Best Private Tour in Tokyo in 1 Day
One-day private tour around Tokyo with all that you want to experience!
In recent years, private tours have started to become more and more popular among foreign visitors in Tokyo. The good thing about private tours is that you can talk with the guide in advance to state any requests you may have, and the guide will adjust the plan as much as possible to answer your requests. In other words, it is like an order-made tour tailored to your wishes or interests. These tour guides are really knowledgable and fun to spend time with.
It might be a little expensive in comparison to large-group tours, but I’d say the pros easily outweigh the cons. If you look online for private tours in Tokyo, you will find a great variety of options.
On this occasion, a fellow writer and I took a private tour called “Tokyo 1–Day Highlights Private Walking Tour (8 Hours)” led by Japan Wonder Travel. If you check out their website, you will see that the client-satisfaction rate is impressively high. They have a good variety of tours in Tokyo and Kyoto.
This Tokyo private tour has a “Regular course”, that takes you through the most visited areas by foreign visitors in Tokyo. But as I mentioned above, this course can be adjusted to the clients’ interests. If you don’t like walking that much, or if you have kids, arrangements can be made so you don’t have to walk so much. Changes in location can be made as well. If you like pop culture, you could go to Akihabara; or if you are more into Japanese history, the private tour can be changed so you stop by the Imperial Palace. And if you wish, the guide can go pick you up at the hotel that you are staying at.
We decided to take the standard route which includes; Tsukiji, Asakusa, Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, and Shinjuku.
Our guide for this day was Tae san. She has a lot of experience in giving private tours, not only in Tokyo but all around Japan, and it showed. She knew so much about the different aspects of each city such as history, culture, and even some trivia fun facts.
It was 2 of us (not including Tae san) for this day’s private tour.
Book the tour now▶︎Tokyo 1–Day Highlights Private Walking Tour
9:00 am – Meet up at Tsukiji
The Tokyo private tour began for us in Tsukiji. We met with Tae san, who was our tour guide, in front of the Tsukiji Honganji Temple (築地本願寺).
We began by looking inside the Temple which is very unique in its appearance due to the architectural inspiration that came from India, as opposed to traditional Japanese architecture. Inside the temple, you will find brochures and signs in multilanguage.
After visiting the temple, we went to walk around the streets of Tsukiji where they have many kinds of shops and restaurants.
These streets are really fun to walk around. If you’re looking for food, you’ll find fish, beef, chicken, vegetables, fruits, snacks, and much much more. Many of these shops will let you taste a small sample of what they sell.
We tried out the Sushi at a shop called “Maguroya Kurogin” (まぐろや黒銀). I ordered the “Toro-maguro” which is the fatty meat of Tuna. The tuna is cut and prepared right in front of you. It was fresh and delicious. You would think that the fatty meat would feel greasy and not so tasty, but on the contrary, the meat feels as it would melt inside your mouth. I could eat many of these, but we needed to keep going on. The good thing about this place is that since it is an open shop, you can order only one sushi just to try it out. This is something you can’t do usually at a regular sushi restaurant.
We also tried the “Tamagoyaki” which is the rolled egg. We had this at a shop called “Tsukiji Yamachou” (築地山長). Here, you can see how they prepare the Tamagoyaki in front of you as well. You can choose between “sweet egg” and “not so sweet egg”. I chose the not so sweet egg. It was really soft and delicious.
These two foods are famous in Tsukiji and everyone knows about it, but there are also some lesser-known foods you can try out. For example, we tried out the “Uni-man”. This is steamed bread with Uni (Sea urchin) filling. Usually, you eat the Uni as sushi, so you only get to eat a little at a time. But here you get the opportunity to eat a lot at once! If you’re a “Uni lover”, you can’t miss this opportunity.
Another thing we tried out was Japanese tea. We went to a store where they sell Japanese tea and seaweed. According to Tae san, this store sells tea to Michelin starred restaurants. In other words, it must be good. And it was. They prepared it in the correct way, with the ideal temperature of hot water. They will teach you how to prepare it if you ask.