Kyoto Customized Half-Day Tour — Guide Toshi

May, 2026

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. Not affiliated with the Japan Guide Association.

Tour Itinerary

  • 1. 14:00 Meet with guests @ Hotel (Hotel Kyoto)
  • 2. 15:30 Tenryu-ji Temple
  • 3. 16:00 Bamboo Grove
  • 4. 16:30 Hozugawa River (Togetsukyo Bridge)
  • 5. 17:15 Kimono Forest
  • 6.18:00 Dismissal @ Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae Station

What Is a Private Arashiyama Tour in Kyoto Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were a group visiting from North America, on their first trip to Japan and seemingly enjoying their time. In Arashiyama, I guided them through Tenryu-ji Temple, explaining Zen Buddhism and the strolling-style garden as we toured the Japanese garden. We exited through the north gate, walked through the bamboo grove, and strolled around the Hozugawa River area. However, at that point one of the guests said they had dropped their phone in the bamboo grove, so we hurried back and asked at the north gate of Tenryu-ji whether a lost phone had been turned in. Fortunately, it had been delivered to the office, and the guest was overjoyed and greatly relieved. After thanking the office staff, we moved from the bamboo grove to the Kimono Forest at the Randen Arashiyama Station, where I gave a brief explanation and took some commemorative photos. Finally, we rode the Randen tram, transferred to the subway partway, and I accompanied them to Shiyakusho-mae Station, the nearest station to their hotel, where our time was up and we parted ways. It rained all day today, which made getting around difficult. As a point of reflection, the guests had not prepared any cash, so I ended up covering the admission fee at Tenryu-ji for them. I feel I should have asked them in advance to prepare a certain amount of cash, as it is often needed in Kyoto.

Click here for more details: Kyoto Customized Half-Day Tour with Licensed Local Guide

Transportation cost per person

No.TransportationRouteFare
Section 1SubwayKyoto Shiyakusho-mae～Kyoto230JPY
Section 2TrainKyoto～Saga-Arashiyama240JPY
Section 3TrainArashiyama (Keifuku Line)～Randen-Tenjingawa250JPY
Section 4SubwayUzumasa-Tenjingawa～Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae260JPY
Total980JPY

Tour Report by Toshi

After a rather long teaching experience at Japanese college, I converted my career about 6 years ago into working as a tour guide for the tourists visiting Japan.
As my career overseas, I’ve been in the UN and the Japanese Embassy, all in the USA, totaling more than 6 years.
And then I had made a big change in my career from a diplomat to an academic researcher. For that career to achieve, I studied abroad and won a doctorate degree in linguistics from Indiana University and landed a teaching position at college in Japan.
With all these interesting and exciting experiences I’ve made myself ready to enrich your tour and make it both enjoyable and worthwhile.

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Apr 26, 2026
39ferdinandr
Tripadvisor review: Kyoto 4hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Exceptional and entertaining
Great tour better the tour guide Toshi.

Apr 9, 2026
X1429XKclaudiam
Tripadvisor review: Kyoto 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Sehr zu empfehlen
Wir haben als Familie diese 6-stundige Tour durch Kyoto…

Jun 28, 2025
WilliamAlfonso_R
Toshi is a very eloquent, knowledgeable, and diligent tour guide.
Viator review: Nara 6hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Toshi was…

May 30, 2025
Z
ZevP5
Best Tour Guide!
Tripadvisor review: Kyoto 4hr Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide
Yoshi was the best guide!! He was so…