May 2010
Guide: Hiroko Kitagou, Yoko Takano
Route: Imperial Palace – Asakusa – Ueno (Tokyo National Museum); Tokyo Metropolitan Government building – Shinjuku Gyoen – Meiji Shrine

My husband, Alan, and I cannot say enough good things about Tokyo Free Guide. Both of the guides met us at our hotel each morning with a plan for the day.Hiroko made sure we understood how to use the subway system and without her I don’t know if we would have figured out we could ride JR lines free with our Japan Railpass.  She arranged for a bus tour for us in the area near the Imperial Palace which helped us get a better idea of our surroundings. We ate lunch near the Senjoji Temple where I had shabu-shabu for the first time and Alan had tempura. We had been reluctant to go into restaurants before this because we couldn’t read the menus but Hiroko showed us what to do and it made such a difference the rest of the trip. By spending time with Hiroko, we learned so much about Buddhist and Shinto shrines and temples. Read the rest of this entry »

July 2009
Guide: Yuta Fujii
Route: Akihabara – Shinjuku; Asakusa – Imperial Palace – Ginza – Shinjuku

Good day Yuuta san,

We have been arrived in Montreal for two days now. The weather in Montreal was nice when we arrived but today it’s raining. Again thank you for your time to show us Tokyo, we are all appreciate and we are sorry if we cause any inconvenience to you. We are keeping a good souvenir from Tokyo.

Best regards,

Gino and family

July 2009
Guide: Yukie Takahashi
Route: Imperial Palace – Yasukuni Shrine – Ueno

Estuvimos en Tokio un total de 10 dias alojados en el hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku. El hotel formidable y muy bien situado. Durante los 10 dias visitamos los diferentes barrios de la ciudad. Todos fantasticos. El sistema de transporte publico fenomenal.Uno de los dias nos acompano una guia de habla espanola (yukie takahashi) ecantadora y con muy buen nivel de espanol. Nos llevo durante todo el dia por las zonas que previamente habiamos seleccionado via mail (palacio imperial, lugares famosos, templos, santuarios…). Al terminar el dia fuimos a la fiesta de la flor de loto.Un recuerdo inmejorable.

Al dia siguiente Yukie se ofrecio para acompanarnos por la noche a la fiesta de un templo en la zona de Idabashi acompanados por su marido. Alli cenamos y disfrutamos de su tradicion.
El resumen general es totalmente positivo, tanto el viaje a Tokio (ciudad y gente) como el servicio que nos presto la guia. Agradecemos al departamento de turismo que nos brindara esa posibilidad. Sin duda lo recomendaremos.

Rosana e Imanol Zaragoza-Spain

May 2009
Guide: Chinami Nishizawa, Ryuichiro Hayashi
Route: Hamarikyu; Hakone – Odawara Castle; Ueno – Asakusa – Akihabara; Zojoji – Ginza – Yurakucho – Imperial Palace

Our trip to Japan was one of our best vacation experiences thanks to Ichiro and Chinami. Ichiro and Chinami are very charming professionals, speak English well, and are very knowledgeable about Japan’s history and culture. Ichiro and Chinami custom designed a tour to meet our needs. They made sure that we saw the best of Tokyo and the surrounding area without wasted time. They made all arrangements for transportation services, restaurant recommendations, as well as unique opportunities for special local experiences (night walks, shopping, handicrafts, etc.). Because of their efforts, our time in Tokyo was completely stress-free.

We were able to do and see everything on our “wish list” (and more) such as: ride the bullet train to Hakone/Mt Fuji and visit the hot spots such as: the National Museum, the Asakusa Temple, Tsukiji Fish market, Tokyo Tower, Zojyoji temple, Kabuki theater, Meiji jingu- Shrine, Imperial palace, Hamarikyu Gardens with Tea Ceremony, and Takeshita Dori street. We also “shopped till we dropped” at Omotesando, Ginza, Shibuya, Asakusa, and Akihabara.

Chinami and Ichiro arranged all of our meals and they were all fantastic! We ate at reasonably – priced , authentic restaurants such as: Ueno, Torigin restaurant, Minase Japanese restaurant, and we had the best Soba noodles at a beautiful restaurant near Mt Fuji (I can’t remember the name of the restaurant). Chinami also recommended and arranged dinner reservations at the Mango Tree restaurant in the Marunouchi building for our last evening and recommended a reflexology salon treatment (foot massage) one day when my wife reported sore feet . They even checked the weather forecasts!!

The bottom line is…… we had an exceptional and unforgettable trip!! We look forward to someday going back to Japan to visit Kyoto and of course, to hang out with Ichiro and Chinami.

Thanks for everything – Phil and D’Nyce

April 2009
Guide: Kyoko Minami
Route: Imperial Palace ? Nezu & Yanaka ? Ueno park

Dear Tokyo Free Guide,

We were very lucky to have the services of one of your guides, Kyoko Minami, on April 27 for a full day tour of Tokyo. She took us to the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, Yanaka and Ueno Park. She is absolutely delightful. Aside from seeing the sights we learned something about Japanese culture from her.

Your program is terrific. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to enjoy Tokyo with one of your guides.

Best Regards,

Renae & Steve Buckser
San Francisco, California

April, 2009
Guide: Masako Shimada
Route: Imperial Palace – Ginza – Ueno

Dear Tokyo Free Guide,

On April 22, 2009 we were fortunate enough that through this service we arranged for Mrs. Masako Shimada to guide us. After about one minute with Mrs. Shimada we felt completely at ease; we were with a friend. She had much printed information for us to use and took us where we had asked: the Toyko National Museum. In addition she took us to lunch at a Ginza dept. store, to the Imperial Gardens and to Ueno park and its surroundings. She was friendly, warm, flexible, sensitive and her English was outstanding, with many colloquialisms and an ample vocabulary. Our time with her was the highlight of our visit to Tokyo. We enclose photos.

Thanks again,
Maria Acosta Cruz; Dan and Amanda Cesarano

April 2009
Guide: Hiromi Ichikawa
Route: (Day 1) Hamarikyu Park – Sensoji Temple Asakusa – Shinjuku; (Day 2) Meiji Shrine – Omotesando – Ginza – Imperial Palace; (Day 3) Nikko

As a family that had the plesure to be guided by one of your members, I want to thank your organization for all that had been done for us. It was wunderful to know that some body will help us to get around in Tokyo the first days. We had the plesure to be guided by Hiromi Ichikawa and there are no words to thank her for what she did for us Her kindness, helpfulness, her resdiness and above all her smile, did the days in Tokyo so remarcablefor us.

Thank you again
Edi Bushansky

April, 2009
Guide: Hiroko Watanabe and Kozue Matsuura
Route: Nihonbashi – Imperial Palace – Chidorigafuchi – Yasukuni Shrine; Ueno – Yanaka – Asakusa

I would like to thank you Tokyo free guide organization and specially my two wonderdul guides Matsuura and Hiroko.

I visited ueno,Yanaka, nezu, Asakusa, imperial garden, Yasukuni shrine … I saw a beautiful Ikebana exhibition.

I learned so much with them, it was so interesting, I discovered nice places I would never have found alone.

I wanted so much to see the cherry blossom trees, they have taken me to famous places where I could admired them.

I tryed many delicious pastries, and japanese food.

I won’t forget their kindness !

I feel so well and in confidence … after I was ready to travel alone in all Japan.

Thank you so much for this strong experience.
Estelle (France)

November, 2008
Guide: Mitsuyo Fujiwara
Route: Tea ceremony at Imperial Hotel – Imperial Palace East Garden – Asakusa – The National Art Center, Tokyo

WE ARE HAPPY TO EXPRESS OUR APPRECIATION FOR THE EXCELLENT GUIDING SERVICES THAT YOUR AGENCY PROVIDED FOR US BY RECOMMENDING MITSUYO FUJIWARA AS OUR TOKYO GUIDE. IN THE THE TRUE SPIRIT OF PROFESSIONALISM, MITSUYO WELCOMED US, HELPED TO PLAN OUR ITINERARY WELL IN ADVANCE OF OUR TRIP, GOT IN TOUCH WITH A DANCE SCHOOL FOR ME, APPEARED PROMPTLY ON THE DAY AGREED UPON, AND PROCEEDED TO TAKE US TO ALL THE LOVELY SITES AND ACTIVITIES WE HAD DISCUSSED. IN ADDITION SHE WAS COMPLETELY FLEXIBLE IN MAKING NEW DECISIONS WITH US WHEN THE POSSIBILITY OF OTHER OPTIONS APPEARED. SHE WAS TOTALLY WELL- PREPARED, ENERGETIC, CHEERFUL PERSONABLE AND A PLEASURE TO BE WITH. THEN, AS THE “WHIPPED CREAM ON THE CAKE” SHE ENDED HER DAY WITH US BY PRESENTING US WITH A MAP OF TOKYO, EARMARKING EACH OF THE PLACES THAT WE HAD VISITED WITH HER!

WE THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING THE SERVICES OF MITSUYO AS OUR VOLUNTEER GUIDE. WE ARE INDEBTED TO YOU FOR HELPING MAKE OUR STAY IN TOKYO A MOST ENJOYABLE AND EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE.

SINCERELY YOURS,
RUTH AND NORMAN SEIF,
GREAT NECK, NEW YORK,
USA

October, 2008
Guide: Mitsuyo Fujiwara
Route: Tsukiji Market – Ginza – Imperial Palace – Tokyo Tower

Dear Tokyo Free Guide,

We would like to thank your organization for providing excellent service. The website is very important and contains a lot information about travelling in Tokyo.

Our guide was Mitsuyo Fujiwara. She was terrific. She helped us learn transportation map, find our way out, and arranged other tour so that we can travel on our own. She wanted to make sure we saw everything we wanted to see. Even before we arrived, she was extraordinarily kind and helpful. Not only she was fast to reply to our email, but she was very detailed in answering all questions. She did research and composed a list of inexpensive hotels for us. We learnt about Japanese culture and life. We were lucky to have one of your guide and would recommend anyone coming to Tokyo. We had a wonderful time.

Thanks to Mitsuyo for all of her guide. We look forward to our next visit to Japan.

Best Regards,
Erwin & Rose