Saitama, Tokyo (Living), Kamakura, Hakone, Yokohama
English
Less than an hour
1 day ago
Hi, I am Toshi.
I love traveling! It gives me a chance to get to know how other people live, their culture, and discovering new places (usually off the beaten track). This is why as a guide, my goal is to give guests a real "local experience"--the kind that I like when I travel.
I've been a licensed tour guide since 2008. I've conducted tours for international guests from the USA, the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Kuwait, Mexico, Singapore, the Philippines, Italia and so on. In fact, I conducted 90 tours (one day tours and a-week long tours) in 2019.
I am a former fire officer. As such, I coordinated educational fire department visits, including those for foreign counterparts. I also speak a little Spanish (un poquito).
In my spare time, I give back to the community as a volunteer: tsunami clean-up activities, entertainment at evacuation camps, guide for foreign visitors in affected areas, and at various cultural events.
Let me show you "My Tokyo"! Enjoy the city like a local and maximize your time in Tokyo! Please check out two of my unique tours: (1) Home visit to see real Tokyo living, includes making sushi, and (2) Educational tour of an earthquake simulator ride and the Tokyo Fire Museum. You'll learn how the Japanese prepare for the many emergencies in the country.
See you soon!
Thank you T-Chan (Toshi-San) for an amazing day in Tokyo. I was a solo traveler with one day in Tokyo. T-Chan made it a truly unforgettable day. My day with Toshi started when she picked me up promptly at my Shinjuku hotel. She then took me to experience TeamLab Planets - a spectacular body immersive digital arts experience - in Odaiba. Along the way, we rode the fully automated train and she showed me different sights along the train line. Second stop was the Onsen in Odaiba. This was a most unique experience I wouldn’t have been able to manage without T-Chan with me. We enjoyed the onsen, the shops and the bath. It felt like a relaxing afternoon with a good friend. Next, T-Chan showed me the shops in Odaiba, where we walked around and she helped me find the items I was looking for. T-Chan knew where to shop and was willing to adjust the schedule to accommodate my interests. I was truly happy with my shopping purchases. Then we proceeded to Shinjuku where she showed me the interesting sights and places unique to the area. She gave me more information for the rest of my stay, before we parted ways. My day with T-chan was unhurried but filled with memorable sights and experiences. I only had a day with her in Tokyo but the memories will last me a lifetime. Thank you very much T-Chan for everything. I highly recommend Toshi-San. She is efficient, articulate and accommodating. She will work with you to make the best of your time in Japan.
Thank you Karyna-chan! So delighted to hear you had a relaxing layover. I felt like you were one of my old friends, too. We, Japanese, have the Onsen culture. Even in the heart of Tokyo, we could soak in the natural hot spring. Amazing, isn’t it? As we are both dog-person, exploring pet stores was so fun! I hope your dogs will love the kimono costumes which you bought for them. How did you like sake? We sampled 5 varieties. I liked the sparkling sake the best. There are more trendy spots in Tokyo. Let’s go to Shibuya next time! Hope to see you again.
We had a wonderful tour with Toshi today. It was very interesting, informative and entertaining! Toshi modified our tour to add in all of our requested inclusions and the tour flowed easily. I really appreciated her encouragement to join in the Kawaii Monster Show and this was an absolute highlight! Toshi also gave us lots of information on what to do for our remaining time in Tokyo and she pointed out lots of things during our time, that you would miss not being a local. I highly recommend Toshi as a guide and this was a great experience for our family. Thank you Toshi x
Arigato, Annette! Harajuku was fun, wasn't it? So glad we managed to hit all the spots you wanted. We felt as if we were surrounded by an explosion of color and ultimate cuteness at Kawaii Monster Café. So glad to hear you enjoyed dancing on the giant pink cake! You now have quite a collection of memories: dog café, the rainbow-colored food, the cosplay store, the dazzling display of products in the stores, the surreal mirror escalator, etc. (I can stare at this all day long!) Ukiyoe museum was very impressive, wasn’t it? They change the exhibit every two months. You need to come back and check other collections. Enjoy the rest of your Tokyo stay! Hope to see you again soon!
We spent a fabulous day with T-Chan! She was organised, knowledgeable, polite, expert and caring. She took us to the places we were interested in but enhanced our itinerary further with other suggestions and places. We fit a lot in the day but didn’t feel overly rushed. Our relatively young children also enjoyed the day very much which can be challenging. T-Chan even provided us with summary notes at the end of the day of everything we had seen. Really great! Thank you so much T-Chan!
Thank you, K-chan! So delighted to know that all of you enjoyed our tour. I did, too. We were so lucky that we were able to take group photos with two sumo wrestlers in Ryogoku! The atmosphere in Asakusa was still quite festive with its New Year decor. The highlight of the tour was Harajuku. The girls really liked the store and said “I want to buy everything here!” It was hard to leave as there were so many cute stuff, wasn’t it? Next time, let’s take a Purikura photo together! Hope to see you again.
Thank you so much Toshi for accomodating our large group during very busy times. You went out of your way to help us organise the bookings with our JR passes & then it was down to the fun stuff. We thoroughly enjoyed your tour & appreciated the maps you gave us at the end to help us. Your suggestions you emailed to us after our tour as to other activities the kids might enjoy and what train line to use when we returned to a different area of Tokyo were also greatly appreciated. You went above & beyond so thank you ?
Thank you, Wendy! I'm so pleased to hear my travel tips helped you. It was fun to see all of you enjoy our tour! The weather was very cooperative that day. The Meiji Jingu Shrine grounds was so serene that we totally forgot we were in the center of a big city. Don’t you think so? Harajuku has been my favorite place since I was a teenager. One day is not enough to check out all trendy stores. Did you go to Kabukicho at night? It’s quite different compared to what we saw in the morning. Please come back so we can explore more of Tokyo together. A different season is also good. Hope to see you again!