Kyoto Customized Full-Day Private Tour — Guide Kazu

What Is a Full-Day Private Walking Tour of Kyoto's Hidden Gems Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests came from Europe and were visiting Japan for the first time, traveling from Tokyo to Hakone, Hida-Takayama, Kanazawa, Hiroshima, Osaka, and then Kyoto. They planned to spend a few more days in Kyoto and enjoy some delicious Kobe beef in Kobe before finally returning home to the real world. Today's itinerary was essentially decided by the guests' wishes. Originally they had hoped to visit Katsura Imperial Villa. However, it requires advance reservation by the visitors themselves, operates on a timed-entry system, and the tour is led by a curator, which leaves the guide almost no chance to speak. Realistically, visiting Katsura Imperial Villa is also difficult from a time-management standpoint. So instead I took them to Manshuin Monzeki, which is often called a "mini Katsura Imperial Villa" and has very deep ties to the Imperial family. Both Manshuin Monzeki and the nearby Enkoji Temple (not a Toshogu shrine, but the burial site of Tokugawa Ieyasu) have magnificent gardens, bamboo groves, and dry landscape gardens, with very few tourists, allowing for a quiet day. They are ideal spots for guests who want to see Hidden Gems. One of the guests had a genius eye for photographic angles and captured many wonderful, moving shots with their own single-lens reflex camera, while the other preferred not to be in photos. They spent an enjoyable time chatting away together. In today's case, I felt it was actually better not to go on at length about history and culture, so instead we spent the day casually talking about things like London, British politics, my own family, and why I decided to become a tour guide-interpreter, answering as asked and chatting freely as topics came to mind. Also, at the guests' request, today we used no taxis at all and spent eight hours exploring Kyoto by bus, train, and on foot. There is no denying it takes longer to reach each destination, but covering ground on foot is the best way to feel the atmosphere and mood of the city. Because your perspective changes, the topics of conversation seem to shift a little too, which is also interesting. Since we had eight hours today, I think the guests were able to spend a relaxed and enjoyable day in that way. A notable stop on the tour was Enkoji Temple, a Zen temple founded in the early Edo period. It is renowned for its beautiful dry landscape garden and its tranquil pond garden, which is especially stunning when the maple leaves turn in autumn. The temple is also known for its historical connection to Tokugawa Ieyasu and remains a peaceful, lesser-known spot where visitors can enjoy traditional Japanese garden design in quiet surroundings.

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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