Private Tour: Chartered Car to Mt. Fuji and Hakone Lake Ashi

We took the private tour via chartered car to Mt. Fuji and Hakone Lake Ashi on October 16, 2018. We were very fortunate to have Tom Harada as our tour guide and Toshi-san as our driver. The day we spent with Tom and Toshi-san was unbelievable and greatly exceeded our highest hopes. Tom was the perfect tour guide and Toshi-san was the perfect driver and assistant. Everything good that others have said about them in their reviews is very true. They were attentive to us through out and provided accommodation and gentle assistance to my wife who needed some help at times.We felt so fortunate to achieve our main objective early – a great view of Mt. Fuji. In fact, we were able to see Mt. Fuji from multiple locations and angles during the day. Moreover, the first snow of the season occurred the night before so Mt. Fuji was blanketed in white and provided us with iconic, spectacular views.I won’t go into all the details of the rest of the day as your tour might be quite different. Tom is so accommodating and helpful in designing visits and activities customized to your desires and makes adjustments as the day goes on. It seems as if we did what might take two or three days to do and we experienced it in an unhurried manner and felt immersed in the culture. The expansive knowledge that Tom conveyed to us of the many aspects of Japan greatly enhanced our experiences during our entire visit to Japan. We cannot praise him highly enough.

We had a great day with Tom Harada in Odawara and the Mt.Fuji/Lake Kawaguchi areas. We definitely enjoyed the personalisation of a private tour, rather than a big coach tour. Tom is a great guide - very friendly and knowledgeable. He spoke English very well and helped us customise the tour to get the most out of it. We had a lovely day - thanks again Tom!

So let us tell you about our guy Tom! He showed up right on time to take us on one of the most amazing days we have ever had the pleasure to experience. Our day was almost ruined by the Typhoon that hit south of Tokyo while we were there but Tom (we found out later) actually called around to a bunch of places to make sure they would be open when we got there. He was super easy to talk to and told us about his family and life as we shared stories on the way to the sights he had in store for us. First he took us to an ancient castle and we toured around and he gave us time to explore and see what we wanted to. Next up we went to a natural hot spring and dipped our feet in the water as he explained the magical healing properties it had. Then we went to this amazing lake in front of Mt. Fuji where we had lunch at this amazing local restaurant. We had the most delicious lunch and we even took a picture with the lady who ran the restaurant and she gave us a hug as we left. Then Tom took us up a cable car that lead to a mountain view spot where we got some breathtaking views of Mt. Fuji!! Tom made sure we had lots of time at each location so we could shop for gifts for our kids. As a special treat Tom took us to an ice cave underneath Mt. Fuji so we could experience the natural ice caves there!! We finished up the day at the Mt. Fuji museum and then Tom and his amazing driver (who was with us all day and made sure he picked the best routes to capture the most amazing views) took us back to Tokyo and dropped us off at our hotel. Tom went out of his way so many times to make sure that we had a memorable experience. This job is truly his passion and he enjoyed himself so much making sure that we had a good time. Don't even bother going on this tour if you can't get Tom as your guide. You rock Tom!!!

If you don't like big buses, this trip is for you. If you prefer personalized attention and customized itinerary, this tour is excellent. If you want an English speaking guide hard to find in Japan Tom spoke fluent English. He and his bus driver were very attentive to our concerns and they delivered on all our requests. They gave us many choices of side trips and intuitively knew which ones we would like the best. So the places they took us to were so beautiful and enjoyable the lake, the private boat ride, the rope tram, the restaurant, the sourvenir area, the hot springs and the fire festival .

I would give this 10 stars if I could! Our guide Tom is one in a million who went out of his way to make this day so special for my family. Not only was the tour amazing and informative, we enjoyed learning so much about Japan and the culture spending the day talking with Tom. As he lived in the US for more than 10 years he speaks fluent English which of course was beneficial. After the tour he also helped us check in to our new hotel and searched for a unique baseball shirt for my son. I honestly cant say enough good things about this tour, Tom and his driver who also went out of his way for us. Mt Fuji is great to see and this tour could not be more highly recommended.

We were accompanied by Tom Harada. It was a rainy day, and my dad was being picky on what he wanted to see for Hakone AND Kawaguchiko. Tom was really understanding and flexible. He professionally helped us to find a good itinerary for my family and he brought us to the beatiful sceneries despite the rainy weather. He also helped us to find awesome restaurants that my picky father love very much and even went through the effort to make reservations after the tour.I would definitely book my future Japan tours with Tom.

We had the most wonderful day in April touring Mt Fuji with our guide, Tom Harada. We were incredibly lucky that the weather was clear and sunny, giving us breathtaking views of the mountain all day. We visited the World Heritage Centre travelled on the Mt Fuji Panoramic Ropeway KachiKachi, for spectacular views of Mt Fuji and Lake Kawaguchiko relaxed and enjoyed the scenery and ice cream! at Oishi Park and visited the tradition Japanese village - Iyashino sato, where our daughter enjoyed dressing in a Kimono and having photos taken with Mt Fuji in the background. Tom was friendly, and knowledgeable. He showed interest in our family, and enjoyed sharing some information about his. It was such a memorable experience. Tom was kind enough to ensure we had 'family photos' taken regularly throughout our trip - which was greatly appreciated. If we're lucky enough to return to Japan one day, we'd love to have Tom as our guide to explore even more of this area, such as Lake Ashi and Hakone.

My family booked a private tour to Mt Fuji and Hakone Lake Ashi. Our tour guide was Mr. Tom Harada. Tom arrived on time and throughout the trip, he was professional and went out of his way to take great care of us. He made sure that we get the best view of Mt Fuji and was also our photographers. It was great to find out that Tom had worked in Singapore before and he shared some of his fond memories of Singapore. In return, we were able to update him on the transformation that has taken place since he left our country.
His service exceeded our expectation. We will definitely recommend him to anyone who is looking for a professional and caring guide on their trip in Tokyo and beyond.
We will definitely engage him again if we are back in Tokyo. Huge Thanks Tom for a job well done.

The Gan Family!

I cannot begin to explain what a wonderful time my family had on this private tour! We were so fortunate to have had such a wonderful tour guide, Tom Harada, for this excursion. The morning started out with him arriving early to our hotel to talk about what we would like to do that day. He cared enough to want to get to know us a little so that he could better plan the day to suit our desires. We were able to fit so much into the tour, however we never felt rushed or stressed. For a ten hour tour, it was such a relaxing and pleasant day. We had many stops, he took time to take photos of our family for us, enjoyed a Japanese lunch together with the sweetest ladies from the restaurant! He talked with us about other things we wanted to do while in Japan, and even gave us more suggestions and instructions on how to get to those places. He emailed us that evening with very detailed instructions for taking the train and how to get around! Because of him we were able to enjoy other activities on other days that we probably would not have tried without his help! Tom was very knowledgeable about Japan and we learned so much. I wish we could take Tom on all our tours!

We had the immense pleasure to have Mr Tom Harada as our guide for this Mt Fuji and Hakone Lake Ashi prive tour. What an experience! You are a true gentleman! Tom, you really made our day. You gave us a lot of information about Japan and the places we visited without making it boring. It was lively and your sense of humour was well appreciated.The entire family enjoyed every minute of your company. We had the impression to be with a friend during this tour. THANK YOU. We are travelling a lot and you are in the top of our list of our favorite guides.
At the end of the tour, you took us to Matsuya depatment store to buy some nice Japanese whisky I'm having a glass right now. Then you took the time to come with us to the pharmacy to buy otc medicine for my wife. The tour was already over but nevertheless you helped us.
It was the first time we visited Japan but thanks to you it will certainly not be the last one. I can and will recommend you to my friends without hesitation.