Excursions

Sunrise Tours, a division of the Japan Travel Bureau, runs a one-day bus tour to Nikko on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday between April and October, at ¥13,500 (lunch included). Japan Amenity Travel and the Japan Gray Line conduct Mt. Fuji and Hakone tours, with return either by bus or train; one-day trips cost from ¥12,000 to ¥15,000 (lunch included), and two-day tours cost ¥26,500 (meals and accommodation included). Some of these tours include a quick visit to Kamakura. There are also excursions to Kyoto via Shinkansen that cost from ¥49,500 to ¥82,100; you can arrange these Shinkansen tours through Japan Amenity Travel or Japan Gray Line.

Orientation Tour

April-June and mid-September-November, Sunrise Tours conducts a Thursday-morning (8-12:30) "Experience Japanese Culture" bus-and-walking tour (¥7,000), which includes a calligraphy demonstration, a tea ceremony, and a visit to the Edo-Tokyo Hakubutsukan. Both Sunrise Tours and the Japan Gray Line operate a number of other bus excursions around Tokyo with English-speaking guides. The tours vary with the current demands of the market. Most include the Tokyo Tower Observatory, the Imperial East Garden, a demonstration of flower arrangement at the Tasaki Pearl Gallery, and/or a Sumida-gawa cruise to Senso-ji in Asakusa. These are for the most part four-hour morning or afternoon tours; a full-day tour (seven hours) combines most of what is covered in half-day excursions with a tea ceremony at Happo Garden and lunch at the traditional Chinzan-so restaurant. Costs range from ¥4,000 to ¥12,900. Tours are conducted in large, air-conditioned buses that set out from Hamamatsu-cho Bus Terminal, and there's also free pickup and return from major hotels. (If you travel independently and use the subway, you could probably manage the same full-day itinerary for under ¥3,000, including lunch.)

Personal Guides

The Japan Guide Association will introduce you to English-speaking guides. You'll need to negotiate your own itinerary and price with the guide. Assume that the fee will be ¥25,000-¥30,000 for a full eight-hour day. The Japan National Tourist Organization can also put you in touch with various local volunteer groups that conduct tours in English; you need only to pay for the guide's travel expenses, admission fees to cultural sites, and meals if you eat together.

The Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) sponsors a Good-Will Guide program in which local citizens volunteer to show visitors around; this is a great way to meet Japanese people. These are not professional guides; they usually volunteer both because they enjoy welcoming foreigners to their town and because they want to practice their English. The services of Good-Will Guides are free, but you should pay for their travel costs, their admission fees, and any meals you eat with them while you are together. To participate in this program, make arrangements for a Good-Will Guide in advance through JNTO in the United States or through the tourist office in the area where you want the guide to meet you. The program operates in 75 towns and cities, including Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Osaka, and Hiroshima.

Special-Interest Tours

Sunrise Tours also offers a "Geisha Night" tour (4:30-7) of Tokyo on Tuesday and Friday mid-March-November. Dinner is included. Other evening tours include Kabuki drama at the Kabuki-za, and sukiyaki dinner. Prices are ¥5,000-¥9,500, depending on which portions of the tour you select. Sunrise Tours has a free-schedule trip to Tokyo Disneyland, but this operates only on Tuesday and Friday and works in only one direction: buses pick you up at major hotels but leave you to manage your own way back to Tokyo at the end of the day. The cost for the trip is ¥9,500.

It's only possible to visit parts of the Imperial Palace Grounds by making online reservations in advance with the Imperial Household Agency. The guided tour (in Japanese, but with a useful pamphlet and audio guide in English) takes about an hour and 15 minutes, and covers 11 of the buildings and sites on the west side of the Palace grounds, including the Fushimi Yagura watchtower and the Fujimi Tamon armory. Log on to the Imperial Household Agency Web site to make a reservation; do this well in advance, as the available slots fill up quickly. Visitors under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. The tours are given weekdays at 10:30 AM and 1:30 PM; admission is free. Tours start at the Ni-jubashi Bridge, a minute's walk north of the subway; follow the moat to the courtyard in front of the gate.

Recommended Tours/Guides

Imperial Household Agency (sankan.kunaicho.go.jp). Japan Amenity Travel (Chuo-ku. 03/3542-7200). Japan Gray Line (Minato-ku. 03/3433-5745). Japan Guide Association (03/3213-2706). Japan National Tourist Organization (Chiyoda-ku. 03/3201-3331). Sunrise Tours Reservation Center, Japan Travel Bureau (03/5620-9500).