Kyoto Customized Half-Day Tour — Guide Kazu

Title: What's a Private Kyoto Day Tour Like for First-Time Visitors? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were visiting from Europe, coming to Japan and Kyoto for the first time. They were traveling by cruise ship, mainly around Southeast Asia and Japan, and were also planning to visit Antarctica, which they said has become very popular recently. They mentioned that although they had often heard words like the ancient capital of Kyoto, emperors and shoguns, Buddhism and Shinto, feng shui and onmyodo, and the tea ceremony, they did not really know what these things meant, so this was exactly where a tour guide could help. There were also questions such as what a dry landscape garden (karesansui) is, and what Zen really is. I sometimes visit Zen temples myself to practice zazen meditation, so I shared my own perspective, explaining how the head priest gives instruction, how I understand it as a result, and yet how difficult it actually is in practice, all in an enjoyable conversation. Daitoku-ji is the birthplace where Sen no Rikyu perfected wabi-cha, so that alone makes it a convincing Zen temple, and I truly feel it is a wonderful place with the right atmosphere for explaining the unique culture of wabi-sabi. Since it is a spirituality completely different from the culture they were familiar with, they seemed a little surprised. Also, because the Hotel was located on Shinmachi-dori and Muromachi-dori, the very heart of the Gion Festival, I was able to explain the Gion Festival and Yasaka Shrine in relatively good detail. After strolling through Gion and Higashiyama, we went to JR Kyoto Station, where I helped them purchase Shinkansen tickets before we said goodbye.

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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