This tour takes you to historical sites on wars and peace. In the morning, explore Kamakura to visit the sites related to the battles of samurais to learn about battles in the middle age. After lunch at Komachidori Street, move to the city of Yokosuka to visit Yokosuka Navel Port and Memorial Battleship Mikasa to know about the wars in the modern era. If you want to take the tour of either Kamakura or Yokosuka, it is possible to change the itinerary.
Kamakura Station
Visit the Kamakura Hachimangu Shrine, where Emperor Ojin, God of Archery and War, is enshrined. Learn about the battles in Kamakura Era (1185~1333).
See the impressive and handsome image of Buddha sitting in the open air and learn about Buddhism in Kamakura Era.
Enter the beautiful and quiet temple ground to see the magnificent sculpture of eleven-headed Kannon to know how people has expected her mercy.
Stroll the traditional and fashionable shopping mall, enjoying foods and drinks as well as shopping.
Take a cruise in Yokosuka Naval Port to see some battleships, submarines of US Navy and Japan Self-defense Forces as well as some remains of the war.
Get on board Memorial Ship Mikasa, the battleship at the time of Russo-Japanese War in 1904-1905 and know what the war was like at that time.
Yokosukachuo Station
Meeting Point=Kamakura Station at 10:00 (About 60 min train ride from Tokyo Station＝￥945)
1. Kamakura Hachimangu Shrine (5 min. walk from Kamakura Station)
Highlights: Experience Shinto rituals / See the remains of the wars in 12 C / Learn about the architecture of the shrine / Draw Omikuji (fortune telling sheet) with a charm
2. Great Buddha (5 min. train ride to Hase Station from Kamakura Station) / Transportation fee=￥200, Admission fee=￥300 (adult) ￥150 (child)
Highlights: See the impressive body of the statue of Amida as well as some parts like hair, nose and eyes closely / Experience the tour inside the body (optional, admission fee=￥50) / Learn the history and the reason of its construction
3. Hasedera Temple (5 min. walk from Great Buddha) / Admission fee=￥400 (adult) ￥200 (child)
Highlights: See the elegant and holly statue of 11-headed Kannon / Stroll the beautiful precinct of the temple / Experience the Buddhist rituals to attain the enlightenment / See the view of Kamakura city and Yuigahama beach from the observatory
4. Komachidori Street (5 min. train ride back to Kamakura Station from Hase Station) Transportation fee=￥200
Take a tour of restaurants and food shops to enjoy foods, such as Japanese noodles, tempura, fried tofu, sweets and so on / Buy or window-shop souvenirs
5. Cruise of Yokosuka Naval Port (20 min. train ride to Yokosuka Station from Kamakura Station) / Transportation Fee=￥230, Boarding Ticket=On weekdays ￥1,800 (adult) ￥900 (child) Free (infants) / On weekends ￥2,000 (adult) ￥1,000 (child) Free (infant)
See various types of powerful warships and other vessels of US Navy and Japanese Self Defense Forces including aegis cruisers and aircraft carriers / See the oldest docks and a car factory on the shore / Learn about the history of the port and Pacific War
6. Memorial Ship Mikasa (5 min. walk from the pier of the cruise) / Admission fee=￥600 (adult) ￥300 (senior high school student) Free (infant)
Take a tour of the upper deck and main deck of the battleship to see exhibitions of the main gun, the navigation bridge, admiral's saloon and so on / Enjoy V/R Battle of Sea of Japan and the whole structure of the ship on a digital screen / Learn the history of the sea battles in the modern era
Ending Point=Yokosukachuo Station of Keihin Kyuko Line at 17:00 (About 60 min. train ride back to Tokyo =￥825)
guide fee, guide transportation, guide admission fee
transportation fee (about￥3,000 per person)
lunch (about ￥1,000~3,000 per person)
entrance fee (about ￥3,000 per person)
the estimate total fees= (about ￥9,000 per person)
I have changed the day when I am available.
* Please wear comfortable shoes.
* The area is crowded especially on weekends and holidays.
* We are getting on board the cruiser at 15:00, so if we are getting behind the time, we may shorten the lunch time.
* Depending on the condition of the winds and waves, the cruise can be cancelled. In that case, you can have the tour with a different itinerary.
* According to your request, the itinerary such as meeting place and time can be flexibly changed.
*If you want to see either Kamakura or Yokosuka, it is possible to change the itinerary and shorten the time of each tour.
Although one member of our Family is able to speak a basic level of Japanese, he had never been to Tokyo before. So having a private guide was the top reason why we booked this tour. Haruo was very responsive, both before and during the tour. Before our arrival, contacting us and confirming the sites we wanted to see. The morning of, we confused our start time to an earlier time and Haruo left his home early to get to us. He picked us up at the train station by our accommodations, which we greatly appreciated. We chose Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Tokyo Tower, lunch in the Shopping Mall at Ginza, Asakusa Sensoji Temple and Sumida river cruise. Unfortunately, the Garden was closed the day of our tour, so we went to see the giant Shinjuku 3D cat billboard! Since we chose attractions that were not close to each other, Haruo had to navigate the trains and subways for us, which even for a local can be confusing. Our Family has food issues - and Haruo spoke with the staff at the restaurant we chose on our behalf to ensure we could eat there without issue. And we did and it was a lovely lunch! One recommendation would be to select attractions that are closer to each other than we did. Especially if you haven't recovered from jet lag! I would highly recommend Haruo and this tour!
Dear Sharon Thank you for heartwarming review though I made some mistakes and confused you during the tour. This encourages me to improve my future tour. Take care of yourselves and enjoy the rest of summer. Haruo
We really enjoyed traveling to Kamakura and Yokosuka with Horuo. It was generally overcast (with a bit of rain) so we were often alone at some of the most popular tourist destinations in the area, and we were able to generally avoid the crowds with Haruo. Travel was very easy for us, and we learned a lot about Japan's history while on our adventures with him. Haruo is very knowledgeable about about the locations he took us to, and was able to bring each bridge and path to life with background we would have otherwise been oblivious to - stories of royalty, faith, assassination plot, wars, peace, and daily life for residents throughout history. There is so much we would have otherwise missed without Haruo, and we are deeply appreciative that we were able to share our travels with him.
Dear Trevis Thank you very much for your heartwarming review. This encourages me to improve my guiding. I was also very happy to have a tour with you. Please take care of yourselves. Best Regards Haruo
Haruo is a fantastic guide and educator who helped us get our bearings on our first day in Tokyo. While on an amazing tour of the imperial gardens (and an indoor 'open air' style Edo museum) we learned about the history of Tokyo and its people, we learned about basic etiquette (tipping, bowing, etc), and how to find what we would need during our 2 week stay. We learned the basics about Shintoism, a few important phrases, we got to try some really unique (and tasty) food, and he took some really great photos of us!
I'm sure you had spent a great time in your whole tour in Japan. Please take care of yourselves. Thank you again. Haruo
Haruo was a great choice for our first day in Tokyo. We knew we'd be wiped from the prior day of flying mentally, so setting up a tour with Haruo explaining all the ins and outs of shrines and how to use the subway was so helpful to get us started, plus we hit up a bunch of the big sites. Lots of history and info, more than happy to be flexible for the sights we wanted to see vs what we were not as interested in. Great guy, great tour, highly recommend!
Dear Elisa and Charles Thank you so much for your kind review. That encourages me to improve my tour from now on. It is not you but me that learned a lot about the culture of your country. Especially, talking about your hometown Seatle made me remember sweet memories of my trip and want to come back there. I believe you had a great time after our tour. Thank you again and take care of yourselves. Best Regards, Haruo