Kyoto Customized Private Tour in 1 Day — Guide Kazu

What Is a Private One-Day Kyoto Tour Focused on Zen and Traditional Crafts Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were visitors from Oceania, visiting Japan and Kyoto for the first time. When I asked about their itinerary, they were traveling through Tokyo, Nagoya, Hida-Takayama, Kanazawa, and then from Kyoto to Nara. Their request was to experience the traditional beauty of old Kyoto, so they wanted to be taken anywhere good that conveyed a sense of history — whether streetscapes, temples, or shrines. They also wanted to buy handcrafted textiles. Today I spent a good deal of time talking about Zen Buddhism, wabi-cha tea culture, and the aesthetics of wabi-sabi. They also enjoyed the bonsai at Hoshun-in. At Honen-in, I received quite a refined question such as "What is the difference between Pure Land Buddhism and Zen Buddhism?", which gave me a wonderful opportunity to explain at length.

One of the guests was mainly focused on shopping, wandering into various shops and buying Kyoto-style handkerchiefs, tenugui cloths, tablecloths, T-shirts, and small items made of cotton and silk. Whenever my talks became a little long, this guest would quickly wander off somewhere, so I wondered whether they simply didn't enjoy listening. In fact, standing still for even five minutes caused dizziness, so they preferred to keep moving. Once I understood this, I tried various things: keeping my explanations concise, playfully announcing in advance "this story takes 3 minutes and 18 seconds," and giving talks while sitting down inside temples.

When a guest doesn't seem to listen much, it's easy to end up cutting explanations short, but I realized that everyone has circumstances they don't necessarily mention. I was reminded once again of how important communication with guests truly is.

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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