Kyoto Customized Private Tour by Car — Guide Kazu

What's a Private One-Day Kyoto Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report on Temples, Gardens, and Japanese Culture

The guests were a group visiting from North America. For some of the guests it was their first trip to Japan, while others had been to Japan before and had done things like windsurfing on Lake Biwa or exploring various places on foot all the way from Tokyo. I found their adventurous approach to overseas travel quite impressive. This time, based on the many requests on the guests' wish list, we focused on covering the western half of Kyoto. It was a wonderful group, always cheerful and full of smiles. One member of the group was joining them, and when I said it was great to become part of such a wonderful group, they replied, "Yes, I'm so excited!" I was able to explain many things, including Japanese history, the tea ceremony, Zen, dry landscape gardens, strolling pond gardens, Shinto and Buddhism. The lead applicant for this booking kept asking "Why, why?" one after another, and each question was a great chance to show my skills as a guide, so I got to talk a great deal. I was very happy when everyone gave a round of applause at the end of the tour. I am very grateful to the driver, Mr. Kawasaki, who introduced us to a good restaurant and even negotiated with the restaurant about the last-order time. Thank you very much. Also, the driver originally scheduled for today (Mr. Kurose) had a bereavement in the family, so the driver was suddenly changed, but I was not notified of this and only found out 15 minutes before the tour started when I received a call from the replacement driver, Mr. Kawasaki. At first I thought it might be some kind of trendy scam, so I contacted Mr. Kurose and was able to confirm the situation. I do not know when the change of driver was decided, but I would kindly ask that I be notified in advance in such cases.

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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