Kyoto Customized Half-Day Tour — Guide Kazu

Title: Can You Do a Private Kyoto Temple Tour by Taxi? A Licensed Guide's Report on Kinkaku-ji, Ryoan-ji, and Ninna-ji

The guests were a group visiting Japan from North America. Some of the group had visited Japan about eight years earlier and had also been to Kyoto before. The plan was to meet at Kinkaku-ji at 9:00, but due to circumstances at the Hotel where taxis could not easily enter or exit, the guests had trouble catching a taxi and arrived about 20 minutes late. The temperature that day reached close to 37 degrees Celsius, and since the three planned destinations (Kinkaku-ji, Ryoan-ji, and Ninna-ji) were located close together, we decided after discussion to travel by taxi. The guests covered all the taxi fares (which ended up being cheaper than the bus fare). At Ninna-ji, because of the heat, we limited our visit to the interior of the Omuro Garden buildings and did not walk around the temple grounds. Originally, I had heard from the guests that they wanted to visit Otagi Nenbutsu-ji after Ninna-ji, so I had planned to travel to Arashiyama. However, this was a misunderstanding, as the guests had already visited it the previous day. As it was lunchtime, we decided to have lunch and took a taxi to a ramen restaurant near Kitano Tenmangu. After that, the guests returned to the Hotel by taxi, ending the tour. The photo was taken at Ninna-ji. I felt it was a little unfortunate about Ninna-ji, but there was little shade and the weather was not something I could recommend for a full walk.

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

Tour Report by KAZU

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.