4 Reasons to Hire a Japan Tour Guide

Over three million people are coming to Japan every month. And you won’t be surprised to learn that most of them are going to the same places. That’s not surprising. After all, there are some spots everyone wants to check out while they’re in Japan.

However, there’s also a lot you can do and see that most tourists miss out on. And that’s where hiring a tour guide for your group can make the difference between a good time and a great time.

We asked our tour customers at Unseen Japan why they hired a Japan tour guide and why they thought it was a worthwhile investment. Here’s what they told us.

1. Go where others can’t

If English is your native language and you don’t speak Japanese, Japan can be an intimidating country to visit. Outside of workers in tourist-heavy areas, many people don’t speak English fluently. There are still many restaurants that can’t afford – or don’t want – to hire English-speaking staff.

You can, of course, learn Japanese yourself. (In fact, we encourage it!) However, Japanese and English are so far apart linguistically that it can take a year or more of study to become conversational.

AI translation apps can help. However, as Japanese waitstaff can attest, they don’t always work as intended. They aren’t that helpful in discovering where to go in the first place. And – let’s be real – putting a device between yourself and another human being feels sort of antiseptic and distant.

By contrast, an experienced tour guide who’s fluent in Japanese can leverage their relationships with dozens of local establishments. Most of these places only advertise themselves in Japanese (if they advertise at all). A guide can also act as your interpreter during the meal, enabling you to develop a rapport with your hosts that bridges the language barrier.

We routinely bring our customers to great restaurants and other experiences that typically don’t cater to non-Japanese-speaking tourists. Indeed, some were hesitant to entertain the idea when we first approached them. Since then, we’ve built a healthy network of relationships with shop owners who are more than happy to entertain non-Japanese-speaking guests accompanied by an experienced tour guide.

One of our customers, Gerry, said this was why he hired a tour guide for his trip to Japan. “You’ll be brought into secluded places that the locals frequent, but the tourists miss,” he said, saying his experience was “unlike a typical tour.”

2. Learn more than you can see

Why are some houses in Toyosu, near Tokyo’s famous fish market, built so close together? Why did U.S. General (and future President) Ulysses S. Grant have such a close relationship with Emperor Meiji? And where did all of these maid cafes in Akihabara come from?

Some locales in Japan have a history dating back thousands of years. However, not all of this history lies in plain sight.

Additionally, a tour in Japan often brings up questions about life in Japan – everything from how the useful (but byzantine) train system developed to its current state to modern social issues, such as worker’s rights and the country’s gender gap.

A Japan tour guide doesn’t just show you a location; they tell you its story. Even better, you get to ask your guide any question that might spring to mind. Rather than rely on some random Web site to sate your curiosity (or – even worse – an AI chatbot), you can get answers from someone who’s spent years studying the country.

Many of UJ’s tour customers are long-time fans of our site. We’ve been covering Japanese history, language, culture, and social issues since 2018. Our tour guides – who are also our writers – bring this wealth of knowledge with them to each and every tour.

“Whenever curiosity struck one of us with a random question or topic to discuss,” said Ramsey, “whether it be regarding Japanese culture, politics, or history – [our tour guide] knew the answer.”

Another customer, Rick, had attended high school in Japan. He contacted us to develop a tour that relied on our guides’ deep knowledge of the country, including its more “unseen” elements.

“[Our guide] easily and effectively communicated with everyone in our group, which spanned two generations and 40 years in age. He shared with us developed and nuanced views on a wide range of periods of Japan’s history and topics.”

3. Choose your own adventure

Some tour experiences are group-based. That means you end up traveling with a bunch of strangers, all following the same pre-planned route.

We’re not fans of this “cookie-cutter” approach to travel. It’s much more exciting and engaging to have an itinerary customized to your interests – whether that’s visiting sake breweries, checking out kougei (traditional ceramics arts) workshops, visiting a traditional geisha in Kyoto‘s Gion, soaking up samurai culture in Kanazawa’s Nagamachi district, or eating Izumo soba on its home turf.

A good Japan tour guide can whip up an itinerary that’s made just for you. Even better, you and your guide can decide last-minute to change things up and check out some intriguing place that caught your eye or came up in conversation.

A custom itinerary also means you don’t need a guide for your entire trip. You can mix and match self-paced and guided days, utilizing a tour guide’s narrative and interpretation services for the most value-added parts of your stay.

“Planning a trip to Japan, we didn’t want to be locked into a tour group,” Kate and Simon told us after their visit. “[Our guide] put together an itinerary that we could travel at our own pace. In Tokyo, he guided us personally on a walking tour and was incredibly informative on all aspects of culture, history, and food.”

4. Avoid pitfalls

 

Like I said earlier, Japan hosts a lot of tourists every month. Sadly, that’s started to create friction. “Tourists behaving badly” stories dominate local news, with residents expressing frustration over visitors who either don’t know or don’t seem to care about local customs.

To be fair, some of these are obvious. We imagine most people who aren’t crass attention-seekers know better than to deface a Shinto shrine or punch someone out in Roppongi.

However, some aren’t so obvious. For example, many tourists have inadvertently run afoul of Japan’s road rules while using rental bikes or scooters from services such as Luup. Others aren’t aware of the strict social taboos that surround missing a restaurant reservation. (Long story short: don’t do it.)

You also could inadvertently find yourself engaged in a tourist activity that might seem fun but that most Japanese residents find annoying. (Yes, we’re talking about the go-karts.)

Partnering with a Japanese-fluent Japan tour guide means you can avoid these pitfalls with ease. Your guide can also help when communications break down, or cultural misunderstandings prevent you from getting your point across.

“My wife and I have always been extremely interested in visiting Asia, and specifically Japan,” said Kyle and Brittany. “To think about doing so independently, however, was extremely intimidating. From bullet trains to small town buses, [our guide] took the stress and guesswork out of transport where we would’ve been struggling.”

Conclusion

You don’t have to hire a Japan tour guide to have a a good time here. However, a tour guide can enhance your experience in multiple ways – finding unknown gems, interacting with locals, and explaining the deep history and culture that lies beneath your feet.

To learn more about why our customers love the Unseen Japan Tours experience, contact us below to book a consultation: