This is a private guided tour report by Japan Guide Agency (JGA Inc.), a network of 1,000+ government-licensed, English-speaking local guides across all 47 prefectures of Japan.
Tour Itinerary
- 8:00 Hotel meet-up Walk 8:15 Nanzen-ji Temple 9:15 Ginkaku-ji Temple 10:40 Kyoto Imperial Palace 11:50 Lunch (Kawaramachi Marutamachi Tonkatsu) 13:10 Fushimi Inari 14:10 Drop off at Kyoto Station and tour ends
What's a Private One-Day Kyoto Tour Like in the Rain? A Licensed Guide's Report
The guests were visitors from North America, visiting Japan for the first time. Although they seemed to have researched Japan quite a lot beforehand, their original interest in Japan came from their love of Japanese manga. Both listened very attentively and asked many questions. Unfortunately the weather was poor. At the first stop, Nanzenji Temple, the rain was still light, but it became quite heavy around the bus stop for Ginkakuji, so at Ginkakuji we waited a little for the rain to ease before touring the grounds. The rain was strong enough that even with umbrellas our shoes were soaked through and our backs began to get wet. Even so, the guests followed along without a single complaint. Just as we were leaving Ginkakuji, the rain suddenly stopped. At the Kyoto Imperial Palace it was still drizzling lightly, but guiding became a little easier. For lunch we went to a tonkatsu restaurant, since one of the guests could not eat fish. Shrimp, octopus, and squid were fine to eat. Perhaps because of the rain, Fushimi Inari had only about a third of the usual number of visitors, which made it easy to take photos. We returned to Kyoto Station, where I explained how to get back to the hotel by subway, and the tour ended. The photo was taken at the Kyoto Imperial Palace.
Click here for more details: Kyoto Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
Transportation cost per person
| No. | Transportation | Route | Fare |
| Section 1 | Bus | Nanzenji Eikando-mae～Ginkaku-ji Temple | 230JPY |
| Section 2 | Bus | Ginkakuji-michi～Karasuma Imadegawa | 230JPY |
| Section 3 | Bus | Karasuma Marutamachi～Kawaramachi Marutamachi | 230JPY |
| Section 4 | Train | Jingu Marutamachi～Fushimi Inari | 280JPY |
| Section 5 | Train | Inari～Kyoto | 150JPY |
| Total | 1,120JPY | ||
I was born and grew up in Kyoto and now live near Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto. I used to be a schoolteacher of English and welcome a lot of students from foreign countries. I really enjoyed showing them around Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Himeji, and Hiroshima. I have been a professional tour guide for about 8 years. I always try to let my guests learn Japanese traditional and modern culture. Since I was born in Kyoto, I know a lot about its culture and people. I myself enjoyed several sports, such as soccer, judo, and marathon when I was young. I’m much interested in baseball and sumo. My motto as a tour guide is to let my guests learn about our tradition and culture precisely and really enjoy themselves. I strongly hope you will enjoy the tour in Japan with me.
Sep 28, 2026
Miguel_E
Amazing Service
Viator review: Kyoto Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
We had a wonderful time with Kazuo.…
Sep 28, 2026
Miguel_E
Amazing Service
Viator review: Kyoto Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
We had a wonderful time with Kazuo. He had such insightful knowledge of each area we wanted to visit and had all the best spots to take photos and was very patient with us.
Sep 27, 2026
T
TrailBlazer47194
Kazuo Sumi is a great guide.
Tripadvisor review: Kyoto Customized Full-Day Private Tour with Licensed Guide
Our guide Kazuo Sumi…
Sep 27, 2026
T
TrailBlazer47194
Kazuo Sumi is a great guide.
Tripadvisor review: Kyoto Customized Full-Day Private Tour with Licensed Guide
Our guide Kazuo Sumi was excellent. We had a wonderful time, learned a lot of new things about Japanese culture and history, practiced navigating transport, enjoyed a perfect lunch. Kazuo-San even facilitated a purchase of a UV blocking umbrella, which was much needed on that sunny day.
Sep 1, 2026
Steve6172014
Excellent tour of Kyoto
Tripadvisor review: Kyoto Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
We had a great tour…
Sep 1, 2026
Steve6172014
Excellent tour of Kyoto
Tripadvisor review: Kyoto Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
We had a great tour with Kazuo, our guide. Days before arrival he communicated directly with me to set up the tour according to sites we wanted to see and he made good suggestions. Besides listening to his Kyoto detailed knowledge, we enjoyed the local walking of streets, taking buses and trains between sites. Kazuo has excellent English and has travelled himself so being with him for the day was a pleasure. I highly recommend using him as your guide
Aug 7, 2026
Pascale_Q
Viator review: Kyoto Customized Private Tour by Car with Licensed Guide
Very good private tour of Kyoto with Kazuo
We had…
Aug 7, 2026
Pascale_Q
Viator review: Kyoto Customized Private Tour by Car with Licensed Guide
Very good private tour of Kyoto with Kazuo
We had a wonderful experience during our Kyoto Customized Private Tour by Car with Licensed Guide. Our guide, Kazuo, was truly outstanding from start to finish. He shared an impressive amount of knowledge about Kyoto’s history, culture, temples, and daily life. You can feel how passionate he is about his city, and he explains everything with the calm, precision and kindness so typical of Japanese guides. His English was clear and easy to follow, which made the whole day even more enjoyable. Kazuo was also extremely friendly, attentive and careful. He always made sure we were comfortable, took the time to answer all our questions, adapted the pace of the tour, and anticipated our needs without us even asking. Travelling by car made the experience smooth and relaxing, allowing us to see more places without rushing. We felt very well taken care of throughout the day, and we learned so much thanks to him. We highly recommend Kazuo to anyone looking for a personalized, insightful and stress‑free discovery of Kyoto.