Kyoto Customized Private Tour in 1 Day — Guide Toshi

What Does a Private One-Day Kyoto Tour by Train and Taxi Look Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

Today's guests were a group visiting from Oceania. We met at the Hotel at 8:00 as scheduled, and after discussing the day's itinerary, we decided to visit Fushimi Inari, Tenryu-ji, Arashiyama, Ryoan-ji, Kinkaku-ji, and Kiyomizu-dera. We traveled to Fushimi Inari by the nearest Keihan train line, where I explained the torii gates of Inari Shrine, the connection with foxes, the Shinto style of worship, and the Senbon Torii path. The weather today was comfortable, with cooler temperatures and an autumn breeze, making it perfect for sightseeing. The next destination after Inari was Arashiyama, but due to a track problem on the San'in Line our departure from Kyoto Station was delayed; nevertheless, we arrived at Arashiyama safely and I guided them through Tenryu-ji. I showed them the rock garden, the strolling garden, and the botanical garden at Tenryu-ji, and while they enjoyed the beautiful gardens we moved on to the bamboo grove. There we walked through the tunnel of bamboo while taking many photos, then passed through Kameyama Park to reach the Togetsukyo Bridge, taking our time to savor the scenery along the way. Because of the limited time, we traveled from Arashiyama to Ryoan-ji by taxi. At Ryoan-ji, I explained the teachings of Zen Buddhism and the lessons drawn from the rock garden as we strolled through the grounds, completing our visit. We then moved to the next destination, Kinkaku-ji, by taxi. At Kinkaku-ji, I guided them around the vividly golden Rokuon-ji temple, which they thoroughly enjoyed. However, as this marked the end of the guiding time, I explained the highlights of Kiyomizu-dera and we parted ways. Finally, I arranged a taxi there so the guests could travel to Kiyomizu-dera.

Although today's travel was planned using public transportation, one of the guests suddenly mentioned being unable to take the bus, so we ended up relying mainly on trains and taxis.

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Tour Report by Toshi

After a rather long teaching experience at Japanese college, I converted my career about 6 years ago into working as a tour guide for the tourists visiting Japan.
As my career overseas, I’ve been in the UN and the Japanese Embassy, all in the USA, totaling more than 6 years.
And then I had made a big change in my career from a diplomat to an academic researcher. For that career to achieve, I studied abroad and won a doctorate degree in linguistics from Indiana University and landed a teaching position at college in Japan.
With all these interesting and exciting experiences I’ve made myself ready to enrich your tour and make it both enjoyable and worthwhile.