Kyoto Customized Private Tour in 1 Day — Guide Kazu

What's a Private Kyoto History and Culture Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were visitors from North America, and this was a first visit to Japan for one of them. The day before, they had explored scenic spots on their own, including the bamboo grove in Arashiyama, so today they asked to hear more about Japanese history and culture. They had many questions, such as the relationship between the shogun and the emperor in Japanese history, why the capital needed to be relocated, strolling pond gardens, dry landscape (karesansui) gardens, and the meaning of zazen and viewing such gardens. I answered these questions and thought it would be another day of drawing on all my knowledge, but it turned out to be more relaxed than that. The guests were cheerful and quick to laugh at small jokes, and the conversation jumped from topic to topic so often that I sometimes lost track of where we were. During lunch the conversation eventually turned to politics — whether the new party president would become the next prime minister and whether Japan might see its first female prime minister, what expression Trump might make and what he might say in that case, and even the policies of President Trump. Talking politics with guests is usually taboo, but when you spend a whole day together you gradually become friendly, and I often end up discussing politics with guests from North America. It gives me a real sense of how deep the disappointment is regarding the current political situation there. One of the guests worked at a library and had a wealth of knowledge about books, so at the end of the tour they recommended several paperbacks to me before we said goodbye. It was an enjoyable day full of conversation.

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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