One day tour
 

My boss will be in Tokyo for one day as a layover from another trip. He would like me to arrange for a pick-up at the airport and private English-speaking tour for the day. This is for January 2. Any suggestions?

www.narita-airport.jp/en/html will bring you to the website for Narita Airport (Tokyo). There are many informative links in the English language pages. Good luck.

Bonjour JLackey,

In addition to Narita airport website, have a look at http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/ (Japan National Tourism Organisation) and http://www.mgnewman.com/narita/ (Mike Newman's Narity Layover page).

Some people on this forum have used the services of a private guide named Junko Matsuda (do a search on this board, but here's a link for a start http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...=private+guide ), who they all seem to be happy with.

However, the New Year Holiday extends to the 4th at least, many people leave Tokyo to spend time with their family, and every official business, except maybe the main post offices, will be closed on this day. That means no state museum, zoo, administration, and even tourist information centers.

That still leaves plenty to see (like the temples and shrines everybody visits in their best clothes - one of the rare occasions you'll see people in kimono in Tokyo).

We had Junko as our private guide, and we were very happy with her. But he has not a car, we walk with her or used public transportation. I think that this is even better than a car, because of the traffic.

From airport, the limo bus to the hotel is a very good option. It runs each 20 or 30 minutes, cost 30 $.

If he is staying at the airport then he could take the train to Tokyo station in the morning and walk over to the Imperial Palace to see the appearances of the emporer and family. The grounds there are open on two days next year: Jan 2 and Dec 23.