Kyoto Customized Private Tour in 1 Day — Guide Kazu

What Is a Private Kyoto Day Tour Like for First-Time Visitors? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were visiting Japan and Kyoto for the first time, coming from Europe. According to the booking details, the meeting point was listed as one branch of a hotel, but in fact the guests were staying at a different branch of the same hotel near Kyoto Station. We had to hurry over by subway, which caused a bit of frustration. The guests had a lively and outgoing personality, talking almost constantly. At the temples, they would end up photographing the Buddhist statues unless I said "No Photo!", and even when I tried to stop them, they ran after a maiko to follow her. At an okonomiyaki restaurant, they were completely absorbed in filming the entire cooking process from start to finish. While they generally did not listen closely to my explanations, they patiently listened whenever it came to topics they were personally curious about and asked me about — such as the relationship between Buddhism, Shinto, and the Emperor, House of Representatives elections, compulsory education, salaried workers' incomes, corporate overtime, and Japan's declining birthrate and aging population. They were the kind of charming and cheerful guests one occasionally encounters. At the end, when parting, they apologized for the confusion about the hotel earlier in the day, and I inwardly chuckled, thinking that they clearly did realize they had been mistaken after all. It was an enjoyable day.

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Tour Report by Kazu

Hello, this is Kazu Akiyama, your tour guide. Nice to meet you and welcome to Japan. Thank you for joining me on the tour. Now I am a retired salaried worker, living in Osaka. I have been very much interested in not only learning Japanese history, culture, religion myself, but also talking about them (sometimes going off topics) in English with tourists from all over the world as well. I am so excited being with you as your guide on coming day! I am very much looking forward to you enjoying with me visiting the must-see places and some of the hidden gems. See you soon. Thank you – Kazu Akiyama