Kyoto Customized Half-Day Tour — Guide Kazu
July, 2025
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
- (Guest was late) 9:20 Meet in front of Kinkaku-ji entrance 9:25 Kinkaku-ji 10:10 (Joined by the second son who arrived late) 10:20 Ryoan-ji 11:15 Ninna-ji
- 12:10 Lunch at a ramen shop near Kitano Tenmangu 12:50 After lunch, the guests headed to the hotel by taxi.
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
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.