish. I will make an itinerary customized for you, so you can fully enjoy the city with your limited time.
Because it is a private tour, you can change the route according to your interest, condition or the weather during the tour.
In this tour, we will take public transportation and walk a lot so please wear comfortable shoes.
If you have someone with allergies or dietary restrictions in your group, please let me know in advance.
If you stay in the central area of Tokyo or Chiba, I will pick you up and drop you off at your hotel or anyplace you like.
We will take public transportation and walk a lot so please wear comfortable shoes.
Welcome to Japan! My name is Chiaki. I’m a government licensed guide interpreter, a wife and mother of two grown-up children. I’ve been living in Tokyo for 30 years so I know the area well.
If you don’t want to miss popular “must see” places, wish to eat a variety of Japanese popular and delicious food, have particular interest in Japanese theatrical arts, architectures, gardens, tea ceremony and “kawaii” characters, or are tired of tourist spots and like to see the real life of people in Japan, I can help you.
My goal is to help you to make your stay in Japan as memorable and fulfilling as possible. If I can serve you to make your special trip more special, it will be my pleasure.
Susan J.
“Customized Tour of Tokyo”
We had a wonderful tour experience of Tokyo with our tour guide, Chiaki. She created a customized itinerary for us based on sites we were interested in and she was fun and helpful and very knowledgeable. We highly recommend Chiaki for first time visitors to Japan.
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Chiaki K.
Dear Susan, thank you so much for your recommendation! I’m so glad you enjoyed your Tokyo tour and that the itinerary matched your interests. It was such a fun day exploring together. I really appreciate you found me in the big ocean of websites! Hope you enjoy your trip in Japan! Thank you again!
James H.
“Tokyo one-day tour”
We had a great day in Tokyo with Chiaki. This was the first time we have used a private guided tour or GoWithGuide and we were very pleased with the experience. The booking was straightforward and everything on the day went smoothly thanks to Chiaki’s great planning. She was friendly, spoke great English and is clearly knowledgeable about the sites and also gave some interesting insights into Japan and Japanese life more generally, especially helpful for new visitors. We plan to use GoWithGuide again following this experience.
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Chiaki K.
Dear James, thank you so much for your kind words! I’m really happy you enjoyed your first private tour experience and that we could spend such a fun day exploring Tokyo together. It was great having lunch at the rotating sushi restaurant with your girls and sharing a bit about everyday life in Japan. I hope you enjoy the trip to Kanazawa, Kyoto and Nagano. Please send my best wishes to Sandra and girls! Thank you again!
Robert S.
“Wonderful tour!”
Chiaki was a thoroughly knowledgeable and perfect guide, we moved across the city smoothly and Chiaki was great at making sure we were fully understanding what we were looking at at the shrines and temples but more than that she gave us insights into the Japanese customs and approach to life. We went to Mitsukoshi dept store food hall - think Harrods x 10 - it was dazzling in its variety of foods - we first went to the roof where Japanese people where barbecuing and having a wonderful time, we left our bags on the table to reserve our space and went to the basement to choose lunch - cannot imagine doing that in London! A wonderful day, so much knowledge, we glided through the day, very efficient planning, transferring between sites. Chiaki answered all our questions, helped us book tickets to Kanazawa, showed our grown up sons where to go for fun in the evening, took me to second hand kimono shops I would never have found! clearly loves her job, she moved along just at the right pace, well prepared with background information not just about the sites we were visiting but the history of Japan too. We thoroughly enjoyed the day! Chiaki can you message the addresses of those two kimono shops - I want to go again, they were so good - Many Thanks x x x
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Chiaki K.
Dear Pauline and Robert, thank you so much for your beautiful and thoughtful review! I truly enjoyed spending the day with you and your family — it was such a pleasure to explore Tokyo together and share stories about Japanese culture and daily life. I’m so glad you enjoyed the mix of traditional sites and local experiences like Mitsukoshi’s food hall and the rooftop garden! It makes me very happy to know you felt relaxed and could experience the city at an easy pace. I really appreciated your curiosity and all your great questions — and I hope your sons had a fun evening out too! I sent you the kimono shop’s name and address on the GoWithGuide message site. Hope you find your favorite kimonos there. Wishing you all a wonderful time in the rest of your Japan journey. I’d be so happy to see you again someday! ARIGATO!
$118/ per group
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