Build-Your-Own Tokyo

  Historical Tokyo tour  - We enjoyed this tour with Mana, she was amazing and we covered so much history and beautiful gardens full of cherry blossoms. Some of the best places were the small... read more streets and quiet shrines and wonderful tiny shops . It was raining most of the day but we still enjoyed it all. Thank you Mana for a wonderful and inspiring day.

  Rie was awesome. Patient and great with my kids and made it a terrific experience for first timers to Tokyo.  - Rie was awesome. Patient and great with my kids and made it a terrific experience for first timers to Tokyo. We didn’t know what to expect, but she took care... read more of everything and helped to navigate the city with ease. Wonderful learning experience for all.

  We organised this tour after successfully using Backstreet Guides 7 years ago on our first trip to Japan. Our gorgeous guide Mayu came and met us at out hotel in... read more Shinjuku on our first day in Tokyo... she was fantastic - we had arranged in advance what we would like to see with our 2 kids (10 and 14) as we had been to Japan before - she took us straight to the subway and helped us organise our pasmo cards - we then spent the morning at Tsikuji markets, walked through Ginza to Asakusa temple, had lunch in a great Ramen join near the temple, went on to Akihabara and then navigated us back to our hotel in the late afternoon. She had perfect English from her time in Australia and perfectly gauged the interest level of our family so we had plenty of information without being bombarded with too much info. The kids enjoyed having a local person to question and talk to about our differences in culture etc. It was a perfect way to start our 9 days in Japan as it gave us the confidence to navigate on our own. Backstreet Guides also organised our Sumo tickets and Baseball tickets which we thoroughly enjoyed and had a bit of drama getting organised online. Id highly recommend this company and use them again!

  Backstreet Guides is amazing. So are their guides Yoko and Rie. I highly recommend their day trips to Kamakura and Nikko. They made it easy and relaxing for us.
... read more My sister and I wanted to revisit places we remembered from our childhood. With courtesy and professional attention, Masa at Backstreet Guides helped us set up private day trips to both Kamakura and Nikko. It was a fabulous experience.
On the first day, Yoko met us in our hotel lobby and accompanied us through morning rush hour on the subway to the train station where we took the one-hour trip to Kamakura. With great ease she guided us around the town and its cultural treasures, including the Great Buddha, beautifully set against green hills and the sky, one of the icons of Japan. Yoko took us to a charming restaurant for a tempura lunch, took photos of us in the same spots as our old photos and led us into a bamboo forest we especially wanted to see. We shopped for sourvenirs and the beautifully carved wood for which Kamakura is famous. Yoko taught us so much - from sumo wrestling to persimmons to kimono dressing. She also taught us how to use the subway system!
The next day Rie came to our hotel and we took a 2-hour reserved seat train to Nikko - all arranged beforehand by Backstreet Guides. Rie also introduced us to Japan's wonderful vending machines! In Nikko we were met by a private car and Rie accompanied us up the mountain to see waterfalls and Lake Chuzenji. She then took us to a fabulous lunch at a small restaurant we would never have found on our own. We tried yuba, one of Nikko's specialties - a truly memorable meal. Then we headed to Toshogu Shrine, a World Heritage Site, newly restored, glistening with gold leaf under towering ancient cedars. There is no way we could have done all this in one day without Rie's professional and well-organized expertise. It was awe-inspiring and a lot of fun.
Thank you, Yoko and Rie. Thank you, Backstreet Guides.

  I had a private tour scheduled when we arrived. We met our guide Mayu. She was So sweet and friendly that half way through the tour i booked her for... read more the next day and the evening two days later.
She was very informed and taught us many things about Japan, the culture, religion. My whole group just loved her and the tour and the time she spent to teach us and inform us. IT is alot of walking but it was so worth it. We were able to go to shrines, towers, temples, gardens. She covered it all. I would highly recommend this company and her as a guide. Be prepared to walk, the booking process was excellent and the communication was super throughout the whole time.

  Fantastic day tour of Tokyo with Junko from Backstreet Guides  - Fantastic tour of Kyoto with Junko. She was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and took us through all the major sights of Kyoto AND encouraged us to take fun detours along the... read more way. Having a private guide like Junko was perfect - much better than the giant tours swarming Kyoto.

  Terrific time in Tokyo  - We had a very enjoyable day touring Tokyo and seeing the sights we requested plus a few others recommended by our guide, Rei. The restaurant she chose for lunch... read more was excellent and both Rei and our driver were very helpful and accommodating for the older members in our group. It was a great experience we won’t forget!

  Tour guide in Kyoto and Tokyo  - We used Backstreet twice. Once in Tokyo and once in Kyoto. In Tokyo we had Rie. she took us around and we saw historical sites modern... read more streets and even quiet neighborhoods where we could learn a lot about daily Japanese life. We highly recommend her In Kyoto Junko was really nice. Very knowledgeable; took us all around the city in one day. We saw a lot and she was eager to help us see everything in a packed day. We highly recommend her

  We completed two half day walking tours of Tokyo. We had a fabulous guide by the name of Yoko and she was fantastic. If you have not visited Japan before,... read more then this is a great way to learn about the basic customs and an excellent way to understand how the public transportation works especially the train system. Make no mistake, Tokyo is always busy so get accustomed to dealing with crowds.

Our trip was for 9 days and we had purchased a Japan Rail Pass which we did not want to activate until day 2 as we needed it for longer trips in the latter half of our stay, so she helped us purchase Pasmo travel cards (tap on and off) which can even be used on vending machines. It costs 500 Yen per card (refundable) plus whatever you need for fare costs. You need to purchase one for the guide as well. On day 2 she then helped us activate our Japan Rail Passes at Tokyo Station which was remarkably quieter than Shinjuku-Ku Station and also assisted us to book our trip to Kyoto.

We visited the outer market at Tsukiji. This was filled with traditional Japanese foods and food-related items. We then went on to Asakusa to have a look at the Buddhist Sensoji temple and then had lunch (Chicken rice bowl) at a side street restaurant. From there we traveled to Yanaka which is a suburban shopping street. We could have spent more time there however we needed to get back to our hotel for another commitment.

On day 2 we started off going to the East gardens of the Imperial Palace which stands on the site of the original Edo Castle and is home to the emperor. We then moved on to the Shinto Meiji Jingu shrine. After that we had a ramen lunch.
From there we were taken to the Harajuku and Omotesando districts. This is a crazy busy and vibrant area. We also got to visit a photo booth store where we experienced a Japanese teen hangout zone. We also asked Yoko to take us to the Shibuya Scramble which was not a problem, so don’t be afraid to tailor the trip if you need to.

This is a walking tour and you do walk a reasonable amount including traversing stairs and escalators. If you don’t enjoy walking or crowded public transportation then this trip is not for you. We however could not recommend it more highly! Thanks Yoko for your excellent knowledge and for taking care of us so well over the two days!

  Historic Tokyo Tour  - Our customized trip with Rie was perfect and efficient. Rie fit a lot in for a full city tour and explained so much of the context and history. 10/10 stars.