The Backstreet Guides

ーコは知識が豊富で、面白くて、親切で、魅力的です。私の東京初日の完璧なガイドです。彼女は私が見たいと思っていたいくつかの場所を案内し、彼女自身の生活や日本の多くの文化的規範についてのメモに加えて、それぞれの場所についての興味深い歴史やメモをたくさん共有してくれました。地下鉄とレストランの案内で彼女の助けに感謝しましたが、どちらも私一人では非常に怖気づいていたでしょう。時差ぼけの私を東京に順応させるのにこれ以上のガイドを想像するのは困難です。ヨーコさん、思い出に残る一日をありがとうございました。

From the beginning when I contacted Backstreet Guides, Masa and team was helpful and patient in working with me to plan a tour that fits our needs. I was traveling with my wife and my 4-years old and we had some specific items we wanted to look for. Masa helped plan for it accordingly and the itinerary he came up with was fantastic. So from the get go, we were dealing with a professional who is friendly and helpful.

On the day of our tour, our guide Mayu was fantastic and I can't give enough praise to her. It didn't feel like we were touring around with a guide on the day, but rather, it felt like we were walking with a friend who was showing us around in Tokyo. Mayu was really friendly and experienced. What my wife and I also really appreciate is her willingness to share and educate us on Japanese culture and etiquette, her openness to discuss our observations and questions, her enthusiasm and passion and her sense of humor. We definitely had one of our best days in Japan, thanks to Mayu.

If you're on this page and still wondering if you should go with them, I have no hesitation to recommend them and strongly advise that you book with them as soon as you can! I know I'll look them up again the next time I'm back in Tokyo.

We HIGHLY RECOMMEND USING THIS TOUR GUIDE COMPANY and specifically our guides Mayu in Tokyo and Maki in Kyoto whom we loved! Since we were only a small group of 3 the tours were so personal, the transitions and communication so much simpler and more enjoyable – and yet - very affordable.

Fabulous Tokyo Tour with Mayu of the Backstreet Guides:
We loved our full day private tour of Tokyo with Mayu of the Backstreet Guides. It was an amazing experience. Mayu is an outstanding guide who is fluent in English, extremely friendly and knowledgeable. We loved her upbeat, enthusiastic personality. It was obvious that she loves her job, loves meeting people and loves showing off her city and that made our day outstanding.

Her efficient navigation made it possible to visit so many popular attractions, along with many additional points of interest along the way which we would never have noticed on our own. She included so many interesting stories and was constantly providing a wealth of information on every topic and place we encountered, explaining all about the Japanese history, religion, culture and customs of everything we saw. The insight we gained and the pleasure we enjoyed would not have been possible without her. We had already visited Akihabara, but under her guidance it became much more fascinating as she quickly guided us to a sampling of secondhand electronic and specialty shops that are one of a kind and showed us what to look for. A delicious soba noodle soup at a small traditional Japanese restaurant provided a perfect relaxing interval before we resumed our exploration. Mayu, we cannot say enough to thank you for a wonderful day.

Amazing Kyoto Tour with Maki of the Backstreet Guides:
We loved our full day private tour of Kyoto with Maki of the Backstreet Guides. Maki is a wonderful guide who is fluent in English, extremely friendly and knowledgeable. She is very professional, yet warm, fun to be with and enjoys the opportunity to share the city she loves. Her efficient navigation made it possible for us to see all the popular attractions that we had been longing to see. In addition, she happily shared her wealth of information and we were able to learn so much about the Japanese history, religion and culture and customs of everything we saw. During our walk in Gion, the Geisha district, Maki explained the true role of the Geishas in preserving traditional Japanese art and culture.

A delicious, traditional udon noodle lunch provided an ideal relaxing break before we resumed our exploration. She gave us perfect advice about when to use public transportation and when hiring a cab would be more cost effective for our small group. The restaurant was well placed near the Philosopher’s Path and she offered to wait in the line while we enjoyed walking and taking photos of the cherry blossoms along the path. At the end of the day, she graciously provided the information and directions we needed to make one more visit on our own to the Fushimi Inari shrine with its thousands of red gates. Maki, we are so thankful to you for making our visit to Kyoto such a wonderful day!

The private tour we did with Mayu was fantastic: we covered in 1 day what would likely have taken us 3 days ourselves: Mayu was very flexible and organised the day according to our preferences and she was absolutely lovely! Would recommend 100 times over!

Had my tour yesterday with Rie- by far the best money $ spent here! Visited Japan for the first time on business and several colleagues raved and recommended Back Street Tours as a MUST DO! And I’m so glad I listened. They are very flexible with me as I made some last minute adjustments to my itinerary. Rie knew all the hot spots and mixed fun facts with the history and traditions of such wonderful places. She is very friendly- which works out well as she speaks to vendors on your behalf and gets you the inside info on things. Rie was very patient as I shopped my day away- especially at the Pokémon center at the sky tree tower. I ate squid, mackerel and sea urchin for the first time- so delicious- thanks Rie for your wonderful suggestions that really helped me experience the beautiful Japanese culture throughout the day. I mentioned I will have to come again with my family so will schedule with you once again I’m very grateful for the wonderful experiences all around town and if you’re ever in Chicago pls let me know. Many thanks!

Mayu was a wealth of information during our half day Tokyo trip! We did the private tour (very affordable BTW, I would highly recommend you spend a little extra and get a private guide) and we opted for the Half Day Tour Option D, which consisted of heading to Asakusa to explore the Senso-ji temple complex, including a stroll up Nakamise-dori, a traditional and fun temple shopping street! Then she took us to the fun Akihabara Electric City and then to a "Maid Cafe" where the staff dress in costume, speak in squeaky high voices and play silly games with you. It's an experience you can't describe yet everyone should go. And be willing to get a little outside of your comfort zone here, you're in a foreign country so live a little and be brave! Its so much fun and the staff love when you get into it. You'll understand what I mean when you go. Then we went to the Tokyo Tower to finalize our day. Mayu's english was top notch, she was very knowledgeable, and an extremely friendly and interactive guide. By far this was the best part of our Tokyo trip!

We had a fantastic time on all 3 tours - Into Kyoto and the Day and Night Tokyo tours. Our guides on both Maki for Kyoto and Mayu for Tokyo were excellent. Mayu took us behind the scenes in the fish market to show us how the omelets were made and found fugu. We appreciated her help to ask the shops if it would be ok to watch and take pictures. At the end of the tours we had a much better sense of the Japanese customs and neighborhoods. We would highly recommend to others.

An excellent tour with a fantastic company! Yuriko gave us a wonderful, in depth tour, very much catered to our family. Thank you!

We had a lovely tour with a lovely tour Guide that explained us lots of details. She was very patient with our kids and adapted the tour to our needs and pace. I would highly reccommend and fir sure will repeat.