Tokyo Customized Private Car Tour: English Driver, No Guide

Kei is a very nice man and he gave us a very nice and interesting tour, I definitely recommend him!! We enjoyed hanging out and talking with him a lot!!

Kei was a great guide. He changed his tour schedule to accommodate us trying to get tickets for the Imperial Palace Inner Gardens Tour. He even lined up with us in the rain with us to wait for the tickets. I would highly recommend Kei for this tour.

We had a wunderful day with Kei, visited some temples an got a lot of information about living in Japan. We also hard a really Good tasting Japanese Barbecue in a restaurant we Never would have found without him. Thanks a lot

Kei was the best guide. Knew all the history. Took us to where the locals go. So much fun with him.

We had an enjoyable day. Although there was some issues communicating due to the driver’s English. He took us various places, but some required a lot of walking which was difficult for my husband, but not the driver’s fault. He ended up charging us for parking fees and tolls, but we were reimbursed by Viator.

Our driver was Koichi san and he was great! He was very friendly and even though technically he only needed to drive us, he provided brief commentary on the passing sights and gave us some historical background. He was very accommodating as we had specific requests for shopping and dropping off. We really appreciated his welcoming attitude and patience. This trip is not cheap, but since I was travelling with my 80 year old mother, being chauffeured in an A/C car was worth the money during August to beat the heat. His English was heavily accented, but still understandable. The car was immaculate and a pleasure to ride in.

Excellent Tour! 👏 Fabulous Gentleman! 🏆 Please do not hesitate booking this driver! 💫 We would Highly Recommend!!☘️

Masa was a phenomenal guide. He took us to all the sites we agreed to in Tokyo and provided great insight and history. In addition was very efficient in mapping the day, travel via subway, right places to enter/exit and best locations for pictures. Highly recommend Masa. Thank you!

There was no communication beforehand from the driver. Only thing we had was a generic confirmation email with the driver’s name and number and it said he will contact us before the tour but that was not the case. No email, no text, no phone call regarding basics like where to meet at the hotel, commutation was totally lacking. He showed up more than 10 min late, he didn’t pick up the phone when we were trying to meet up. It was kind of disappointing because people are usually very punctual in Japan. I tried calling the driver and also the Japanese tour office but it was very difficult to make international calls on my out of country cell phone. When we finally got in the van he told us that the tour was up to us. Since there were attractions listed on the tour description and there was no prior communication, I was under the impression that we get to go to all of them or the guide has a basic plan for the day. Kind of hard to come up with a 6 hour tour plan on a whim, i wish I would’ve known that we were supposed to come up with our own tour plan. Once the tour started and we agreed where to go for the day it was fine, but definitely was a very unpleasant start to the day which could’ve been avoided with a basic communication. For what we paid and for what it was, I don’t think I would do it again. Hate stressing out when on vacation. It’s so easy to catch a cab anywhere near major attractions in Tokyo. I would just come up with my own plans which I had to do anyways and take a cab each time, it would’ve cost less than half of what we paid for this tour…

Kim was so friendly, informative and nothing was too much trouble for him so make us happy. WE loved his attitude and feel very happy to recommend Kim to anyone who is visiting Tokyo. Thank you Kim for a wonderful day.

Mr. Kim is a wonderful person. Worked with us on a personalized itinerary and made sure we saw everything om our list. Knew a lot of fa to about each location. As luck would have it also had one volunteer guide to accompany us. Between the two of them we had a great day. Best way to see Toyko.

Viator specified English Speaking Driver/guide which we did not get. Our private tour driver/guide in Tokyo barely spoke English. He was a very nice & helpful older gentleman but spoke very limited English. It was a struggle trying to communicate with each other. We had to use Google translate often. Needless to say, the private tour was a silent tour. We had to tell him via Google map where we wanted to go vs any suggested sites as per Viator‘s site description. A pricey private tour without satisfaction here. The only saving grace was that he was a nice man who really wanted to provide a good experience without success! Viator should offer us a deep discount!!!

We enjoyed our driver. He was very cheerful and though we were not not looking for a guide, he took his time to point out things as we drove. As long as you have your plan for the day and may need someone to help navigate and translate, this is a great option.

The driver's English was not very good and he was often difficult to understand. His driving was excellent. Without being invited, he ended up joining us for lunch and was trying to persuade us to eat at a sushi restaurant that he really wanted to go to and just assumed we would pay for his lunch. We actually bailed early so we can spend time on our own without feeling rushed.

We had a great time with Mr.Kim. We never had a driver take us around a city before so we did not know what to expect… This is self directed and we had a rough idea of what we wanted to see and he helped us arrange the day so we got the most out of it as we only had around 6 hours to look around Tokyo before going by train to our next destination and we wanted to save time by not having to logistically figure out how to get places…On that day we wanted to see the Imperial garden/palace but it was closed ( we did get to see the former emperor and empress drive by however)...we called him to pick us up early from that destination and he had other ideas for us to go…he even helped us take pictures at some locations. We finished our day at the Tsukiji fish market and had lunch and lots of snacks…We had a great day!

I know it's NOT the company's fault but Viator's fault!! They did not inform Japan Guide Agency of our booking. I had to email JGA the morning of our tour since we have been waiting 30 minutes at our hotel lobby. Good thing, they replied quickly and told us that Viator did NOT inform them of our booking hence there was not chauffeur to pick us up. We were all seniors and some of us has a hard time walking, that's why we wanted a van to drive us around. VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH VIATOR!!! Very bad experience with them. Giving 2 stars just for Japan Guide Agency for being honest and quick in replying.

Hiroshi Hasegawa is an excellent guide and host in Tokyo. I had no explicit agenda so he took me to the places one would usually see on their first visit to Tokyo. As beautiful as Tokyo is, I actually really enjoyed just hanging out with Hase all day. He is friendly and has a good sense of humour. I wouldn't hesitate to book another tour next time I'm in Tokyo. Highly recommend. Ben Jones

We had a wonderful experience with Iwasawa Taxi. Our guide was pleasant and flexible with our needs.