Kyoto Customized Private Tour in 1 Day — Guide Kazu

What Is a Private Kyoto History Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report on Kyoto Imperial Palace and Nijo Castle

The guests were a group of three visiting from North America, experiencing Japan and Kyoto for the first time. Since they wanted to learn about Japanese history, I included the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Nijo Castle in the itinerary and explained how Japan's political system evolved with a focus on the Emperor and the Shogun, and how the relationship between the Emperor and the Shogun changed over time. I believe they listened with great interest. They asked not only about the Shoguns but also about figures such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and even Takeda Shingen, and I spoke at length. When I mentioned that if Takeda Shingen had lived another ten years, Japanese history might have changed dramatically, they followed the conversation with ease, so I asked why they were so knowledgeable about Japanese history — and the answer was a game app. There is a made-in-Japan Sengoku battle game about rising to power and conquering the country, and they had become hooked and gained a lot of knowledge on their own, and they wanted to hear more authentic stories about the Sengoku period and about the Emperors and Shoguns directly from a Japanese person. We spoke at length about topics that rarely come up in everyday conversation, such as why Toyotomi Hideyoshi reigned over the country as Kampaku rather than becoming Shogun (more precisely, why he could not become Shogun). I truly enjoyed it. They were a wonderful group of three.

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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